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Oceans and cardigans…
Happy place…
Happy place with Ryder…
CHAPTER 15
We can take the food to go,” Tessa said for the fourth time when I checked my phone. I glanced at her. My sister looked better like somehow she’d managed to get some sleep. It wasn’t lost on me that she was dressed to hunt rather than dressed to nap.
“We’ll stay here,” I told her without reason. Still, I kept my phone out. Trying to be casual, I propped it up against a glass. I didn’t need her to see the screen because the minute my sister found out what I was up to, all hell would break loose.
“You’re hiding your emotions.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being carefully composed.”
“Unless you’re hiding something.”
“Do you think I’m hiding something?”
“You’re acting suspiciously,” Tessa accused. I stopped staring at the screen to look at her. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to try to read me. “Damn it, Ryder! You were always too damn good at hiding.”
“Stop reading my emotions, Tess,” I snapped. “When I have something you need to know, I’ll tell you.”
And I would. As soon as I confirmed my theory. Admittedly, I hated leaving Gray at the motel, but it had to happen.
“Is it about Jake and Mal?” she asked quietly. The worry that ebbed through me wasn’t mine, making me sigh. Fuck. “It is, isn’t it? Did something happen to Gray that happened to them?”
Double fuck.
“Do not panic on me, understand?” I said. The last thing I needed was Tessa panicking while I tried to deal with everything all at once. Only when she nodded did I continue. “Let me ask you two questions. How many times did Mal and Jake go to The Cove?”
“It was only twice. But I don’t think they went in the first time.” They’d definitely gone in the first time. “Why do you ask?”
“Second question: where were you the night they disappeared? And were they planning on going out that night?”
“That’s three questions.”
“Answer mine and I’ll answer yours.”
“I took Jo over to see my in-laws. They’re really wonderful—maybe a little over-involved at times, but they’re nice. Jake was supposed to come with us, but he didn’t feel good.” Her words trailed off with the last sentence, her brows knitting together. “Why does that matter?”
“Were Mal and Jake supposed to go out that night?” I repeated.
“No,” she whispered. “They were planning to wait and get more information. I just figured… Mal can be impulsive. What do you know, Ryder?”
“After finding Gray outside the club this morning, I scoured the Demon Web for anything else I could find on sirens,” I explained. “Most of it was everything we already knew. But there was one story I came across—a personal account—that I can’t get out of my head.”
”What happened?”
“Three hunters went after a siren outside of Boston.” I knew this story by heart. I’d read it so many fucking times that I could recite it in my sleep at this point. “During the first encounter, one of the hunters ended up trapped with the siren. It was no more than a few minutes before the other two got to him. The siren got away, and they went home.”
“I mean,” she shrugged, “that happens. There’s nothing out of the ordinary about that.”
“The hunter that had been trapped with the siren couldn’t remember anything about his encounter with it,” I continued. Like Gray. “He could remember how he ended up in the room with it but not what came after. The following day, he was irritable and frustrated—understandable, considering the day before. However, that night, shit hit the fan. He became erratic, hearing voices that weren’t there. And when he went to leave, nothing and no one could stop him. He ended up going right back to the siren. Whatever had happened between him and the siren when they were alone, it left its mark on him and called him right back.”
“What does this have to do with Jake and Mal?” From the look on her face, she knew exactly where I was going with this.
“I think Jake and Mal ran into the siren on their first night inside The Cove. And I think they initially weren’t going to go back, but it already had its hold on them. There’s nothing you could’ve done to stop them from going back,” I said when she opened her mouth, knowing exactly what she’d say. “And I know that Gray encountered the siren last night.”
