Series: Webs We Weave Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 145038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
“Nova,” I groan, my face in my palms. I peek between my fingers and see Jake glancing back at Rocky, like he’ll shovel him out of the ditch he’s dug with my brother.
Rocky holds up his hands. “You piss off Nova, that’s your bed to lie in.”
“Rocky’s been sleeping in it for the past decade,” Oliver pipes in with a smile.
“And you’re what?” Jake asks Rocky. “The manipulator?”
“He’s the silver tongue,” Carter reveals.
Rocky raises and lowers his brows.
Jake nods back, and do I sense…a shared respect? Are they getting along? My lungs inflate, and I wonder if a team-up could really work between us.
Trevor rests a forearm on Rocky’s shoulder. “You want to know what they call me?”
“A little turd,” I mention. My silence lasted like two seconds. I’m only somewhat ashamed.
“Wannabe stripper,” he slings back.
“Trevor,” Rocky grits out.
“You’ve said worse to her, come on.”
He swipes a hand across his eyes.
It admittedly turns me on when Rocky is mean. It does not turn me on hearing a stupid insult from his nineteen-year-old brother. And I am not about to explain that out loud.
Neither is Rocky.
“This shifty bloke here is the youngest of them.” Carter motions to the lankiest in the room. “The psychopath.”
“Trevor Tinrock,” he says flatly.
“The psychopath?” Jake repeats with hesitance.
“It’s a joke,” Rocky interjects.
“That’s news to me,” Oliver adds.
“And me,” Nova says.
“Self-diagnosed,” Hailey chimes in, staring faraway.
I weave my arms. “He wishes he were one. Because it’s so cool.”
“You don’t know what I’ve done, PG—”
“Enough,” Rocky snaps.
Jake checks the time on his watch. We should leave for the cemetery, but no one makes a move toward the exit.
“So you all have different specialties?” Jake asks us.
“Sort of,” I say.
“It’s what we were taught,” Hailey clarifies. “They separated some of us. Paired some together. We each have…had a purpose.” She’s unblinking and staring at everything but really at nothing.
It scares me. “Hails.” I squeeze her hand.
She doesn’t squeeze back.
“I think we should go,” I say.
“No,” Hailey breathes. “They need to know about them.”
“About who?” Jake asks.
She lifts her head up, and Jake meets her haunted gaze as she says, “The people who made us what we are.”
“Your parents?”
“Our parents,” Hailey repeats, sounding heartbroken. She pushes down the brim of her hat, and then she shakes her head slowly.
“Hails?” I whisper.
“No,” she croaks out. “They’re not…” Her headshakes become fiercer. “We don’t know…” She’s more distraught and tugs away from me, spinning rapidly in a circle like she’s searching for an exit.
I reach out for her, but she’s a bullet in the other direction.
Carter, Jake, and Oliver shoot to their feet—everyone is now standing as Hailey flees toward the doorway that Nova blocks.
He lets her easily through. I think because Oliver is on her heels.
She just needs air. She’ll be okay. My pulse pounds in my neck, and I chase after my best friend and come crashing into Nova’s firm chest.
He fills the exit again.
“Nova,” I say, hurt. “Let me through.”
He dips his head to whisper, “Oliver is with her.”
“I can be with her, too. She needs me.” Why is he looking at me like that? Hot tears burn my eyes. This is cruel and unusual from my brother. “Nova.”
His face fractures with shards of pain, too. “I love you, all right. I’m not doing this to hurt you.”
“Then let me through.”
“I can’t,” he forces out with reddened eyes. He checks on our audience behind me, then lowers his voice again. “He’s the only one who’s gotten her to sleep. Let him try to reach her right now without you.”
Pain wells up, but it’s not about me. This is about Hailey, and if she needs my brother and not me…I wince at myself. It’s just so strange. Why would she need him over me?
Bruised ego, check.
Let it go, Phoebe.
“Yeah…okay.” I back away from Nova like a wounded animal, and all I want to do is walk into the comfort of Rocky’s arms.
He’s right there. At the fridge. With a menacing, brooding look that feels naturally welcoming to me. His attention is mine—his gaze sweeping down me in a hard, caring stroke.
I stop short when Trevor whispers to his brother and steals half his focus.
Right.
No one knows we’re together. I really want to change that, but not now. Not after all this.
Carter and Jake are still standing. Still concerned. I doubt it could evaporate at this point. It’s a permanent weather condition. “What’s got Ailey so knackered?” Carter asks us.
We’re all quiet, casting furtive glances, wondering which one of us will spill the beans. We all end up staring at Rocky.
He rolls his eyes, then says, “Even if we tell you this, even if we agree to work together on a job, you could turn on us at the end.”
“I’ll give you my sister’s address,” Jake promises. “I love her. It’s the biggest collateral I have.”