they weren’t. Their feet touched the group. They left tracks.
They moved past me, and they were close enough that I knew they were real, and not a figment of my imagination, but it was almost like they weren’t.
And then there was one who brought up the back end of the group. He didn’t have the black from head to toe. He wore a white mask, like a hockey helmet or a white mask that a serial killer would wear. No joke. For real. A serial killer.
He moved, but it was like he wasn’t moving at the same time.
I looked down not wanting to make eye contact, but as he went past me, that white mask looked my way and he stopped.
My heart lurched into my chest, but I held firm.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t inch back.
I couldn’t show weakness, so I kept my face impassive, and a second later, he moved forward.
I felt as if he’d let loose with a spell on me, and I could suddenly breathe again. It was so sudden and so jarring, that I felt tears surge to my eyes, but then another guy, one of the last two who brought up the rear passed me by.
He went slow and I could see through his goggles.
The others, no. I didn’t know why, but this guy—his eyes were…recognition flared through me, and I gasped, but he shook his head. He was telling me to keep quiet, and I clamped down on my reaction because I knew who this guy was.
Heckler. The Red Demon with the almost white eyes.
Holy…shit! Those were Red Demons.
And they were here.
And they grabbed Harper.
Why did they grab Harper?
Was one of them my dad?
Was Maxwell the one wearing the white mask?
A thousand questions ran through my head, but Harper was quieted almost immediately, and then they were gone. Simple as that.
They materialized. They found their target. They left with their target, and no one made a move to stop them. No one was stupid enough. If we had, they would’ve killed us. Everyone felt it in their gut, and I was shook, because the last time I felt this was when my attacker caught me coming into my bedroom, when he pushed me to the bed and covered my mouth with his hand.
But like that time, I would’ve fought back.
After a few minutes, as if we were all afraid to move or say a word, someone broke the seal. “I think they’re gone.”
Then it was chaos after that, but not within me. I could breathe. I just breathed. The other girls started crying.
I mean, they were crying, but they were also pissed. And they were swearing.
And Veronica had sidled up next to Alex.
I pulled my phone out, saw there was no reception, and now knew why Cross hadn’t rolled up.
I asked around, “Anyone have a phone with reception?”
BREN
Cross and the guys arrived three minutes after the masked men left.
We’d called the cops, so it wasn’t too long after they got there when the air lit up with blue and white. Cross swept me up. Jade looked to Jordan. Both seemed tentative with each other, but Jordan pulled her in for a hug. Angeline was eyeing Zellman, and he was eyeing her back. It seemed like a beat later when Blaise drove in with Zeke exploding from his passenger side.
I glanced at Cross. “You called him?”
He nodded, his jaw tight. “He was quiet.”
Oh, whoa. That said everything.
Cross’ arm tightened around me, and he buried his head into my neck. He pressed a kiss there. “Got a text from Zeke.”
“You did?” That wasn’t normal either.
He nodded, his face grim. “Asked if I knew where you were, thought it might be where his brothers were.”
That said a lot. Zeke reaching out to Cross, not a thing. Ever.
Then Cross’ hand tightened around me and he asked, “Why am I seeing Alex Ryerson holding one of Aspen’s friends?”
I grinned and patted his chest. “I’ll fill you in on the way back.”
And that’s what I did.
I gave my statement because Tim Harper getting taken was a big deal. More and more cops were pulling in, but it wasn’t until when a detective broke away from a large group and came over did I realize what really happened.
He was thirty-ish, and tired. A buttoned-down shirt. Gun holster. Badge clipped to his side. He wore jeans and his hair looked raked through. He came right to me and lifted his chin up. “Bren Monroe?”
I nodded.
He pulled out his wallet and gave me his