Page 129 of Hide From Me

“Emergency override,” I chirp. “You revoked it after I ate all Cordelia's pickles, but I may have made a duplicate. Sue me.”

Another pillow is thrown, successfully hitting me in the face this time.Assholes. They know my reflexes are off since I haven't been able to get in any training time.

“Anyway. Get up. Get dressed. We’re going,” I pick up the pillow and gently place it on the nightstand, smoothing the wrinkles, refusing to budge a step.

Caspian glares as he climbs to his feet, dragging on a pair of sweats. “You better be dying. Again.”

“Tempting,” I say with a pointed smile, “but no. Not this time.”

Cordelia narrows her eyes, still clinging to the blanket despite the fact that this isn’t the first time—and definitely won’t be the last—that I’ll walk in on them. “Where are we going?”

“A little midnight adventure,” I reply, stepping into the hallway. “And before either of you says no, you owe me. Youbothdo.”

“Moe…” Caspian’s tone dips into warning territory.

“This better not be some psychotic—”

“It’s for Raylen,” I cut Cordelia off.

Their expressions change the moment they hear her name, just as I expected. Cordelia's mouth falls open, her sharp comeback dying in an instant. Caspian’s jaw tightens, and I catch the flicker of worry in his eyes—a fear he doesn’t even try to conceal.

Good.That means they’re on my side already, even if they don’t realize it.

“I need you,” I say quietly, allowing the weight of my words to settle between us. No more jokes. No more grins. Just the raw truth. “I’m losing her. I feel it every day, and I don’t know how to stop it. So, this is me asking for help. You owe me that much.

Cordelia and Caspian exchange a glance, one of those silent conversations they’ve mastered, the kind that used to annoy the shit out of me. Now, I’m grateful for it because it means they’re already figuring out how to back me up.

Cordelia is the first to break the silence. “We’ll get dressed, but this better not end with us breaking into somewhere. Again.”

“Not breaking in; that’s your forte, not mine. But maybe trespassing,” I murmur, my grin returning despite the storm inside my chest.

I leave them to scramble for their clothes, my mind racing. The sling is cutting into my neck, and my shoulder throbs in time with my heartbeat, but I barely notice. The only thing I can focus on is the wayRaylen has been looking at me lately. It’s as if she wants to reach for me but doesn’t trust herself to do it. It feels like she’s trying to decide whether I’m worth the risk.

I am.I have to be. And I’ll prove it.

“Fucking cock-block.” Caspian grumbles, and I grin.

Little does he realize he probably won’t be getting back to business tonight after we do what I need to do.

We meet Sam and Jasmine at the edge of the woods behind Raylen’s, spooky-ass house—the one she doesn’t talk about, the one where the walls still breathe like they remember everything she’s tried to forget, the one she refuses to move out of.

Caspian pulls up in the SUV, headlights slicing through the dark and lighting the tree line like a stage we’re all about to perform something terrible on. The light bounces off branches and the faint glint of the chain-link fence beyond. I swear the night feels thicker out here, like it knows what we’re about to do.

Jasmine climbs out first, rolling her neck, her hoodie rumpled like she’d been asleep before my call.

“You’re lucky I didn’t have Sam punch you for calling me out here,” Jasmine mutters, pulling her hair into a loose bun as she steps toward me.

“Eh, he wouldn’t. He said he’s saving his hit back for a time I really deserve it.” I shrug, flashing a grin that feels more like a bandage than an actual smile.

“Caspian said I only get one free hit.” Sam strolls past me, calm as ever, and smacks the back of my head with an open palm hard enough to make my teeth click. “I’mma make it worth it.”

“Caspian!” I shout dramatically, stumbling forward a step. “Sam hit me back! It counts!"

The petty part of me wants a written report filed immediately.

I round the back of the SUV, pop the trunk, and start tossing out shovels—one after the other.

Sam catches his midair, already frowning. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

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