were a couple from Lucas from the night before, and the rest were from Cass.
Rather than texting back, I called him as I headed over to the freezer to fetch one of the small ice packs that Zed kept on hand for injuries.
"About damn time," he rumbled when he answered my call. "I was just about to head back to Shadow Grove and teach you a lesson about ignoring my messages, Red."
I shivered at the dark desire his words conjured up, and then shivered again with cold as I wiggled the ice pack into my panties. My swollen cunt needed it, though. Ho-ly crap, it needed it.
"Promises, promises, Grumpy Cat," I purred back at him, a grin on my face. Fuck, I loved hearing his voice. "Did you get the file I sent?"
"Of course I did." He grunted. "Made me want to break his fucking face over and over. I sincerely hope you made him hurt."
I wiggled the ice further into my panties, getting it into the right place to soothe my raw flesh, then slightly waddled through the house to where music poured out of the gym. "Zed certainly left his mark on Chase's face," I told him.
Cass gave a husky laugh. "Good. You were smart, recording him like that. It'll come in useful, even if he did incriminate you at the same time."
My breath hissed from behind my teeth in frustration. "It's a start. How are things on your end?"
"Slow," he replied, sounding irritated. "Much slower than I want. It's killing me to be away from you, Red."
I bit my lip, my heart racing. "I feel the same." I reached the gym door and peeked inside to find Lucas and Zed in some kind of pull-up competition. They were both dressed for a workout and had their hands wrapped like they were about to work on sparring. It reminded me that I wanted to talk to Zed about tightening up Lucas's right hook.
"Hey, I should go," I told Cass regretfully. "Stay safe out there, okay? Stay out of sight." We badly didn't need whispers getting back to Chase or the Reapers that Cassiel Saint was, in fact, alive and kicking.
"Understood," he replied with an edge of amusement. "I'll see you soon."
He ended the call as I narrowed my eyes at the screen. What the fuck did he mean by that?
"Hey, you coming to join us or just standing there enjoying the view?" Lucas called out, swinging down from the bar he and Zed had been doing their pull-ups on.
I pushed the door the rest of the way open and placed my hands on my hips. "Why do I get the feeling you two are working through some macho bullshit that I want no part of?"
Zed scoffed a laugh. "Who are you trying to fool, Boss? You live for the macho bullshit. Come on, show us what you've got." He jerked his head to the pull-up bar in challenge, and I ground my teeth together. Fucking prick knew I couldn't resist showing him up.
Rolling my eyes, I tossed my phone down on the mat and tugged my sweatshirt off. Underneath, I just wore a sports bra and a pair of yoga pants. The tight pants held my ice pack nice and secure, but the fucker was already warming up. I'd need to go and swap it for a fresh one after I trounced both Zed and Lucas in their silly competition.
As it was, we’d barely even gotten started when my phone started ringing again on the mat. I dropped immediately, practically throwing myself across the room when I recognized the ring tone. There were only a handful of people important enough to get a specific ringtone, and the one echoing through the gym above the music was Seph's.
Considering she still thought I'd shot Cass in cold blood and had vowed never to speak to me again, whatever she was calling for had to be important.
"Seph!" I exclaimed, grabbing my phone and answering the call in one quick motion as I hit the mat on my belly. "Seph, hey, I'm here. What's happened?"
For a second she didn't reply, and I worried that I'd missed the call. But then the ragged sound of her sobs caught my heart in a vice and twisted it to the point of physical agony.
"Dare," she croaked between sobs. "I think I'm in trouble."
26
Panic washed through me in dizzying waves as I scrambled to my knees, the phone clenched between my fingers tight enough I was