Chapter 162

Tessa’s POV

“Tess, you know this guy?” Ruby asked, staring wide-eyed at Carter who was standing in the center of my living room.

“Uh…” I said slowly, not sure how to respond. “Yes?”

Okay, that was lame.

Carter gave Ruby a small smile and bowed his head slightly at her.

“I’m Carter, Tessa’s cousin,” he explained.

My eyes widened at his quick lie. Ruby gave me a strange look as she slowly put her phone back in her bag.

“You never mentioned him before,” she said, furrowing her brows together suspiciously.

“He’s a distant cousin,” I said, trying to sound as convincing as I could. “We aren’t that close.”

I gave Carter a look when I said that last part and he only gave me a one-shoulder shrug. He then looked back at Ruby, like he really looked at her. She was bruised around her jawline from when she was punched, and she was still holding onto her stomach from when she was kicked. I was bruised too but Carter’s attention was fully on her.

“What happened to you?” He asked sounding a little too concerned.

Ruby looked surprised by this sudden concern of his and her face reddened a little.

“Oh… uh… we got into a fight,” she said, motioning for me.

Carter snapped me a look and I swear he looked as if he wanted to rip my head off.

“You did this to her?” He asked.

“What? No! We fought other people… together,” I said, pointing to the bruises on my face as well.

His eyes traced my injuries before flashing back to her.

“Is your stomach in pain?” He asked, pointing to where she was holding it.

Still surprised and red-faced, she opened her mouth to respond, but I put my hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

“Ruby, how about you go into my room and lie down?” I suggested. “Or better yet, take a hot bath to nurse your bruises and then get into bed. I’ll make you some soup.”

She frowned at me.

“You don’t have to…” she said, Ruby has never been a good patient. She doesn’t like when others take care of her, but she loves taking care of others.

“Let me take care of you for once, Ruby,” I said to her gently. “Plus, I need to talk to my…. Uh… cousin, alone.”

He was still staring at Ruby with this concerned expression. I needed to get her away from him before he said something that would freak her out.

She met his eyes, and I could see this slight recognition in her gaze as she stared around his face.

“You seem so familiar to me,” she breathed, but then she shook her head and bit her bottom lip like she didn’t mean to say that out loud. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I think I’m just tired.”

“Get some rest,” I told her, motioning for my room. “I’ll be there with soup soon.”

She sighed but she didn’t argue anymore. I knew she was exhausted, and it wouldn’t be long before she fell asleep anyway.

With one last look at Carter, she murmured, “It was nice to meet you.”

He said nothing; he just stared at her with a pained expression, and he looked frozen. She walked past him and into my room, sealing the door shut behind her. As soon as she was out of the room I turned to Carter and grabbed his arm, getting his attention.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed in a loud whisper. “Have you lost your mind?”

“I didn’t want to come here…” he said, glancing at the door Ruby walked through. “It’s hard…”

“They why are you here, Carter?” I asked again, folding my arms across my chest.

“I tried calling Joseph and he won’t answer. I went to his place, but he was not there. So, I figured maybe he was here,” Carter explained. “But obviously I was wrong about that too. Where is he?”

“How should I know,” I muttered. “We broke up.”

I walked past him and toward my open kitchen to start on Ruby’s soup. She loved tomato and basil and thankfully I had all the ingredients for it.

“Wait, you broke up?” Carter asked, following me like he was a lost puppy. “What happened?”

I glanced at him, not sure if he was serious or not. He was Joseph’s best friend; how could he not know already?

“It was just a dating trial,” I muttered. “And now it’s over.”

“A dating trial?” He asked, furrowing his brows together. “You both looked very invested while you were in the mountains.”

“That was then, and this is now,” I said, shrugging; I tried to sound casual, but I knew Carter could hear the pain in my voice.

“Are you okay?” He asked, eyeing me carefully.

I realized I was chopping the tomatoes into complete mush. I frowned at the cutting board; I suppose it was going to turn to mush anyway.

I sighed.

“I’m strong,” I told him. “I’ll be fine.”

