“Oh. Sure,” Raven says.
She sounds a little disappointed, but at least she doesn’t try to talk me out of it. Does she know I’ll be reporting to them? Is she confident she said and did all the right things to throw us off her scent? I don’t know the answer to those questions, but I do know I have to stop second-guessing every little thing like this. It’s going to make me crazy.
We head to Raven’s car.
“I’ll drop you at the cabin first,” she says.
“Thanks,” I say.
We drive out to the cabin and Raven pulls up. I start to get out of the car, but she puts her hand on my arm, stopping me for a moment.
“Wait,” she says. “I enjoyed today, Sailor. It was nice to spend some time with you.”
“Me too,” I say. “And thank you for the book.”
“You’re welcome. Let’s do it again some time,” she says.
“Sure,” I agree, although I’m anything but sure I want to put myself through that again.
I don’t know what was worse. The ass-kissing at the start of the day or the part where I actually felt myself warming to her. No, the worst part is that I’m still no further forward. I still don’t know if Raven is part of the Boundless or not, or what my conflicting feelings about her even mean.
“Be careful,” Raven says as I get out of her car.
“Why?” I say, smiling but suspicious. “What do you think is going to happen to me?”
“Nothing.” Raven smiles. “But you are a teenage girl, and believe it or not, I was one of those too once, so I know a thing or two about not being careful.”
I give her a half smile and watch her pull away. I am still no closer to having evidence of her being part of the Boundless, but I definitely think I am right to be suspicious of her. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is that’s making my defenses go up, but something tells me Raven isn’t who she says she is.
I shake my head and go into the cabin. The team is sitting in the game room waiting for me.
“So did you all have fun stalking me?” I grin.
“I did,” Ya-Ya says, picking up a handful of bags from the ground.
“Yeah, the rest of us, not so much,” Sunday adds. “Was it worth it?”
I shake my head and sit down.
“I honestly don’t know. I was wrong about her phone call being about the second Soul Gem. She was checking on a surprise gift for my dad. But there’s something just not right about her. I don’t have anything solid to go on, but I’m still convinced she’s part of the Boundless, or at least up to no good,” I say.
“Why? What did she say?” Rye asks.
“That’s just it. She didn’t say much at all. She was really evasive about her childhood, but then she did say something about watching my dad and knowing she had to talk to him. Like she was stalking him or something.”
“Or like she spotted him and felt attracted to him,” Mel says.
I shrug.
“Maybe. But every instinct in me tells me she’s trouble. That she’s hiding something, something big. We have to do something. We have to get her away from my dad. I know that much,” I say.
“No, that would be a mistake,” Rye says.
I glare at him. How can he doubt me this much all of the time?
“I’m not saying you’re wrong about her, Sailor,” he says, reading my expression. “What I’m saying is that if she is up to no good, then we have the advantage of knowing where she is this way.”
“And using my dad as bait?” I say, raising an eyebrow.
“If she wanted to hurt him, she’d have hurt him by now,” Ya-Ya points out.
“I agree,” Mel says. “And if she is part of the Boundless, then you’re safer with her in your life trying to gather intel rather than letting her think you might be suspicious and coming after you or your dad.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE WEAPON
Part of me knows Mel is right.
Raven actually poses less of a danger to me and my dad if we know where she is and what she’s up to, but it still bothers me to know she’s hanging around my dad. If she’s just using him, then I want her out of his life before he gets any more attached to her, even if that does mean it’ll be more dangerous for us. I mean, can Raven really be more dangerous than the Horsemen? Probably not, and I have to face them.
I open my mouth to try to explain all this to the others without sounding like I’m a paranoid freak, but I don’t get out more than the first word before we hear the front door of the cabin opening. We all exchange glances and start to get to our feet, reaching for our weapons.
“It’s us,” Aziza’s voice shouts from the hallway seconds before she and Jinx walk into the room.
“Good way to get yourself killed,” Rye comments.
“Why do you think I called out?” Aziza laughs. “You think we didn’t hear the clanking of knives being pulled out? Which, by the way, you can put away now.”
Aziza looks at me as she says it, and I realize I’m still holding my dagger out in front of me. I slowly lower it and push it back inside my boot. Even if I was right about Jinx or Aziza being the Horseman, until I have the weapon in my hand, they won’t fully realize it, so it’s not like either of them is going to try and kill me now.
“Did you find anything?” Rye asks as I retake my seat.
“It’s definitely out there,” Jinx says. “Nexus was right. It took us a while to find the right area, that desert is pretty damn big,
