Page 58 of Property of Bones

“It says ‘Get Naked’”, Sunny screeches.

“Put it in front of the fridge.”

Skip doubles over, wheezing. “Oh, man. You’re a menace. Who knew?”

I lean against the wall, arms crossed, watching her with open amusement.

“You done?” I ask.

“No,” she huffs. “I haveso manywords for you.”

“Pick three. Make ‘em good.”

She points a finger in my face, eyes blazing. “Overbearing. Alpha. Hooligan.”

I grin. “You forgotyours.”

That stops her cold.

Her mouth opens. Shuts. Opens again.

“I hate you,” she whispers, cheeks flushed, lips twitching.

“Keep telling yourself that,” I say, straightening up and walking past her toward the kitchen.

“And Jack?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“If you moved… no…if you so much astouchedmy book collection,I swear I will make you read a twenty-book romance series about a cinnamon roll librarian who only falls for poets.”

I pause. Glance back.

“I might’ve packed those too.”

She gasps like I shot her.

“You absolutemonster.Did you pack them properly? Oh no. I bet there are folds and creases all over them. Hey, who has the box of books?”

I decide not to mention the pair ofgranny pantiescurrently stashed away in my pocket.

Too soon.

***

“Is everyone here?” Foster asks as we settle into our usual seats in the war room.

“Just missing Knuckles,” Spike says, arms crossed and expression unreadable. “He’s with his parents today. I’ll catch him up later. What’s going on?”

The screens flicker. The feed from the clubhouse cams disappear, replaced by four grainy video feeds, all from different angles. Alleyways. Rooftops. Security from storefronts. All surrounding Iron Café.

“Alright,” Foster begins, fingers already dancing across the keyboard. “I pulled all footage from inside the diner the day the girls were drugged. Nothing useful. No weird reactions. No suspicious moves. Looked like a standard takeout order.”

He clicks again. The video sharpens on a back alley.

“But then I pulled footage from buildings around the diner. Cross-referenced timestamps. And eventually… I foundthis.”

A figure appears on screen, hood up, pacing, hands twitching.

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