Bride (Ali Hazelwood) by Ali Hazelwood

            “How did they take you?”

            “The last thing I remember was walking down the sidewalk on my way to your apartment from work—then bam, I was here.”

            I glance around the attic. “What do you even do all the time?”

            “I’ve been catching up on sleep. Reviewing my life choices. Stewing in regret. Mostly, I read.” She gestures at the shelves. “But the selection here is limited to the classics. I’ve read, like, three Dickens novels.”

            “Appalling.”

            “The Catcher in the Rye, too.”

            “God.”

            “And an entire mystery series I don’t even like.” She shrugs. “Now, would you like to hear my theory on why someone even bothered to kidnap little old me, so you can say I told you so, or something?”

            Irritation fuels me enough to finally sit up straight. “No, because I didn’t tell you so.”

            “Oh.” She nods, bemused. “Well, this is a pleasant surpr—”

            “I couldn’t tell you so, because you hid the story you were working on and the shit you were doing from me.”

            She frowns. “Okay. Well, at least let me explain—”

            “I already know.”

            “Whatever you’re thinking, that’s not it. I was actually—”

            “You were looking into the Weres, or Thomas Jalakas, or financial crimes or something. You found out that Liliana Moreland is a Human-Were hybrid, possibly one of a kind, and then got kidnapped for your efforts.”

            Serena recoils. “How do you . . . ?”

            “Your cat was . . . There was that butterfly alphabet thing on your planner, and . . .” I massage my temple. “Just trust me when I say that I know, frankly, way more than I ever wanted about anything. Lowe said that—”

            “Who’s Lowe?”

            My heart pangs. I swat the memory and the pain away in one big swipe. “The Were Alpha. My husband.”

            “You know what, it doesn’t matter. Tell me how they—” She stops abruptly. Does a double take. Blinks at me multiple times. “Did you just say . . . ?”

            I sigh. “Yeah.”

            “Misery.”

            “I know.”

            “Seriously.”

            “I know.”

            “I’m gone for three months, and after a lifetime of having literally no news, now you are married to a Were Alpha?”

            “Yes.”

            “Oh my God.”

            “Technically, it’s your fault.”

            “Excuse me?”

            “You think I got married because I found sweet Were love on a dating app? I was looking for you. The entire time you were gone. In whatever way I could. That’s how I ended up married to the brother of the very young, very innocent half-Were girl you were willing to exploit, and now we’re here, and I’d bet my entire collection of hacking tools that it’s Emery who took us, and that Mick has been working with her behind Lowe’s back the whole time—I bet . . . You know what? I bet Emery knows that Ana is a hybrid, and wants to make sure that Ana can never serve as a symbol of unity between the Weres and the Humans, and the way you were snooping around put you on Emery’s radar, and Serena, it was so fucking hard for me to find you.” It all comes out so quickly, I barely have time to keep my tone in check. But I regret it instantly when Serena’s hand comes up to press against her chapped lips. Her nails are bitten to the quick—a habit she grew out of years ago.

            “It’s just . . .” She swallows. “I wasn’t sure.”

            “Sure of what?”

            “That you’d be looking. We had that fight, and . . .” Her voice breaks a little. “I kind of said things I didn’t mean, and I figured that maybe you were done with me.”