Page 57 of The Magic of Betrayal
"Just one moment, little witch," Cam said calmly, and then I heard Kai shrieking dramatically and sounds of a scuffle. Hopefully Thunder Daddy didn’t hurt my little pussycat.
"Sorry about that, had to deal with something," Cam apologized.
"Mmhmm. Sure. So, what's up? You called me this time."
"Oh, right. Well, we finished our workout and we have a few other things to take care of, but I forgot my backpack in the apartment. If you're still at The Pig, do you think—"
I cut him off. "I can grab it. Are you coming to get it?"
"No, not me. Sloane is on his way through so he'll just get it from you out front so we can finish up some things today."
Great. "Sounds good. You guys should come over tonight, I miss your faces."
Cam's deep chuckle came through the line and I grinned like a goofy ass.
"I'll see you later, little witch. Thanks for your help."
"Bye, Thunder Daddy."
Click.
I was excited to get to see all of them tonight. Maybe we could just drink and watch movies together in the living room, I was craving something normal. That was something people in relationships did.
My feet quietly carried me up the stairs to their apartment, Maven charged ahead of me, his sniffing loud as he no doubt scoured the new to him area. The apartment was surprisingly clean for a bunch of men living in it. I scanned the room quickly, seeking the backpack in question and a very clear thump had me freezing in my tracks. What was that?
"Maven?" I called out, approaching the hallway. His soft chittering was coming from Cam's room. "Did you break something?"
Pushing the door open, I spotted Cam's backpack on the floor beside his bed and Mave's head was buried inside, the distinct crinkling of some kind of snack wrapper told me all I needed to know.
"Maven! Get out of there. You can't just steal people's snacks," I scolded, dropping to my knees to pull him out of the bag.
"Cheetos? Really?"
His face was dusted with orange Cheeto dust. He looked ridiculous. Mave just snorted at me and gave me the evil eye for taking away his precious treat, but I didn't know how Cheetos mixed with fox's bellies, and I'd rather not deal with a fox who had a case of the shits.
"Go wait in the living room, you've caused enough trouble."
He huffed and walked slow as all hell out of the room. I swear, he was a vindictive little creature.
Some of Cam's stuff had of course fallen out of his bag, so I started picking up all the notebooks, loose change, hair ties...dear gods, he has a lot of them. Wonder when his birthday is, I should get him a little accessories bag to keep his hair stuff in.Laughing at the thought of his face receiving such a gift, I snatched a folder that had fallen open and was halfway under the bed.
Glancing down at the papers tucked away inside, I was about to close it up and shove it in the bag when something caught my eye. I did a double take so hard I felt my brain bounce.What the fuck?
A grainy photo was printed on a standard sheet of paper and I almost didn't recognize the face staring back at me.Why the hell does Cam have a picture of my mother?
Falling back to sit on my ass, I pulled out the rest of the stuff in the folder and right behind this one was another. Laurie was much younger, standing beside an incredibly handsome man, both of them dressed to the nines. What is going on here? I flipped over the photo and scribbled on the back in Cam's writing, 'Laura Walker, Khol Larson, Christmas 1991, last known location: Emerald Lakes, bring in alive.'
A drop hit the paper and I realized I was crying. More fell, tracking down my face and blurring the ink from his pen. My heart felt like it was going to explode, my insides were twisted up so tightly, my throat felt too small to get a deep breath.
He... he was using me? "No, please no," I begged, a sob breaking free.
Was it just Cam? Or were they all in on this? Oh gods. My stomach rolled and I staggered to a stand, rushing for the toilet where I made it just in time to heave.How could he? How could they? This can't be happening...
Somehow, I stumbled back into the bedroom, gathered up the papers, the only damning evidence being the two photos. Nothing else that alluded to why they were really here. I had to get out of here. Now. I zipped the bag closed and carried it out to the living room. What the hell am I going to do?
I didn't get much time to think about that because the door opened and footsteps came up the stairs, Sloane stepping in and seeing me as soon as he entered the apartment. His face paled and he moved toward me, but I stepped back, nearly stumbling over the coffee table.
"Red, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?" He reached for me, but I didn't want him touching me. I'd wanted to scream and yell but when I opened my mouth all that came out was the sound of a heartbroken woman. Words wouldn't work, my voice was broken. Hurt. So much hurt.
