Page 68 of Break The Ice

Raider flops onto the couch, his face an expression of misery, while Kelly walks out of the house. I turn and chase after him.

“Kelly? Do you remember me?”

He pauses, squinting. “I helped you out. There was someone following you, and you had nowhere to go. The photographer, right?”

He pauses, looking back at me, his eyes assess me in a moment, and, because I need to be honest, I pull the wig off my head.

His eyes dance over my auburn hair.

“You belong with them,” he says.

“I can’t stay.”

His eyes sharpen on me. “Same reasons?”

I dip my head.

He holds out his phone. “Give me your number.”

“I don’t have a phone. Can’t risk it.”

Kelly shakes his head and puts his phone in my hands. “You ever need help. Call me. I’ll text you my new number. But you can reach me if you call Ezy or Gael.”

“Ezy or Gael.”

“The monsters of the world are many. Sometimes we can help each other out. Sometimes.”

I stare up at him; he gets blurry, and I have to swipe the tears from my eyes.

“Thank you.”

“Just stay safe. You can fix things if you’re alive. And,” he hesitates. “Please look after my brother. He’s not as strong as he makes out. He’s always been the heart of our family.”

I close my eyes and nod a silent promise.

He leaves with as much dignity as he arrived with. I watch him go. The street feels empty and cold after he’s gone, so I hurry back inside. The pack is waiting.

I go into the kitchen to buy myself a couple of moments and inhale. The scent of rotten potatoes hits me like a slap in the face.

I let out a muffled shriek and jerk backwards, my eyes wide as I spin, searching every corner of the kitchen and then the dining room.

“What’s wrong?” Wren asks, growling.

I want to tell him, but what if I do, and they don’t believe me? What if they think I’m crazy?

I shake my head and force a smile. “I saw a spider.”

Wren chuckles and puts an arm around me. We go back into the lounge room, but I sit stiffly, and, as soon as I can, I do a discreet search of the house.

Nothing else is out of place, and that smell, that disgusting, rotten scent, disappears like it was never there.

Chapter sixteen

Ryann

I’m going to siton my bed all night and stare at the curtain. My intentions are clear for the first couple of hours, but I’m tired. Exhausted. Sleep calls me like a siren, begging me to come drown. It takes me forever, but, eventually, I manage to fall into a light doze filled with dreams of potatoes and oceans that try to drag me under.

Still, it seems like only a second before I hear a bang and jump up, my heart exploding into an unhealthy gallop. I tiptoe to the window and look down. All I can see is the world lit up with an unnatural orange glow.

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