Seduced by My Childhood Sweetheart’s Brother
Chapter 180

Strings of Fate

180- Increase and interactions

We all sit there in horrified silence, no one quite knowing what to say. Finally, Harry is the one to speakup.

“Well, they don’t look EXACTLY like you. They all have long, black hair. Your hair is blue. Although itdoes look black. unless you’re in the daylight. They also all have blue or grey eyes, your eyes are verydifferent, so they couldn’t match that…” He trails off, his false optimism fading as he reasons away hisown arguments. His face falls as he gives up trying to reason away what we all know.

“It’s all about you, every threat, every murder… they’re all directed at you. Even when they couldn’t getto your anymore, the threats didn’t stop. They just chose a different way of threatening you.” Darrienstates the obvious. I feel sick. All these women, Kiara’s kidnapping. All because someone hates me?Someone who didn’t even make enough of an impression for me to know who they are, wants medead. What could I have done? Up until a couple weeks ago I was a waitress! I only started actuallyinteracting with people when I met Bellamy and Megan. My horror has got to be showing on my face.Bellamy starts running a hand up and down my back to soothe me, but it isn’t working very well. Mostlybecause he is just as tense as me, probably more so.

use he is

“We need to increase your security.” He mutters into my car. I frown. Really? I already don’t leave thehouse and spend pretty much every second of the day with him. What more does he want?

“Aaron, I will need you to start spending your days here until further notice. You need eyes on Ryannunless directed otherwise.” He pauses before his next order. I can see a slight hesitation.

“Darrien… I want you here for nights. Since you’re already with Megan for days you can take one of thespare rooms. Sleep at night but be prepared for emergencies. Megan sucks in a breath, I can’t tell ifshe is pleased or horrified. Darrien nods grimly, but I can see a hint of satisfaction in his face. Probablythat he gets to stay close to Megan at night. I think I understand Bellamy’s hesitation. He wouldprobably have liked to have someone other than the guy who is hitting on his sister staying with us, buthe also knows it would drive Darrien insane and I know he trusts Darrien to keep Megan safe and tohelp keep me safe. It probably would have been better if he had paused to ch*ck with Megan how shefeels about the arrangement, but given how upset he is right now, I doubt it would change his mindeither. Still, I can’t help but raise a small objection.

“Are you sure that’s necessary? I mean, is it fair to Darrien and Aaron?” I ask quietly. All the maleShifters at the table turn and stare at me like I’ve asked a stupid question. Their faces screaming ofcourse it is!‘ Harry just shrugs at me. Not helpful. Cam is staring pointedly at the floor, then the ceiling.So basically, anywhere but at me. Right, so no help there. I try Megan but she just crosses her armsand stares at me.

“Don’t look at me, I agree with them, Suck it up princess. We all want you safe.” She insists. I sigh andlook for aid elsewhere. Who is left? Amber meets my eyes briefly then just rolls her eyes.

“Don’t worry so much hon, I don’t think this will drag out much longer. Everything ends eventually. Butthere really is no point fighting this right now.” She reassures me. I sigh and relent.

“Fine. But I think this might be a bit much. I mean, the psychos sent me letters and trashed my place.They had plenty of chances to get to me earlier and they didn’t. What’s changed?” I question.

“You weren’t scared at first. If they’re trying to hurt you, it makes sense that first they would want tofrighten you, psychological torture before really coming after you.” Shaun tells me gently, clearly tryingto soften the blow.

The room falls silent again, like everyone is trying to give me time to process this information, which Iappreciate. I

180–Increase and interactions

notice Cam shuffling around in her seat, checking her phone.

“Cam? You okay?” I confirm. She shrugs.

“I know this is important, and I feel like a jerk for bringing it up right now. But I kind of need to leave. Ihave a shift at work in less than an hour. I can call in sick if you guys need me here for something, butI’m not totally sure why I was invited to this meeting in the first place. I already answered all yourquestions about magic.” She says awkwardly. I ch*ck the time on my phone. It’s practically dinner timealready.

“Oh, I had no idea the time. Of course you should go to work. As for why you’re here. You’re smart andwe like you. We’re pretty desperate, so the more the merrier.” I explain. She flashes me a surprisedsmile.

“Thanks I guess.” She gets to her feet. Harry looks back and forth between myself and Cam lookingtorn. He is clearly trying to choose between staying here to help me and chasing after Cam. Before hecomes to a decision, Amber intervenes,

“Mind giving me a ride home on your way? I won’t be needed for any more of this conversation and Idon’t need to be here to hear about it anyway. They’ll figure it out without us.” She says confidently.Cam agrees and Megan sees them both out. Shaun stares after Amber anxiously. She doesn’t reallylook anything like me, so it’s not likely the psychos would come after her, but if I am the target thenmaybe my friends are at risk.

“Shaun, could you please make sure Amber gets home safe for me? Cam, did you want an escorttoo?” I suggest. She shakes her head.

“Nah, my bar has a lot of wards and safety charms in place. Plus, I know a ton of defensive andoffensive magic. If someone comes for me it will be the last thing they do.” She answers confidently.Yep, Cam is a little terrifying. Shaun jumps to his feet, seemingly pleased to have an excuse to lookafter Amber. He doesn’t even look to Bellamy to confirm my directions this time. Just follows Cam andAmber to the front door.

“As for the rest of us, we need to figure out who has an issue with Ryann.” Bellamy declares. I frown.

“Didn’t we already do that earlier? Make a list of people who might have problems with me? Alexlooked into them didn’t he?” I confirm with a glance at Alex who nods.

“You made the list?” Harry asks. I nod that I did.

“Well that’s your problem then. Babe, you’re pretty damn oblivious sometimes. I doubt you would noticeif someone hated you unless they outright stated it.” He informs me. I want to be mad, but he’s kind ofright.

“Okay, so let’s try something different. Let’s make a list of every unpleasant interaction you’ve had.”Darrien I shrug.

suggests.

“Sure I guess, but you don’t mean EVERY interaction right? Like, not my whole life.” I remind him.Bellamy is the one

to answer.

“No, that might be a bit much. Let’s start with the interactions since you met me and go from there.Since the killer has been targeting Shifters, it’s likely that the interaction was related to us somehow. Ifwe can’t replace anything promising we can go back further.” He decides. I agree and take a deep breathas I try and think of all experiences from the last few months. This is going to suck.

miy worst