“For what it’s worth, I can’t imagine it’s easy for Joseph either. He really liked you…”

I tried not to think about our moment in the classroom; it was obvious Joseph liked me… or so I thought it was. It was obvious until he left me alone in his classroom.

It was so infuriating.

“Not enough to stay with me,” I shot back, glaring up at Carter. “Seriously, Carter. Why are you here?”

“I’m looking for Joseph,” he said again. “There’s an emergency.”

I began to place all the ingredients in the pot I heated on the stove.

“What kind of emergency?”

“Ryan escaped from Prison…”

I dropped the spoon I was mixing the soup with on the ground, getting tomatoes all over the floor and counter as I whipped around to stare at him. I felt a chill coursing through my body, and I felt completely frozen in place.

“What?” I gasped.

“And he broke Fae out of the academy,” he continued. “It’s really bad. We need Joseph.”

“Are the Nightwalker Police already aware of this?” I asked, my heart pounding rapidly against my chest.

Carter nodded.

“Bernard spoke to them, yes. We haven’t been able to get a hold of Joseph though.”

“I’m sure the Nightwalkers already talked to him,” I said, but there was uncertainty in my voice. I knew he was also preoccupied after the fight; I wondered when all of this happened and if I was the reason nobody could get a hold of him.

My stomach tightened at the very thought.

“Did you come here in a car?” I asked, trying to steady my rapidly beating heart. I felt like I was about to have a panic attack, but I had to keep myself calm.

He nodded.

“Yes, of course I did,” he answered. “Why?”

“I’ll take you to his office at the school when we are done here. Sometimes, he stays there late.”

“Okay,” he agreed.

Carter helped me finish the soup and by the time I was done, Ruby was done with her bath. I told Carter he needed to wait in the living room while I spoke to Ruby. When I entered my bedroom, Ruby walked out of the bathroom wrapped in nothing but a towel. Her long brown hair was soaked and clung to her features and down her shoulders as she looked around my bedroom with a frown.

“Can I borrow pajamas?” She asked, peering over at me.

“Of course,” I said, placing the soup on the bedside table. “I made you your favorite.”

“Mmmm,” she cooed. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to stomach it though. My stomach is killing me.”

“At least try,” I pleaded to her. “You need to eat something. Are you feeling any better after the shower?”

“A little,” she breathed. “But not a lot.”

I went over to my bag and grabbed the pain medication we were both prescribed. I took a couple of pills out and placed them on the bedside table. Then I left the room, grabbed a cold water bottle out of the fridge, and returned to the room to give it to her.

“If the pain becomes bad later, take the medication. Make sure you drink plenty of liquids. I have more water in the fridge so help yourself,” I told her.

She frowned at me.

“You sound like you’re going somewhere,” she said, furrowing her brows together as I prepared her hot and cold compress that the school nurse gave us.

“I kind of am,” I admitted. “I told Carter I’d take him out. I’m not entirely sure when I’ll be back so I just want to be prepared.”

“Are you feeling up to leave?” She asked, staring around my bruised features. “Aren’t you in pain too?”

“Not as bad as you,” I told her.

I grabbed a tank top and some shorts out of my dresser and handed them to her.

“Try to get some rest and if you need anything I’ll have my cell,” I assured her.

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” she pouted. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

“There’s somewhere he needs to go, and I promised I’d take him. This was a planned visit; I just forgot about it.”

I hated lying to her, but I didn’t have a choice right now. She couldn’t know the truth.

“I won’t be long,” I assured her. “I promise.”

“Okay…” she breathed, sitting on my bed. “Thanks for the soup.”

She sounded sad and it broke my heart; but if Ryan truly had escaped and broke Fae out as well, I fear everybody is in danger. We needed to get to Joseph right away.

I hugged her quickly before leaving my room and joining Carter in the living room. He was sitting on the couch, staring down at his hands.

“She doesn’t want you to go,” he murmured. It wasn’t a question; I knew he could hear our conversation from the living room. “I wish I could stay with her.”

“Well, you can’t,” I said urgently, motioning for him to stand. “Let’s go find Joseph.”