Page 54 of Alluring Darkness
I glance behind me to find Jace strolling towards us with a baseball bat resting on his shoulder. Next to him, Kaden is shaking his head while twirling a knife in his hand. Rico moves around his own car to meet them.
“It was just sitting there unattended,” Jace replies with a grin. “I couldn’t just leave it.”
Rico snorts. “Of course you couldn’t, Golden.”
“Hey.” Jace swings the bat off his shoulder and points it menacingly at Rico. “The guy without the bat should not be rude to the guy with the bat. It’s Bat Etiquette 101.”
“Bat etiquette?”
“Yes, bat etiquette.”
“Stop sayingbat,” Kaden interrupts. “Or I swear I’m going to snatch the bloody thing out of your hands and crack both of your skulls with it.”
I can see Jace about to open his loud mouth and say it, just because he feeds off chaos, but I doubt Rico’s grandfather would be pleased if Kaden cracked Rico’s skull open, so I speak before Jace can set those events into motion.
“Actually,” I begin.
All three of them stop their bickering and turn to me. Raina does too.
“Do you have any more of those?” I finish, nodding towards the bat.
Jace’s brown eyes light up like sparkling amber. “Do I have any more? Is that even a question, dear brother?”
“Yes or no?” I demand.
Changing direction, Jace heads back towards his car while jerking his chin at us. I follow. Next to me, Raina begins to move too.
I throw out my arm, blocking her path, and cut her a hard look. “Not you.”
Glaring up at me, she grinds her teeth in annoyance and crosses her arms. But she remains in place while the rest of us follow Jace to the trunk of his car.
When we’re all there, he pops the trunk and then sweeps his hand dramatically over it.
My eyebrows climb higher as I stare down at a pile of what has to be at least eight bats.
Rico laughs, his eyebrows raised as well, and repeats, “Seriously?”
Jace pointedly raises a finger while shooting him a serious look. “You never know when you might need a good bat.”
“Well, that time is now,” I say before Rico can start teasing him again.
Reaching into the pile, I pick one up and then start back towards where Raina is still standing, watching us suspiciously.
Wooden clattering from behind informs me that Kaden and Rico pick up bats too.
“You’re welcome,” Jace calls as he slams his trunk shut again.
I chuckle. Glancing back at them, I find Rico flipping him off over his shoulder and Kaden spinning his knife in his hand one last time before sliding it into its sheath and hefting the bat instead. Jace grumbles under his breath as he runs to catch up with them.
Warm winds whoosh across the fields and slam into the tall trees before us. Leaves rustle and branches shake as the winds whirl through the forest for another few second before everything goes silent and still again. A couple of birds caw from somewhere deeper into the woods.
Raina is standing with her back to the trees. She’s wearing a short white skirt today, paired with a tight brown shirt that dips a little down her ample cleavage. Her long black hair flutters behind her as another gust, a much gentler one this time, sweeps through the air. I study the white sneakers she’s wearing as I come to a halt two steps in front of her.
Why does she insist on dressing like that? This is a school for assassins, for fuck’s sake. She could at least put on sensible footwear. Those shoes are going to get ruined in this forest today.
“So… what?” Raina begins in a snarky tone, her arms still crossed over her chest. “We’re playing baseball in the woods?”
My brothers come to a halt as well, flanking me. For a few seconds, the four of us just stand there side by side, watching her.