Page 65 of Hidden Fate

“Well, she woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Tia muttered from outside, loudly enough for Edna to hear. “She usually keeps a level head, but she’s gone off the wall.”

“Hun,” Ryu warned.

Belinda didn’t hold back. “She can still hear you. You aren’t as quiet as you think you are.”

“Damn being old,” Tia muttered, and Merlin chuckled.

The people on the front porch entered the house and shut the door behind them while everyone in the kitchen joined us in the living room. It was standing room only, and everyone was on edge.

Good. That was what we needed.

“What are we going to do?” Tyson asked from his spot between Saphira and Opal.

Thorn stood up straight, but the emotion coursing through the bond made my skin itch. Shame. “I know I was thinking we could fight Drake, but if we have nowhere to go, there is only one option—the one I thought was best from the very beginning. We need to leave the country. It’ll be harder for him to search for us outside of the States, and yeah, we may have to hide, but it won’t be as dangerous as staying here.”

Now I had my part to play. “But he won’t stop hunting us…ever.” This was a conversation we’d had over and over, which was why we’d thought it would be believable if he pitched it.

“And my business is here.” A vein in Peter’s neck throbbed. “I’ve already been gone too long. I’ve got to get back. People count on me.”

And we wanted to make Peter desperate.

“You meanDrakecounts on you. He’s your biggest client. Do I have to knock you out again?” Thorn snarled, turning the disgust he had with himself on Peter. “I’ve been itching to do that again for a while, now.”

Vlad ran a hand through his hair. “I hate to say it, but we might need to leave until we can figure out a more permanent solution.”

Reece whimpered and buried her face in Chandra’s shirt. My heart hurt again for not letting everyone know.

“There’s no way in hell I’m leaving the country.” Arrow shook his head. “Besides, there aren’t enough vehicles, so the warriors and I will go our separate way. It’ll be best for all of us.”

“What?” Saphira’s jaw dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding. Splitting up is the worst thing we can do. That’s the worst excuse I’ve ever heard.”

“Just say what you mean, man.” Echo looked down his nose at us. “Arrow doesn’t want to tell you the truth. The truth is, we don’t want to be here. We were loyal to theking, and there’s no way in hell Thorn can take the crown from Drake. He doesn’t even have a place to sleep starting tomorrow night. The best thing we can do is cut our losses—and that’s all of you.”

A few of the other warriors nodded uncomfortably.

“But we saved you from Drake.” Errol shook his head. “And now that we don’t have shelter for you, you’re bailing?”

Sydney shrugged. “We made a mistake, but putting more cards in with your losing hand will only worsen our problems.”

“You guys are assholes.” Elliott wrinkled his nose and spat on the floor.

Of course he would actually spit on the floor. That was my brother. In fairness, he was mad at the warriors and Edna, and this washerhouse.

“There’s no point in fighting.” It was still light outside, and Peter needed to feel comfortable enough to run. He was a coward and wouldn’t leave in the dark, so we had to speed this along. “We all need to clean up and pack. We have to be out of here in less than twelve hours.”

Everyone stood, looking at each other, then scattered to pack. The thing was, wedidneed to pack. We needed to leave as soon as possible so we could put as many miles between here and ourselves whenever Peter made it back to Drake.

I watched as Elliott and Eva headed upstairs, and Peter slowly got off the couch to join them. He had a huge scowl on his face.

Thorn and I strolled into the hallway…and then his footsteps paused.

Arrow made his move and tapped Peter on the shoulder. This was the plan we were banking on—he was supposed to get Peter outside while we were all “distracted” and tell him to leave so Peter could tell Drake they’d aided him, hoping that Drake would partially forgive them.

But Peter ignored him, turning back toward the stairs as we turned left to head down the hallway. He wasn’t going outside to talk to Arrow.

We needed him to go so we could tell the others what was really going on and he could “escape.”

If he didn’t leave now, our entire plan would be ruined.

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