Page 9 of Keeping Kasey
Ford haphazardly hits the keyboard. “I don’t have much of a choice.”
“I’ve tried everything,” Kade agrees. “Playing is the only option.”
I huff a sigh, take a seat beside Ford, and watch him play.
Within fifteen seconds, he loses and has to restart. This time, he only makes it ten seconds. I watch with pure irritation as he dies over and over again.
“I don’t remember this game being so difficult,” I say.
Ford shakes his head. “It’s not. It’s like this version is on steroids.”
Great. Not only do I have a Pac-Man virus taking over my entire base, but it’s a juiced-up version that not even my best nerd can beat.
Any plans I had of going out tonight are long gone, and I cynically wonder if the day could get any worse.
When my phone rings, I get the answer to that question.
It can get worse.Muchworse.
I answer my sister’s call, but before I even hear the voice, I know it won’t be hers.
“I’m on a plane for five hours, and we have a base-wide outage?” my future brother-in-law practically snarls.
“It’s being handled,” I say, in a bored tone I know will grate on his nerves.
“It doesn’t sound like anything is beinghandled. I’m coming to the base.”
“No, you’re not. You’re going to the house like we agreed.”
“That was when our bases were fully functioning. We’ll be there within the hour.”
“Moreno, you’re inmyterritory now, which means you followmyrules. You will not come to this base.”
There’s mumbling on the other side of the call, and I’m about to ask what’s going on when a soft voice comes through the line.
“Logan, we only want to help,” Elise says.
My shoulders relax on instinct.
My brothers and I had a strict upbringing. From the moment we entered this world, our future was written for us. Our lives were to be dedicated to the family.
Elise, on the other hand, was kept as far away from our work as possible.
An attack on the manor gave us the opportunity to fake her death when she was seventeen, so she could live far from the dangers of our world.
It worked for seven years until Mason told Moreno about her.
Saying I hate Joshua Moreno is a gross understatement. I want nothing more than to put a bullet in the bastard and bring my sister home, but I spent weeks thinking she was dead, and I won’t risk losing her when she’s finally found something that makes her happy.
“I have things under control,” I tell her.
“I don’t doubt that, but this affected our base, too—we can’t just go to the manor and pretend we aren’t in the middle of a crisis. You wouldn’t either if the roles were reversed.”
Heat covers my chest, and I work to keep it controlled.
One breath.
Two.
