Across the Vanishing Sky (Starlight Grove, #1)(52)

He just grinned wider, uncapped the bottle, and shook some out over one of my tacos. Mav’s hand shot out, tipping Wylder’s elbow and spilling more hot sauce over my food.

I glared at him.

He only shrugged. “Just gotta make sure you get the true flavor.”

“I’m gonna put hot sauce in your mouthwash, you asswipe.”

Maverick barked out a laugh. “You could try. Now, eat up, brother bear.”

I glared down at the tacos but wrapped up the one with the Hellfire on it. Jesus. What kind of a name was that?

The second I bit down, I knew. The fires of hell erupted in my mouth, making my eyes flare wide and then instantly fill with tears.

“Fuck, he’s already crying,” Mav said, laughter in his voice.

Wylder winced, shaking his head. “Should’ve eased back in.”

But I wasn’t about to give in. I kept right on chewing, swallowing, then taking another bite. I ate the taco in three. But the fire did not subside. It got worse, in fact. “What the hell was that?” I croaked.

Waylon leaned back in his chair, his hand resting on his overalls-clad chest. “That’s my personal favorite. Though they’ve got one with ghost peppers that gets you good.”

“What do you think, Dex?” Wylder asked. “Want to go for ghost peppers next?”

I flipped him off, taking a bite of my hot sauce–free taco heaped with sour cream. The dairy helped take the edge off the worst of the burn. “You’re all trying to kill me.”

The screen door at the front of the house slammed, and I took a swig of the beer Wylder handed me from the fridge. Good God, I was out of hot sauce shape.

Orion’s broad frame filled the entryway to the kitchen, and if I’d thought Kol’s welcome had been cold, it had nothing on Orion’s. He glared at me for a long beat.

“A little dramatic, even for you, Rion,” Mav chided.

That glare moved to Maverick, who remained unaffected.

“Get some grub,” Waylon ordered in a way that didn’t put too much weight behind it.

Our great-uncle was the only person Orion listened to, and even then, it wasn’t all the time. But now, Orion moved to plate a few tacos.

“Dex just downed some Hellfire,” Wylder said, lifting his root beer. “You want to challenge for the night’s supremacy?”

Orion jerked back his chair and simply shook his head in a rough decline.

“All right, Kol,” Waylon began. “You called this family meeting.”

Kol straightened in his chair. “I called it because Dex is putting us all at risk.”

I stiffened, the heat of the hot sauce and my anger swirling together. “You’re not involved. You made that clear. And that’s fine, but you don’t get to control what I do.”

That was always Kol’s way. He thought that if he was in charge of everything we all did or didn’t do, he could make us safe. But his way wasn’t always our way. And he didn’t get that.

Kol’s jaw clenched, the muscle along it rippling. “I’m trying to keep you from being an idiot. This already got dropped on our doorstep. The sheriff’s department flooded Wylder’s bar today.”

“Yeah, because some sick fuck is tormenting Brae. Called her from her missing friend’s phone or a cloned number and did some heavy-breathing shit. That’s why the cops were there,” I bit out.

Waylon muttered a curse. “They track it?”

I let out a breath, trying to calm my anger. “It was off before they could.”

Wylder took a swig of his root beer. “Means they know what they’re doing to a certain degree.”

“Maybe.” I hedged. “Anyone who’s seen a thriller movie probably knows that.”

“But I assume you tried to turn the phone back on remotely,” Maverick added.

He knew me and my moves too well.

“I couldn’t, which means the SIM card or battery’s out of the device.”

Wylder scrubbed a hand over his face. “A lot of trouble just to mess with someone.”

It was. And that had my gut churning. Because someone who got pleasure from causing that sort of pain was not the kind of person I wanted aware of Brae’s existence.

“I’m sorry for her,” Kol said, his voice dropping. “I’ll help you put in a security system at her house. Talk to Roger about making sure she’s on the drive-by list. But we can’t get involved. It’s too risky.”

“Like I said, you don’t have to. But I make my own choices,” I clipped. “And Mav and Wylder want to help, too.”

Kol’s gaze jumped around the table. “Seriously?”

Wylder winced. “She’s a good person. Been through hell. And she doesn’t have anyone.”

“You don’t know her,” Kol shot back. “This could all be a manipulation.”

My eyes narrowed on Kol. “You can’t fake a missing person case like this. You know that.”

Orion’s hands lifted, finally giving in to the signing that was his last resort. “We don’t trust anyone outside the family.”

“You don’t,” I shot back, being harsher with him than I had been since we were kids. “I don’t want to live like that anymore.”

And for the first time, I realized that was true. I was so tired of looking at everyone with suspicion. It made life so damn depressing. And it kept us from helping people who needed it. People like Brae.