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Bird song greets us when we step outside, and I take her across the green to where tables are dressed to the nines. Cole and Grayson sit at one of them chatting, acting like the first guests to arrive, but really they’re there to watch the show.
Before we reach them though, I lift my phone acting like I’ve received a new message. “Mr. Astor has finished his call and asked if you’d be willing to meet him in the maze.”
Stephanie acts flustered and pats at her hair as if to tuck away any flyaways. “Why yes, yes I will.”
Without another word, she prances into the opening in the hedges of the maze. The tiny drone Cole brought lifts into the air with a hum, giving us a bird's-eye view of Stephanie navigating the maze.
“Come here, Luv,” Cole calls, patting his lap as Vander takes the last chair at the table. He wraps his arms around me and continues controlling the drone while we watch the tablet he has propped on a teapot. “Now you know what it feels like to be a Ravenmaster watching someone.”
The whispered words sound almost romantic as they’re uttered in my ear. I turn my head and kiss him lightly on the cheek. “Do you still watch me like you used to?”
He shoves the controller to the drone at Grayson and turns me on his lap so I’m sitting sideways. “Every second you’re not with me in person.” He taps the frame of his glasses. “Do you really think there’s ever a chance in this lifetime or the next where my obsession with you would wane?”
A flutter explodes in my stomach. “I think I should give you a matching scar.”
Cole growls and palms the back of my head. “I love you too, Raven. Now shut that pretty mouth before I bend you over this table and fuck you raw.”
“Hey guys,” Grayson interrupts. “She’s about to turn the corner where Jasper is.”
We both laser in on the screen, needing to watch Stephanie's expression when she finds her surprise.
The moment she rounds the hedge, she comes to a halt. “What are you doing here?” she asks with a bite in her tone. Nothing motherly in that woman there. “I asked you a question, boy.”
Jasper tilts his head, not answering.
“If you’re after my mark, I’ll give your brother your location,” she threatens, not knowing her son has been dead for over six months, almost seven.
“Do you even remember my name?” Jasper asks, and the vulnerability he’s trying to mask makes my heart throb painfully in my chest.
Stephanie waves her hand dismissively. “What does it matter? We change our names with each mark.”
Jasper scoffs. “I don’t con people, Stephanie. I kill them.”
She laughs like he told her the funniest joke she’s ever heard, but when he doesn’t join her, her joyous sound trails off. She stares at him and with each second that ticks by, her eyes grow wider until the implication dawns on her.
A blood-curdling scream rips from her and she twists around in a dead panic, running without looking. She smacks right into the hedge and somehow screams even louder as she flails her arms around to fight off the evergreen bush.
The four of us laugh as she fights an imaginary attacker. When she finally frees herself from the branches, she runs through the maze like she’s being chased, getting more and more flustered whenever she crashes into a dead end.
Jasper joins us, watching the screen with rapt attention. “We should’ve made popcorn for this.”
“We still could,” Cole says, tapping my leg for me to get up.
“No, no.” Jasper waves his hand for Cole to remain seated. “She’s almost out of the maze, anyway.”
“Help! Help!” Stephanie shouts as she stumbles from the hedges. She limps, having lost a shoe, and rushes to the table. “Help, please.”
I smile at her and wiggle my fingers in a wave. Her eyes dart from me to each of my men until they land on Jasper, and a pathetic whimper fills the air. She stumbles as she pivots and continues running away from us.
“Have fun, Little Bird. Time to add some flying butterflies to our garden.” Jasper smiles, his dimple shining from his cheek, and he winks at me. How the hell does he expect me to run after her with my legs wobbling like this?
Sure enough, my balance wavers as I push to my feet, but I quickly adjust and skip after Stephanie. When I’m closer to her, I pause and dip my hand under my skirt, sliding one of the shuriken from its holster.
Pinching the metal between my fingers, I let it fly… right into her ass.
Well, shit. Maybe I should’ve practiced beforehand. These aren’t the same shape or even weight of the ones Jasper taught me to throw. But now that I have a feel for it, I take the second one from its place on my thigh and continue my skipping to where Stephanie is on the ground.
Pausing by her side, I pluck the sharp tip of the butterfly from where it protrudes from her ass and crouch beside her. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you another chance to run, but on the count of ten, I’m throwing this again.”
