Page 79 of Infernal Secrets

Ash let go of me and turned.

Ezra stood in the doorway, his gaze locking on mine. The vicious look made me stiffen. I’d never felt threatened by him—not like this.

Had he heard Ash’s story?

Ash hadn’t revealed secrets about their kind or said anything inappropriate. Maybe finding Ash in my room was the problem. Was he annoyed that Ash slept upstairs? Nothing happened… sort of.

Oblivious to the rising tension, Ash asked, “What’s up?”

“Breakfast.” With that simple word, Ezra turned and left the room.

“Want to eat before you get ready?”

And face more of whatever had Ezra’s underwear in a twist? Not likely.

I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and checked the time. “Can’t. I’m running behind. Still gotta pick up Maya since I have her car.”

He frowned. “You need to eat more.”

“I’ll probably grab something at the food court when I get to the mall.”

“That’s not enough,” he said, brushing a few messy strands of hair from my face with his fingers. All traces of the pain from his past disappeared from his eyes. “It isn’t good for you.”

I smiled, appreciating that someone cared about my well-being.

From the moment we met, I pegged Ash as the caregiver type. Strange that despite losing his parents so young, he still watched out for others.

I wasn’t much older when my parents died, and I cared about people too, but I didn’t worry about others to the degree Ash seemed to.

“I promise I’ll eat something nutritious.”

Right after a sugary coffee.

20

SURVIVAL

RAE

Islumped against the side of Maya’s car, glancing around the covered upper level of the parking garage. Few cars remained on this level at this hour.

Shane organized a staff dinner with Diane after work, using Grandma’s death as an excuse to “bring us together.” On the surface, it sounded thoughtful, but both Maya and I knew he just wanted to impress Diane in case I reported his creepy behavior.

When he cornered me outside the restaurant bathroom to suggest I come over to his place so he could “comfort” me, I realized I wasn’t overthinking it. I reminded him he was my boss and that I intended to keep things professional. He assured me he wanted nothing more than to “support” me.

Maya tossed her purse onto the passenger seat. “You sure you don’t want me to give you a ride?”

“I’ll be fine. I think I wanna be alone right now, anyway.”

I needed space to get my head together, but the excuse also hid the four men at my house from Maya. She’d seen two already, but she didn’t know our connection. As far as she knew, they came from out of town for Grandma’s funeral.

I didn’t give her the same excuses I gave Mr. Stevenson. I refused to keep piling on lies. I hated dishonesty, but sometimes it simplified life.

“I wouldn’t stay or anything,” she said, climbing into her car and rolling down the window to peer up at me. “Just figured it’d be better than the bus.”

I appreciated the space to grieve, but eventually we’d return to normal. If I started bailing on movie night… I sighed. I didn’t want to worry her.

“I could use the fresh air and the walk.” The bus stop wasn’t far from the parking garage, and the breeze felt nice tonight. Checking the time on my phone, I said, “I’m gonna get going. I don’t know when the next bus comes through. I don’t wanna miss this one.”