Page 70 of Zeke
“Good call,” I say.
“I may end up plugged in all night, so if I don’t see you—”
“I’ll see you in the morning,” I reply, reaching out to grab his hand and pull him into an embrace. This feels good. This feels right. Eli and I were never meant to fight. We are two halves of a whole, and the only thing missing from us is the piece Eden brings to the trio.
We part ways, and I get on my bike to pick up Kira. When I arrive, Rebel is in the parking lot, smoking a cigarette. Pony is inside, making sure two people are on watch, exactly how I want it to be.
When I wake up the next morning, I go down to the kitchen to get coffee for myself and Kira again, only this time, instead of running into Julia, I find Eden, Savage, and Eli sitting around the table with cups of coffee. They look up as I come in, and Eli reaches next to him and picks up a lone mug, holding it up to me.
“About time you woke up,” Eli says, pulling out the chair beside him.
I slide into the seat and grab the still-hot mug, which means it hasn’t been sitting there for very long.
“About time?” I say. “Seems like you were expecting me right about now.”
“It’s been almost five whole minutes,” he says, drinking his coffee to cover up his smirk.
“Hilarious.” I take a long sip of the dark liquid, the taste almost as effective at waking me up as the caffeine.
“Yes, yes,” Eden says, calling us to order. “I’m thrilled you two are on speaking terms again.” She says it like she’s bored of us already, but she can’t hide the smile on her face that shows how happy she is that we’re no longer feuding. “But let’s go ahead and get down to business. Yesterday, I gave you the rundown of what happened in Miami. There’s not much more that happened there that concerns us, so I’m putting a pin in that one.”
We nod in agreement, and Eden continues. “Now, Eli told me about what happened with Kira, but I was hoping I could get the full story again since I was kind of dealing with other shit at the time.”
She looks at me, and I clear my throat. “Well, we thought Wizard was the one creeping around on her, but once you guys caught him and took him back to Miami, someone else left flowers on her steps. There was a note, too.”
Eli has the note next to him, and he passes it over to Eden. She raises her eyebrows and hands it to Savage, who doesn’t react except to offer a dark look at my sister.
“What happened then?” she asks me.
“She called me, and I hauled ass over there,” I say like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I told her to hide in her bathroom, and I made sure she waited for me before she let herself out. There was no one there, which was good because it means whoever it was is at the threat stage and not moving to action—yet, at least.”
“And how exactly did she end up here?” Eden asks.
“I brought her,” I tell her. “I told her to pack a bag and get on my bike. I brought her home with me so she could be here and watched around the clock.”
“But she’s still working?” Savage asks.
“Through no choice of mine, I promise,” I say. Eli and I exchange a look that shows we have the same feeling about it. “But everyone has agreed to help out with keeping watch over the bakery until we figure out who’s sending a message to Kira—and what they want, other than her.”
“Okay.” Eden leans back in her chair and adjusts her messy ponytail. She tilts her head back, and Savage reaches over to grip the back of her neck, rubbing it in a way that has her relaxing into his touch. “Well, I guess if that’s all…”
“It’s not,” Eli says, pulling out a notebook with some scribbles in it. “I’ve seen this guy sitting in his car in lots near the bakery a couple of times now. The second time, he nearly ran me over trying to drive away as fast as he could. Could be nothing—just a coincidence—”
“I believe in coincidence as much as I believe in fairies,” Eden says.
“You and me both,” I say before deferring back to Eli.
“Well, I was up last night,” he says. “I was trying to find out as much as I could on the guy, but I had a hard time figuring out who he could be. There aren’tthatmany cars of that make and model in the area, but I didn’t get a good look at the license plate or his face, so I’m kind of running on guesswork here. I was hoping you guys or Zeke, maybe Kira and Julia when they get off work, could help me go through registrations and see if anyone looks familiar or if any names jump out at you.”
“I could do that,” I say, glad to be able to be useful. “I’m taking Kira to work, but Country’s planning to come, too. I could come back and help out while he watches over the girls at the bakery.”
“I think that’s a good plan,” Eden says, throwing back the rest of her coffee. “Now if there’s nothing else, I’m going to head to my office to try to catch up on business shit until you guys need me.”
“Sounds good, Prez,” Eli and I say together, which makes her smile.
“I missed you guys,” she replies. She’s about to turn and run from the room to avoid having to admit she’d shown feelings, but we’re not having it.
“Youwhat?” Eli asks in mock surprise.