Page 125 of When Darkness Calls

“Good, good. I called Liz during lunch. Told her that my masked savior stopped coming around, but that’s fine because me and you have been…talking…and everything’s just peachy in Dani World.”

I chuckled at her sarcasm. “What’d she say?”

“She was heartbroken that I wasn't living in my ‘dark romance era’ but she said she would be supportive, although slightly disappointed, if I decided to go the romcom route with the brother’s best friend.” She grins at me amused and I snort, shaking my head.

“Whatcha cooking?” She slumps into a chair by the table.

“Iii’m making nachos.”

She moans. “God, nachos sound so fucking good. I haven’t gotten to eat today.”

“Why not? You should be eating, sweet girl.”

Her cheeks turn that lovely rosy color I love to see. “It was…weird today with Issac. I don’t know what’s going on there, and Liz was home. She skipped and I didn’t want to have another awkward meal with Issac, so I just studied during break.” She lifts her shoulder unfazed, but my brows crease in concern.

“Still though, you could’ve gotten a snack or something,” I mutter. I look to the left at the pantry, walking over and scanning the inside before landing on a couple of granola bars. “S’mores, peanut butter, or chocolate chip?”

“Peanut Butter.”

I grab the bar and toss it on the table in front of her. “Munch away. Food’ll be a little bit longer.”

She mutters her thanks, tearing the wrapper open, and taking a quick bite. “Why are you cooking so early?”

“That mission Cay said we had?” I peer at her stirring the ground beef in the pan.

“Yeah.”

“It’s tonight. We’re heading out to the warehouse around six.” I turn around, leaning against the counter, gripping the edge.

She kind of deflates at the news. “Oh. Okay. So, what do I do?”

I ran my hand down my face. “I thought you could go to Liz’s. If not, Cade sometimes stays back, and you can sit with him at the warehouse. Either way, I have to go.” I sigh and she nods.

“I’d prefer to stay with Cay, if that won’t be a problem. I’m pretty sure the reason Liz was home is ‘cause she’s sick.”

I cringe. “Gotcha. Okay. I’ll text Cade. You should too.”

“Will do. I’m excited. I can’t wait to see what you guys actually get up to. I bet it’s badass.”

“This is totally not badass!” Dani shouts in the background in my earpiece. Cade tells her to shut up.

“What’s it look like down there, Grays? I can’t see fucking anything anymore.” His voice cuts through the speaker. I can hear him tapping away at his computer, cursing under his breath.

“You’re dark. All of you are. I don’t have eyes.”

“Fuck,” Nick mumbles beside me.

We’re in a building on the edge between Blackwoods and East End, a couple miles from the storage yard, one of the meeting places our dear friend Marcus told us about.

The problem?

There were about eight guys guarding the place we didn’t expect, and Keegs tripped an alarm.

This was supposed to be a simple in and out. Check for civilians, scout out supplies, and then it would be decided whether it would go up in flames, or I install a few of Cade’s little toys around the place since he couldn’t do it himself anymore.

But now, something’s blocking the video for Cay to watch us on our body cams, and I have no fucking idea what I’m doing without him telling me, and he can’t tell me what to do if he can’t see what I am doing.

“Should we back out?” Keeg asks over the earpiece.