Page 71 of Roaring Flames

“Oh my god.” I place a hand to my mouth as tears prick my eyes. “Jake? Silas? Reid?”

“They’re all okay,” Ethan reassures me. “They’ve been trying to get a hold of you.”

“What was someone doing there that early?” I ask.

The theater doesn’t even open until ten on Friday.

“I don’t know.” Emery’s voice is hoarse. “I’m just… I’m just happy you’re okay.”

“You should call Hale or Gerry,” Ethan adds. “They’re out of their minds with worry.”

A lump settles in my throat, but I find myself nodding, despite knowing the twins can’t see me. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll do that.”

“Izzy…” Emery trails off, seemingly at a loss for words.

Silence stretches between the three of us, fraught with tension, precarious in the way that glass is seconds before shattering.

“Just be careful, okay?” His voice sounds choked.

When I hang up the phone, it’s with a hollow feeling in my chest. I feel aimless and adrift. Lost.

Taking a deep breath, and steeling my resolve, I shoot off texts to everyone who messaged me.

I save Hale for last.

Izzy

I’m okay. I’m still at my friend’s house. But I think we need to talk.

Hale responds instantly.

Hale

Come to the house. Gerry and I will be here.

It’s only as I’m getting ready for the day, my movements slow and mechanical, do I receive a follow-up text from Reid.

Reid

They identified the body. It was Minnie. She was one of Sidney’s packmates. Twins are with her now.

The phone slips from my hands and clatters into the bathroom sink.

What are the odds that Sidney confronted me the same morning her packmate is killed in an explosion?

I don’t dare allow myself to look too closely at the connection.

I’m not sure I’ll like what I find.

Twenty-Eight

IZZY

Ansel didn’t ask questions when I pleaded with him to drop me off at Hale and Gerry’s home. He only looked at me with one eyebrow arched and asked, “Will you be safe?”

My heart fluttered madly, even as I nodded my assurance.

Now I stand in the entryway of my foster parents’ home, watching Ansel back his car out of the driveway. I wait until he disappears around the corner before taking a deep breath—willing oxygen into my glass-coated lungs—and stepping inside.

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