Page 39 of Fated to Them

I run from the room and down the stairs. What got into him? One thing is clear, though: I need to see Eli and Cyrus, and they need to tell me what the fuck happened the other night.

As I climb into the car, Sam runs out the door, stopping on the step. I open my door, and he shakes his head, holding up his hand.

“I am sorry, Adeline. I can’t be with you now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That mark on your neck, you have been claimed by one of them. You belong to them now.”

“Sam, you are not making any sense.”

“Go ask them, go ask your bosses,” he says, walking inside, leaving me there confused.

I get in the car and close the door. I leave, driving down the street before pulling my phone from my pocket. I dial Cyrus’s number.

Chapter Fifteen

Adeline

The phone rings, but he doesn’t pick up. It is late. Maybe this can wait till tomorrow. Yet I find myself driving in the direction of their office, trying to remember the address where they live. Giving up, I decide to turn around and head home when my phone rings. Cyrus’s number pops up on my stereo screen.

“Where are you?” I ask, not even bothering to say hello. I need answers, and they are going to give them to me.

“At home. Are you okay?” he asks, and I can hear the concern in his voice before hearing Eli in the background.

“She alright?” Eli asks, his voice just a soft murmur in the background.

“We are on our way,” Cyrus says when I haven’t said anything.

“No, I will come to you. What’s your address?” I ask, chewing on my nail while I wait on the side of the road.

“Everything okay, Addie? You sound upset.”

“I’m fine. What’s your address?”

“470 Langcliff Road. Are you sure you are—”

I hang up, not giving him a chance to finish and instead hitting the highway. They live just outside of town. I pull off the highway before driving onto a dirt road among the trees. What is with them living so secluded? Driving down the dirt road, I follow the twists and turns of the road before seeing a house in the distance. The lights are on, and I pull up on the long driveway to see them walk out onto the porch. Now that I am here, I am suddenly nervous. Sam’s words are on repeat in my head: Ask your bosses. Yet I only have partial memory, and they aren’t part of it, so how can they have the answers I am looking for?

I park the car. Cyrus and Eli step onto the long veranda that wraps around the entire house. They walk down the three steps, and my heart comes to a stop when Eli opens the car door.

“Why did you hang up on Cyrus?” he asks, and I can tell that action has annoyed him more than it should.

“Phone cut out,” I lie, and he raises an eyebrow at me like he doesn’t believe me.

“What’s wrong?” Cyrus asks, and I know they find it weird that I’m seeking them out instead of the other way around. Now faced with them right in front of me, I don’t even know how to broach the topic.

“Why are you nervous?” Eli asks, cocking his head to the side, my eyes running down the length of his body and the hard lines of muscles.

His body is just as gorgeous as Cyrus’s. Perfect. Though he has scars and lots of them, they make him look more handsome. I shake my head, tearing my eyes from him and looking at Cyrus, who has a lazy smile on his lips at me checking out his husband.

“I… I… um…” I can’t form a coherent thought now. I am going to look insane. Like, what exactly am I accusing them of? I don’t even know what I want to ask them myself.

Cyrus reaches for me, and I step back, my heart hammering in my chest.

I watch, horrified, as his eyes flicker oddly under the lights. My stomach is in knots as fear wraps over me, consuming me. How have I never really noticed how strange that is? I’ve always put their changing eyes down to poor lighting.

“I should go. I shouldn’t have come here,” I tell them, turning back to my car and reaching for the handle when I feel his warm chest press against my back. I gulp, fear paralyzing me as I stand frozen with my hand on the door handle.