Page 76 of Claimed By the Rockstars: Part One
"Texting someone."
"Who?"
"You'll see."
We sit in hostile silence for maybe three minutes. The rain drums against the roof. Rex's fingers keep tapping against the steering wheel, but other than that, he's dead silent again.
Then the tower's heavy wooden door opens.
What must be a male omega emerges, all floppy brown hair and warm brown eyes with a fluffy pear-shaped build, wearing a forest green vest over a cream cardigan with a perfectly tied bowtie. He looks like he stepped out of a cottagecore Pinterest board. All he needs is a teacup and a freshly baked scone.
Okay. Maybe I'mnotgoing to end up in the basement.
The omega spots Rex's car and waves enthusiastically, jogging over despite the rain. Rex gets out first, and I follow, hanging back.
"Rex!" The omega beams at him like they're old friends even though Rex doesn't have friends from what I can tell. Guess I was wrong. "You didn't tell me you were bringing company."
"Last minute decision," Rex mutters.
The omega turns those warm brown eyes on me, and his smile gets even brighter. "Hey! I'm Jamie. Nice to meet you!"
"Bells," I manage, still trying to reconcile the fact that this cheerful omega exists in the same universe as Rex Steele. And that they know each other.
"Oh, I know who you are!" Jamie practically bounces on his toes. "I've seen videos of The Reverie. You have an incredible voice. And now you're with Vespyr? That's so exciting!"
I shoot Rex a look that saysyou told him about me?But Rex just shrugs one shoulder, the universal gesture forso what?
"Come on," Jamie says, already heading back toward the tower. "It's freezing out here. Let's get inside."
I follow him because he's an omega and a walking emerald flag, but I'm ready to bolt for the woods if even one thing makes my skin prickle.
Rex falls into step behind me.
"Don't," I warn him, glancing back over my shoulder.
He pauses, brow furrowing. "Don't what?" he asks, glancing back, too, like I might have been talking to someone else.
"Don't follow me. I feel trapped," I hiss to him so Jamie can't hear me. The omega is already almost to the tower, talking about what a nice day it is with all the fog and rain and gloom. Jamie might look like a cottagecore mouse in human form, but he has the heart of a goth.
Rex raises his eyebrow at me like I'm being ridiculous, but he doesn't challenge me. He walks on ahead with a beleaguered, tormented sigh.
The tower's entrance is massive. There are two thick wooden doors with iron reinforcements that have to date back at least a century. Jamie pushes one open with a strained grunt and motions for us to follow him.
Inside is a spiral staircase carved from the same gray stone as the exterior. It winds upward into shadows, lit by actual torches mounted on the walls. Oh, wait. They're LED. That'sslightlyless menacing, I guess.
"Is this place haunted?" I ask with a laugh, only half-joking, wrapping my arms around myself and craning my neck to look up into the shadows of the staircase. "Because ghosts are chill, but serial killers? Not so chill."
Jamie tilts his head, pursing his lips in confusion. "Haunted?" he echoes, his voice rising an octave.
"I saw something in the window," I say. "And I'm torn on it being a serial killer or a ghost. Fifty-fifty."
Jamie's warm skin blanches. "A ghost?" he croaks, like he's about to run for the hills himself. Then he hesitates, putting afinger to his lips and staring thoughtfully up at the spiderweb-covered stone ceiling. He blinks back to me, shaking his head. "Wait, what did the 'ghost' look like?"
"A golden skull?" I say flatly.
Jamie lets out a nervous laugh, the color flushing back in all at once and reddening his face. "Oh! No… no, that wasn't a ghost. Or a serial killer. That's just my mate."
He bounds up the stairs before I can ask any more questions, chattering about how business has been slow lately and something about a shipment of Italian leather that got delayed.
