Page 61 of The Demons We Hide

I drop my hands away from my face. "Someone attacked you because they want you to stay away from me, but you're still asking me to come back with you?Why?"

When I lift my head to meet Nolan's gaze, the darkness has completely taken over. The various shades of red and brown that make up his irises are practically black. A tingle of awareness, of warning, spikes into the back of my skull. It's like an instinctive reaction to coming into contact with a predator when you weren't expecting one.

"They came after us." Nolan's voice is cold, unwavering. "It doesn't matter why, it matters that they did and that they haven't been caught."

"They could come after you next," Gio says, just in case I hadn't already thought of it—to my chagrin, I hadn't. Now that he's said it, though, I see that it could be a very real possibility.

My plans to head to the motel bythe Veilcatch fire. It wouldn't be simply stupid. It would be begging for someone to come after me—again, I remind myself, as I think about the reason I was staying with Nolan in the first place. A groan works its way up my throat. I thunk my skull back against the headrest.

"We want to keep an eye on you—and out for you," Nolan says. "We want to keep you safe—at least until whoever jumped Gio is caught."

"And you're asking me to come back?" I can't understand it. "Not telling?" They could do it too—force my hand. There's no reason for them to actually give me a choice.

"We don't want to worry about you running off the second we take our eyes off you," Nolan says. I almost laugh at how reasonable he sounds. "If you agree to come back, then you do it of your own free will. You won't run off. You'll stick with us."

"What about my job?" I ask. "You still going to let that happen?"

Nolan shrugs. "Why wouldn't we?"

I snort. "Because you're assholes who don't like it when someone else looks at what you think is yours."

A low noise—like that of an animal in rut—echoes into the air. I stiffen and bolt up, glancing out the window wondering if we're about to be attacked by something even as we fly down the highway. But no, there's no sign of any animal racing down the side of the road towards us or even barreling out of the woods. Slowly, I turn my head back until my eyes lock with the gunmetal gray of Lex's gaze. It's him, I realize a split second later. He's the one making that sound. My stomach bottoms out and completely falls away.

"Is that what you want, baby?" he asks, voice low, entrancing. "Do you want to belong to us?"

For once, my initial reaction isn't to scoff or immediately tell him no. I actually consider his words.DoI want to belong to them? The safety in being in a pack of men, of letting the Scorpion Kings face all of the bullshit I'll no doubt have to deal with for at least several more months until graduation is heady. I wouldn't be alone. I wouldn't be caught off guard if something else happens.

Men like pretty things, Juliet.My mother's voice stabs into my head, reminding me of all the reasons that I didn't want to stay with them in the first place.Men will treat pretty things much better than ugly things. Always be pretty.

My hands curl into fists, the crescents of my nails digging into my palms until the pain drives her voice back. Peopleownpretty things, and I used to be controlled by that life. I'm not anymore. I don't want to be owned again because being owned means you can be thrown away too—whether you're pretty or not.

Turning away from Lex, I decide not to answer him as I fix my gaze on Nolan once more. "You want me to move back in with you," I state.

He nods.

"You want to keep an eye on me until you can find out who attacked Gio?"

His lips twitch, but he nods again.

"Do you think you can figure that out by the end of the year?" I ask. "By graduation."

Nolan's eyes sharpen. "I plan to find them well before then."

I have so few options, and this isn't even the worst one. What do I have to lose? I blow out a breath.

"Fine," I say.

Nolan straightens. "Fine?" he repeats. "Does that mean...?"

It's my turn to nod even as a pit opens up in my stomach as the flames of my plans burn a hot path over my freedom, erasing any possibility of me turning them down.It's better than being homeless,I tell myself.It's better than being helpless.

"This is a temporary truce," I tell them. "But yes, I'll come back with you."

At the front, Gio whoops, and I gasp as the action causes him to jerk the wheel and the car teeters to the side before evening back out in the lane. Lex growls and Nolan looks like he's ready to lean forward and smack the shit out of his friend. Thankfully, both keep their hands to themselves—likely in case injuring Gio in any way messes with the car again. Gio merely grins back at me with that wicked smile of his.

"You know what this means, don't you, Prep Girl?" he asks.

I dread the answer before it even comes out of his mouth, but when it does, I want to sink back into the seat and disappear into the upholstery because I know he's right. Everyone is going to think it, know it before the next week is out, and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

---