Chapter 42

Alyssa

I sit in the backseat beside Zuri, who's babbling happily and calling for her "Nee-koo" between bites of her teether. The familiar streets towards my childhood home are quiet, almost too peaceful for the boulder forming in my gut. King's driving, and Niko's riding shotgun, unusually quiet. The tension in the car is suffocating, a silent promise that nothing good is about to happen.

King hasn't said a word since before we left the house, his grip on the steering wheel tight enough to make his knuckles white. I don't like it. It's like he's shutting me out, going through the motions of delivering me to Gray without a fight.

"Guys, I'm not staying there, right? Like, Gray isn't going to order you to lock me in a room and fetch all our stuff?" I joke, but there's a tremble in my voice that I'm sure they can hear.

It sounds exactly like something this new Gray would do.

King tenses, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. "Do you think I would let him take you away from me?" h