Page 69 of Fallen Flame

I sat beside Ever. Alice dropped into the chair on my other side like this was just another Tuesday afternoon instead of the day someone had tried to kidnap me.

Honestly... that was kind of comforting.

Traumatic? Sure.

But I was very much a live-in-the-moment kind of person.

The last moment hadn’t gotten me kidnapped. So now I was onto this moment.

Ever leaned forward toward Alice.

“Are we supposed to be in here?” she whispered.

Alice laughed. “Yeah, doll.”

“But why?”

“Because shit has hit-ith the fan.”

I snorted.

Star looked over from farther down the table. “Cameras.”

I frowned. “...Cameras?”

“Mom still has them running in the common areas.”

I looked at her. Then at Alice. Then back at Star. “...Huh?”

Alice reached over and patted my knee. “Oh, honey.” She smiled sympathetically. “You are so far behind on things.”

Apparently.

“Have Oliver give you the cliff notes later.”

I looked over at Ever.

She laughed. “Yeah... that might be for the best.” She pointed at herself. “I’m still figuring things out.”

Well, that made two of us.

The door opened again, and Wrecker and Pipe walked inside before shutting it firmly behind them.

The room quieted almost instantly.

Wrecker walked to the head of the table while Pipe and Nickel took their spots beside him.

I shifted slightly in my chair just enough to glance over my shoulder. Oliver had taken his place behind me.

Good. I needed to know he was there.

“We need to talk later,” I whispered to Oliver. Apparently, I wasn’t nearly as quiet as I’d intended.

“Ooooooh,” Arlo chided.

Mason joined in. “So he’s in trouble?”

Oliver looked down at me and nodded once. A tiny smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.