Page 117 of Anchor

A good night, indeed—and I was thankful that I’d been here so that I knew how to find them now. I wasn’t going anywhere near the Headquarters building, sotheywere my best bet.

Unfortunately for me, I had to sit in the car and wait for three hours before they came home, possibly from work, but the vulcera kept me company. Whatever connection I’d shared with that animal during the game, it had left an imprint on me forever even if it hadn’t been real.

The twins were each holding a bottle of liquor in their hands when they parked their truck in the driveway and jumped out. By then the sky was already dark, so that’s why I was confident enough to leave Taland’s charm in the car. These boys needed to see my face if they were going to be persuaded to talk to me, and I wasn’t planning to stay long.

I drove closer and I left the SUV right behind their truck so they couldn’t escape even if they tried. Then, I put the bracelet around my wrist, the gun in the waistband of my pants, and I went and knocked on their door.

The music was on inside—some heavy metal I didn’t much enjoy myself. I had to slam my fist on the door so hard it hurt, but finally, they heard me.

“Go away!” one of the twins called from the inside.

I knocked harder with all my strength.

Shouts and screams, curse words from the other side of the door. Footsteps—then Jim was in front of me.

Could have been Jam.

The moment he saw me, mouth open and ready to scream at me to leave, I gripped him by his shirt and said, “Hello, Jim. Invite me in?”

Of course, he didn’t have to—I invited myself. I pushed him back inside and closed the door behind me with my foot, while he, still in shock, just raised his hands to the side in surrender.

It could have been funny if I wasn’t feeling so bloodthirsty right now.

“Where the hell is that music coming from?” I said through gritted teeth. It was so loud I couldn’t even hear myself thinking.

Jim pointed to his left, toward a doorway on the other side of the foyer, so I started toward it with my gun still in hand, down the corridor and into their kitchen and living area. The sound was coming from a large speaker in the middle of the dining table connected to a laptop, right next to two identical staffs—their anchors.

Jam was outside on the porch that went around half the house, a cigarette between his lips and his head thrown back as he moved slightly to the beat. When I paused the song and my ears stopped fucking bleeding, he turned around to see me there through the screen of the backdoor that was wide open, and Jim came through behind me at the same time.

“What the fuck!” said Jam, as shocked as his twin by the sight of me.

Then he screamed. Not because of me, but because the cigarette had burned his fingers—he’d grabbed it too close to the lit end.

I almost rolled my eyes.

“Listen to me closely because I will only say this once,” I said, standing in the middle of their kitchen, trying to ignore the smell of rot that hung to the cabinets, and the brothers watched me, one on either side. Their staffs weren’t in their hands, so they couldn’t attack me with magic even if they wanted to.

“Holy fuck, Rosabel. What the fuck? Are you…you’realive?” said Jam.

Or maybe he was Jim? I couldn’t tell—both of them had their hair down, the ends touching their shoulders, more or less the same length.

“I am—and I’m a fugitive, and I won the Iris Roe, drained the shit out of that Rainbow, so I am a very,verydangerous woman right now. Do you understand?”

The boys looked at one another, but I didn’t give them the chance to say a word.

“I asked you what happened in the forest that day at Headquarters, and you lied to me. I’m here to give you another chance to tell me the truth.” I raised my gun at Jam through the screen door, and my hand with my ring on it toward Jim.

“Whoa, whoa, Rosabel,” the latter said, but they both raised their hands.

“Tell me the truth about what happened right now, and nobody gets hurt. If you don’t, Iwillkill you.” The lie flowed easy—I doubted they could tell I didn’t mean it. The anger I felt helped—these fuckers had saved my life, but when they could have avoided all of this mess, they chose to stay put. When they could have done something to stop Erid and Michael from attacking me, they just stood there and watched.

“There’s no need to threaten us—we’re friends here,” said Jam, coming closer to the screen door from the outside.

“Friends don’t let friends get killed by their colleagues, asshole,” I spit, and my arms didn’t shake. My aim would be true—they knew this. We’d worked together for over a year. “Come inside. Right there, by the door.”

“But friends freeze a room full of people, including Madeline Rogan, to help you escape,” Jim said from the other side. “I need to light this up.” He produced a cigarette and put it between his lips, then reached for his pocket and pulled out a lighter before I even had the chance to say,don’t move.

Fucking Jim and Jam.

---