All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,85

call ahead to warn him I’m coming to stay? He’ll love this, you know? He’s going to chain me up, lock the doors, and never let me see sunlight again. Call Ash and Harley sooner rather than later about coming to rescue me.”

He doesn’t laugh about my dramatics like I expect. That’s more worrying than anything else he’s said so far tonight. “What else? What aren’t you telling me?”

I hear the crunching of his boots and the sounds of his family quieten down as he walks away from them. “The Crow is going to have a lot of questions about the photos. He’s had a guy snooping around after me for weeks and he got down here not long after I did. I’d taken down the photos and I was vague about them because… I needed to warn you first and find out what we’re going to say about them, to make sure our stories were the same.”

I sit back on my heels in my closet and stare at the dozens of shelves, all of them filled with shoes, as the dread pools in my gut. “Where was the photo taken?”

He heaves out a sigh. “Don’t panic. I’ve gotten all of the photos and I have them with me. If you don’t want anyone to see them, then I’ll burn them right now before Illi gets here but Avery… they’re from the Jackal’s lair. They’re screenshots from the video recording. Someone has a copy.”

I gag.

I need to vomit, I can’t contain the deep sense of shame that overtakes me and triggers my stomach to empty, but I choke it down. Aodhan grunts like he’s taken a hit and murmurs down the line to me all of the things he’d like to do to whoever the fuck has found that tape.

It doesn’t matter though.

If it’s out there it’s only a matter of time before it becomes our problem.

It takes me a minute to get myself under control but when I do there’s tears in my eyes and my voice comes out as a croak, “I told… I told Lips about it. She knows. Show Illi and tell him about what happened because I need that video gone, Aodhan. If Ash sees it… we can’t let that happen.”

Aodhan curses under his breath. “He’s just gotten here. I’ll take care of it, Queenie, just stay safe and I’ll check in when I have something. You know we won’t stop until this asshole is dead.”

That’s not as comforting as it should be because the fact of the matter is that Illi is going to know what happened now too. It’s a necessary evil, I’d rather it be him than Ash or Harley, but it’s just going to be another person picking over my decisions and seeing me in a different light.

I send Lips a text and for the first time since they left, I ask her to come home.

I immediately text her again and tell her not to, because if she comes home then so will Ash and also for the first time, I’m pissed my best friend is dating my brother because I need her but I can’t risk him coming home and seeing something.

She texts me back and those five little words give me the strength to get up, take a shower, and be the woman I need to be to face Atticus right now because the Wolf of Mounts Bay has never let me down, not once in our entire friendship.

I’ve called in a favor.

I’m waiting on my front steps with my bags when the Rolls Royce arrives.

I’m shocked to see Atticus in the driver’s seat and no Luca in the car, and when I start picking up my bags he gets out and frowns at me until I leave them for him to pack away in the trunk. It’s still dark out, no signs in the sky yet of the sun coming up, and I pull the coat I’m wearing a little tighter around my body.

“Thank you for picking me up. I could have driven myself but I appreciate you taking the time for me.” I’ve collected myself enough to speak without choking on the words but my stomach is still a riot of panicked what if’s.

He stares at me like I’m testing him and says in a low voice, “You shouldn’t be driving if there’s someone threatening you. You shouldn’t be alone.”

I shrug and brush past him to open my own car door, ignoring the huffing he does in