Page 95 of Home to the Hollow

Oooh. Well, in that case…

Yes, sir.

Troublemaker

“Are you sure this is where Jackson’s cookie traced the IP back to?” I chew my lip, keeping my eyes on the road as we drive towards the city. I don’t want the boys to know how much I’m dreading this trip because I haven’t shared the story of my life prior to my adventures with Seer. It’s not that I don’t trust them; I simply put this part of my life behind me when I graduated.

The memories of my broken heart live on this campus and nowhere else.

Edgar arches a brow as he looks at me from the driver’s seat of the huge SUV. “Of course I am, Tilly. Thorn’s family is well known in the legal community, and as soon as he pranced up our walk, I knew who he was. He wouldn’t dare lie to me.”

“That means he owes him money,” Doyle interjects from the back. “I’d put a fifty on it.”

I sigh, rubbing my temples. “Is that true, Teddy?”

His lips curve and he shrugs. “I can neither confirm nor deny the accusation, Agent Whitley. I’m a simple football coach.”

Presley snorts, reaching up to give him a swat. “Boone, you’re insufferable. If there’s a person in the entire state who hasn’t run numbers through you, I’ll be a pickled herring.”

“Ew. No thanks,” Wolfie grumbles. “Though fish smell might make Jekyll and Hyde like you better.”

“Wait. You haven’t figured out why the cubs don’t?—”

Presley turns and smacks Doyle this time. “Mate, you’re a bloody landmine waiting to go off every second of the day. Remind me why we let you and your gigantic trap come along?”

“Possibly because you all drive sexy muscle or sports cars, and this is my SUV?” Doyle leans back in the back row, his arms above the dogs and cats buckled in beside him. “Plus, I’m incredibly witty and charming. It’s very helpful when trying to subtly interrogate humans.”

Humans? Christ, he’s weird.

He’s not wrong about his capabilities, so I let it go. My hands stroke over Isis thoughtfully, enjoying the feel of her scales. It’s the most calming thing in the universe, and I’ve grown accustomed to having her wrapped around me most of the time. I had to do a little maneuvering at school to get it past Bobbie Jo, but to my surprise, she dropped the subject. “We appreciate you providing the car and helping, Lucky. Don’t let their sniping bother you.”

Edgar snorts. “It isn’thiscar. This is one of the city SUVs. I could have procured one just like it.”

“Ah, and yet you didn’t, dog breath! You’re not the hero today,” Doyle chuckles, winking at me. “Don’t be a jealous prat. Just get us there in one piece so Nelia doesn’t feed all of us to Zareb.”

I giggle. NowthatI could see. She’d have a hissy fit with a tail on it if we damaged something belonging to the city. “Did Jax mentionwhereon campus this computer is when you were having your chat with him, Teddy?” With the aviators and that bomber jacket, he looks like he stepped out of Top Gun, and even though that’s never been mything, I’m considering it now.

As if he can read my mind, he lowers his shades for a moment, his aqua eyes dancing with mischief. “He did not. His... friend… couldn’t narrow it down that far because…” His brows furrow, and he looks perplexed.

“Because the signal dead-ended at a VPN run through several onion routers bouncing from country to country like a ping-pong ball. At least, that’s what Eli said.” Wolfie pokes his head between the front seats, smiling at me. “I only understand about thirty percent of that, but it’s why he couldn’t pinpoint a building to check first.”

“Good job, pup,” Teddy rumbles, reaching over to ruffle his hair.

He laughs at the glare Wolfie gives him, and I smile despite my melancholy. The relationship between all of my boys has become much more comfortable since the night I blacked out an entire night. They haven’t moved in yet—though Teddy insisted on having this weird group of stubbly guys come to inspect the outside of the house to prepare for expansion—but I know it’s coming soon. We’re coalescing as a family, and while that scares the hell out of me, I enjoy having people to depend on more than I want to admit.

That’s probably why our trip to State U to investigate the information Jax gave us is triggering me so much. State U’s campus is where one of the worst moments of betrayal in my life happened, and I haven’t ever been as low as I was after Trevor dumped me. It took a lot of therapy to realize his abandonment was so impactful because of the distance between my parents and me, but that’s never lessened the bone-deep pain I feel when something brushes against the trauma. Taking my guys to the literal scene of my destruction is making my gut knot in fear.

“Sugarplum, you’re awfully quiet,” Wolfie says, his hand landing on my arm.

I jump a little, and Isis slithers until her head rests on my shoulder, her coils wrapping more firmly around my ribs. She can sense my riotous emotions somehow, and whenever I get upset, the huge snake draws my attention elsewhere by moving and squeezing. It’s a pattern that started with the Hollar office and has continued every day since. “I... I don’t have fond memories of my time here. It’s why I finished all the upper grad degrees online.”

“Have a poor professor, Magpie? A nightmare roomie, perhaps?” Prez asks. I can hear him chewing on a Twizzler and I roll my eyes. He has a sweet tooth like no one else I’ve ever met.

“No,” I answer, turning my head to look out the window so I don’t have to meet Wolfie's or Teddy’s eyes. “And before you ask, no bullies like high school, either.”

Teddy makes a grumpy sound and speeds up, forcing Wolfie back to his seat. “Then we’ll get what we need and get out. I don’t cotton to the idea of you wandering around alone if this place upsets you. Hell, I don’t even remember seeing you while we were here, come to think of it.”

The last part is more of a mutter, and I snort. “I worked hard to be invisible after the debacle at home. You nor any of the others who were part of it would have ever seen me. I made certain I was safe by bribing a work-study student in the admission office.”

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