I blink. She’s all hazy.How did I get on the floor?
“What...” the word comes out slurred.
“Oz, look at me. What’s wrong?”
“Dunno.” The ceiling turns upside down. “Dizzy.”
Freya hooks her arm around my back. “Okay, we’ve got to get you to the hospital. Can you walk?” She pulls me up and I stumble again but I manage to catch myself on the island.
My eyes snag on the empty coffee cup. My heart drops to my stomach like a bomb. I try to focus on Freya. “What did you do?”
She cringes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Freya loops my arm over her shoulders, and I have no choice but to lean on her. The floor is made of water. I keep sinking into it and my thoughts are getting washed away by the waves. I close my eyes for a second.
When I open them, we’re outside and Freya’s resting me against the car as she opens the door.
“Come on now, in you get,” she says.
I frown at her, because this is Freya, and I must be wrong. She wouldn’t hurt me.
It’s getting hard to think, so I do as I’m told even though my brain is screaming at me.Why won’t it shut up?
I’m lying across the back seats. Breathing is hard. Sluggish. The car starts growling at me. I swat it away. I want to sleep now. I’m drifting off when Freya’s words from earlier float to the forefront of my mind.“They decided to go to the office to sort some stuff out.” That’swhat’s been niggling at me. We never call it the office. It’s always The Lair.
I told Freya that the other day and she laughed so much. She loved it.
I have this overwhelming feeling that maybe I shouldn’t be sleeping right now but my eyes are too heavy to keep open. Oh well. Maybe one of the guys will wake me up.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Freya
I THINK I have to tell them the truth.
I stare at the houses blurring by as River drives us home. Ever since Kyle mentioned Posy had a twin, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do next. These guys are some of the smartest in the country, if I don’t tell them soon, they’ll work it out by themselves.
A creeping sensation tiptoes up the back of my neck and my leg jitters like a sewing machine.
Eli scowls at my knee, like I’m deliberately disturbing his space just to wind him up. He’s been nicer to me the last couple of days but every now and then I find him staring at me, his eyes hot with anger and lust. Like he wants to hate-fuck me.
I’m no longer sure I’d be so opposed to the idea. I could do with being thrown around a bit. A rough and hard tangling of bodies. Maybe it would get rid of the nervous energy bubbling inside of me.
The closer to home we get, the more on edge I become. I’m not sure when I switched to thinking of the guys’ house as home, but the realization does nothing to help my panic.
At first, I think the panic is just because of what Kyle revealed but I’ve always been hyper-alert to my surroundings and as we drive up to the house the unease sinks and twists like smoke in my stomach.
Oz’s car is gone.
I sit forward, peering out the window. “Did Oz say he was going to The Lair?”
I glance over at Eli. He’s staring at the empty space on the drive. “No.
River pulls the car to a stop and Jude unclips his seat belt. “He’s probably just popped out for a moment. Maybe he found something on the tapes.” There’s nothing to suggest Jude is wrong but his voice is hesitant, like he’s trying to convince himself.
We walk to the door in silent, purposeful strides. Inside, River calls out for Oz.
There’s no answer.
My heart trips over itself and I push past the guys into the kitchen. “Oz?” I call. Nothing.
