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Ha! Suck it!
We ran, laughing. I glanced back at Seth to shit talk him but before I could get a word out, I tripped and tumbled head over ass. Landing flat on my back, the wind damn near knocked out of me.
Seth rushed up, checking to make sure I was okay. “Holy shit, Snow, you good?” Concern plastered across his face.
“Yeah, yeap. Peachy.” I grunted, a blunt ache spread across my back. Seth must’ve decided I was fine because he busted out a full bellied laugh, the corners of his eyes crinkled.
“Oh my god, that was freaking great. It was like it was right out of a movie. Damn, Erin, you really know how to fall.” He clutched his stomach as the laughter continued to spill out of his mouth. He looked absolutely ridiculous and I started cracking up too.
We sobered up and I got back on my feet. We apparently ran further than I thought because right around the corner was the store. As we walked through the entrance, I ran through everything we needed, pointing down the different aisles. I gave Seth a list of food to grab and made my way towards the produce.
I was sorting through a pile of apples, picking the least bruised, when I heard someone walk up behind me, startling me, and annoyingly caused me to drop the only non-bruised apple I could find. I turned around with the best RBF face I could manage, to find Derik smirking at me. And holding the damn apple like that vampire in theTwilightmovies. Talk about cringy. They’re great books but in real life, kinda cheesy. Especially when it’s a guy you can barely stand.
“Fancy seeing you here, Snow.” His smirk morphed into…a smolder?
“Buying food, obviously. What do you want, Rider?” He looked confused at the movie reference. “Rider, as in Flynn Rider?Tangled?” I arched my eyebrow at him and it seemed to click.
“The main guy?” His confusion turned into a big ass grin. “So, if I’m Flynn, that must mean I’m supposed to save the damsel in distress. How may I be of service, Ma’lady?”—he winked at me and bowed. I rolled my eyes—“Or maybe…a kiss?” I smacked his arm. He threw his hand across his forehead feigning offense.
“You’re so dramatic, you know that? And you didn’t answer my question.” I shifted my weight to one side and crossed my arms over my chest.
Derik straightened, the corner of his mouth twitched. “Same as you. Just saw you and Seth walking in and thought I’d sayhello.” He gave me a look that saidyou two came in together, with an emphasis on thetogetherpart.
“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m crashing at Seth’s for a bit. He’s helping me…” I remembered Seth saying Derik was in on the whole Angel-human half-bred thing too. “With some things.” My eyes met his, a bite of annoyance resurfaced.
He must’ve understood what I was really saying because he followed up with. “So, Seth gave you the rundown, then? Pretty cool, huh?” I nodded, a sigh fell from my lips.
There would’ve been no reason for Derik to have told me himself.
I don’t know why I continued our conversation because I usually couldn’t stand Derik. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. It’s a lot to take in out of nowhere. They don’t exactly teach you this stuff in school.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“True.”
We stood awkwardly for a few seconds and stared at one another, unsure of what to say. Derik turned to walk away and saw Seth stride towards us. “Hey, man, how’s it goin’?”
“Just chatting with Snow, she said you two were on a mission.” Derik laughed lightly.
“It’s not my fault his place has no food,” I snapped.
Seth shrugged in agreement. “What can I say, I’ve been busy. Got a lot on my hands lately.” He glanced at me briefly before he turned to Derik.
“No kidding. Have you heard anything about what went down at Riverside?” Unease dotted Derik’s chocolate eyes as he waited for Seth’s response. The article I’d skimmed about the disappearances popped in my mind.
The hair on my neck pricked up at the thought of it.
Seth let out an exasperated sigh. “Nothing new. I’ve got a few of the crew looking into it. I meant to check it out but haven’t made my way out there yet.”
I pressed my lips together, the guilt licked at me. He skipped his trip out there because of me.
Why did he need to go in the first place? Why would what happened at Riverside have anything to do with Seth?
Derik pondered that for a minute. “How about we head that way tonight? See if we can find some more intel,” he looked at me, a mischievous grin played at the edges of his mouth. “You up for it?”
I furrowed my brows. “Up for what? Wouldn’t Riverside be roped off and considered an off-limits crime scene with all of the people missing?”
He smirked at me. “Oh, Rin, Riverside wassomuch more thanjusta fire with missing bodies. This has Demons written all over it.” A fire burned in Derik’s piercing slate-blue eyes. His hatred for these things bled out into the air around us.
Seth’s face darkened. “I don’t think Erin should go. Not yet. She’s just now going through the transition. She’s not ready.”
