package was fairly nondescript, just a plain brown box with a printed label on it displaying my name and address. Except...
"Guys, there're no postage marks on this," I pointed out while a chill ran down my spine. The package was totally devoid of any postal stamps or barcodes. Like it'd been hand-delivered.
Kody swiped the package out of my hands without a word, then grabbed a knife from the cutlery drawer and sliced the packing tape open. He flipped the flaps open as Archer swooped in between us, blocking the contents from my view.
"Hey, what the—fucking move, ass-pig!" I jabbed Archer in the ribs, but the glare he shot me froze any further protests from me. Whatever was in that box... it wasn't books from Amazon. Not with that reaction.
"Show me," I demanded.
Archer shook his head at the same time as Kody made a sound of disagreement.
"Show me!" I snapped, meeting Archer's glare head on with one of my own. "It's addressed to me, so fucking show me what's in the box, you overbearing ape."
Archer's brow cocked, and he gave me one of those looks that suggested I was being an idiot but he wasn't going to stop me. Prick.
"Uh, I don't think—" Kody started to say, but Archer had already moved out of the way and I could see into the box in Kody's hands.
I sucked in a gasp, pressing my hands to my mouth as bile rose in my throat. Inside the nondescript box was another clear threat. This time it was against Kody, there was no doubt about that. The dead bird held the distinctive forked tail of a swallow, and the white rose was smeared in the bird's blood. Swallows and roses. Just like Kody's chest tattoos.
"Give it to me," I whispered, not trusting my full voice for fear of throwing up. Still, I was slowly becoming desensitized to these things, blood and threats. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but it was helping me keep my shit on a daily basis.
Kody wanted to refuse, I could tell, but I snatched the box from him before he could do anything dumb. Like give it to Archer.
Holding my breath and praying for strength in my stomach, I reached in and carefully moved the bird aside so I could grab the blown-up photograph underneath it. The image was coated in blood and grainy like it'd been taken from a surveillance video, but it only took me a second to recognize the image.
Then I gagged for real. I flipped it over, and sure enough, there was my stalker's distinctive handwriting. Liar, liar, pants on fire.
My gaze shot up to Kody's, and he shook his head slowly. "I didn't know," he told me, his voice edging on panic. Except his fear didn’t have anything to do with my stalker somehow catching us fucking on the kitchen island. No, his clear green eyes were locked on mine, pleading with me to believe him. He was worried that I would shut him out over this. That I might think he’d set me up, somehow.
"Of course you fucking didn't," Archer growled, snatching the picture from my hand and scowling down at it. I didn't try to hide it because it wasn't anything he hadn't seen firsthand. Still, this was the second time my stalker had documented me having sex, and I was starting to feel decidedly paranoid.
Archer looked up from the picture and scanned the kitchen until he spotted what he was looking for. "Mother fucker," he spat, slapping the photo down on the counter and striding across the kitchen to the perimeter-alarm sensor. In a smooth motion he boosted himself up onto the counter, then ripped the sensor clean out of the wall—totally oblivious or uncaring of the electrical sparks that flew—then hurled it at the floor. Jumping back off the counter, he landed one sneaker clean on top of the sensor, crushing it into a useless pile of broken plastic, metal, and electrical wiring.
My jaw had fallen open in shock. "How...?"
Archer wasn't paying attention to me, though. His phone was already out in his hand, and he was searching for something. "I'm getting a security overhaul," he announced. "Go and get Steele, fill him in. We need to sweep the entire place for more cameras."
"Got it," Kody replied, starting to leave the kitchen.
"Wait!" I shouted, pausing Kody halfway to the door. "Stop. Steele needs to sleep; just leave him. This is nothing new. Let's just... handle it