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The next several days passed in a haze of anxiety and worry. All I could think of was Ryland and whatever he was planning next. It was exhausting. Steff tried to help. He and the rest of his friends pretty much had their entire company on high alert. They’d pulled all their employees off every other contract put them on twenty-four-hour rotating watches. They watched me and my family as well as Tate’s. We were the ones everyone assumed would be targeted again if the hunters attempted something else. I couldn’t help but wonder when they would escalate to actually trying to kill Steff and the other shifters. It made me nauseous with fear just to think about it.
The idea of returning to California had been completely wiped from my mind for days. When your life and the lives of the ones you loved were in danger, it was difficult to think of anything else. When Larry called me that Thursday, I cursed when I saw his number. I hadn’t checked in with him in days. I answered the call even though I didn’t want to talk to him.
“April? What the hell? I haven’t heard from you in almost a week. What the hell is going on?”
I gritted my teeth but put on a fake smile. “Sorry, Larry. Been really busy.”
“With getting ready to come home, I hope. I’ve got a big deal with a luxury car company lined up as soon as you get back. I need to let them know something, though. When’s your flight?”
I snapped. I was usually pretty even keel. I’d, thankfully, never developed a lot of the diva habits and personality some women in my world had. I tended to go with the flow. Something about the way Larry was talking to me set my nerves on edge, and I exploded.
“Fuck you, Larry. I told you to see who was interested. I didn’t say to go out and sign me the fuck up with anyone.”
“Uh… I’m sorry… I thought?—“
“No, you didn’t goddamn think, Larry. I know this may be news to you, but, and hear me loud and clear, you… work… for… me!” I shouted the last word into the speaker of the phone. “I have a lot of shit going on right now, and the last thing I’m worried about is rubbing my tits on a fucking luxury sedan, for Christ’s sake. I’m not coming home any time soon. Until further notice, I’m not taking any work. Do you understand me?”
There was a long moment of silence, and I could have sworn I heard a gulp. “I apologize, April. I screwed up. I’m sorry, seriously. I’ll… I’ll wait for your call, okay?”
I sighed, immediately regretting my outburst. “Larry, I’m sorry. There’s been some shit going on here… uh… family stuff. It’s got me on edge. I didn’t mean to bite your head off, but I do want to stay here and not worry about working for a few more weeks.”
“Gotcha, kid. Not a problem. I was probably due for an ass chewing. Call me if you need me.”
“Thanks. Bye, Larry.”
Part of my anger stemmed from the scene at Kris’s house when he’d found out what happened to Aiden. Kellan and I had gone over to update them on what had gone down the previous night. Kris had been pissed. He’d asked if we knew who did it,
and we told him. I thought he’d go straight to the high school to try to find Ryland. Instead, he paced around his house, fuming.
He’d looked at Chelsea. “You see? This is part of why I’m glad we decided not to have kids. This is the world we’d be trying to raise them in. It’s not worth it.”
Chelsea had looked devastated and heartbroken. I was pissed at Kris and opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, but Chelsea stopped me with a shake of her head. I shut my mouth, but I wasn’t happy about it.
As for Aiden, he seemed to have totally moved past the episode. He still didn’t remember who took him or how he got to the park, but he was unfazed by it. He basically shrugged it off. It was amazing how kids could bounce back from stuff. If I’d gone through that, I’d have been in therapy for years. He was out in the yard practicing his swing the next day, though with Kellan keeping a much closer eye on him.
As a precaution, Steff was working at my house. It was more or less to keep an eye on me. I had to admit it was nice having him there. It made things a little less scary. He seemed more stressed and on edge than any of us, though. He’d walked the house, compulsively looking out the windows and testing the locks on the doors. He truly looked like an angry bear pacing his cave, looking for danger. He also hadn’t eaten or slept much since Aiden was taken. He’d lost some weight, and dark circles ringed his eyes.
That night in bed, I decided to tell him how I felt. Steff was next to me, but instead of reading like he sometimes would, he had his phone out. It would have been a normal act, except for what I saw on the screen. It wasn’t a news site, nor was it a game. God, I would actually have been a little relieved if it had been porn. But no, he was flipping through the different camera feeds from outside. Still unable to calm down and obsessed with keeping us safe.
“Steff, I’m worried about you.”
He looked at me in surprise. “You’re worried about
me
? You’re the one in danger.”
“That’s not true and you know it. At least not totally. Yes, I’m in danger, but you’re the shifter. You and your friends. You’re the ones the hunters want to kill. The way you’ve been walking around here like some robotic sentinel? Not eating, barely sleeping? You are freaking me the fuck out.”
Steff’s face softened, and he dropped his phone in his lap and pulled me into a hug. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it had gotten that bad. I don’t want to stress you out any more than you already are. I’ll do better, I promise.”
I rubbed his back as we held each other. “It’s okay.”
“I feel guilty. No matter what I tell myself, I keep coming back to the thought that all this is my fault.”
I’d figured that was part of the problem. “You can’t think that. The hunters were already here. Neither Kellan nor I blame you for any of this. Ryland is a sick, twisted monster, and you didn’t make him that way.”
“Right, but that’s the thing. If I wasn’t what I was, then he wouldn’t be messing with you.”
“Steff, if anything, I’m to blame. It looks like Ryland was obsessed with me before all this went down. I went out with him and gave him some kind of false hope.”
Steff shrugged a shoulder and raised his eyebrows. “I guess we’re a hell of a pair. I never thought I’d date a woman and have a guy be obsessed with both of us. Sounds like the plot of a bad porno.”
“Gross, cut it out.” I kissed him lightly. “Let go of all that guilt. All we should focus on is stopping Ryland and getting back to normal.”
“Right. You’re always right. I need to remember that.” He furrowed his brow and stuck his chin out like a gorilla. “Me, big
dumb man. You, smart strong woman,” he said, grunting like a caveman.