RIPTIDE (Shadows book 1.1)

ANSWERS AND QUESTIONS

Enjoy life while it lasts, for you can never tell what tomorrow brings with it. ~Devon Sinner

That night none of the brothers slept. The day's events were still fresh on their minds. Ajax tossed and turned in his bed thinking about the last four months. The last four months have been considerably hard on everyone back home. And he felt out of his depth. He didn't know how to be helpful. He didn't know what to do anymore. One week. That was all it took to turn their lives upside down. He sighed as he walked out of his room towards the stairs.

Devon sat on his bed along with Atriya looking through the photos once again. He had borrowed the albums from Ajax before retreating to his room. Now he was sad, angry and he wanted to cry. He still didn't want to accept that his sister has grown up. It broke his heart. He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt soft fingers caressing his cheeks.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"I don't know. My brain is all messed up. I just can't believe that the girl in these photos is the same one I have been seeing the last three days."

"She is the same Angelo. She is just sad."

"No. You haven't seen her. It's like a switch flipped in the past four months. She doesn't smile. Forget about smiling. It's like trying to crack open a book which has been glued shut. Nothing fazes her."

"Or maybe she just doesn't show her emotions outside."

"I don't know what to do. She has her walls so high. I don't know if I can break them."

"You don't have to do it alone. You have a family. Follow your heart Angelo. " she said, her voice soft as she got up and walked downstairs. Devon followed her.

Rueben, Riven Everett and Hayes were no better. All of them were gathered in the living room thinking about Hope.

"I still don't understand why D would send her off to Jacksonville of all places alone." Riven muttered. He had come home as soon as possible from Milan where he has been for almost a year taking care of some problems there. All he wanted to do was confirm to himself that he hasn't lost his sanity and that he wasn't hearing things. That was a possibility considering the business their family does. No, instead he comes home to hear that his only sister is in Jacksonville because she has something that needed to be taken care of.

"Ajax says she isn't alone. She has friends there." Everett said, though his voice was doubtful. The others rolled their eyes at that. Rueben shared everything that happened in the last three days.

Vincent was the only one who wasn't lost in his thoughts that night thanks to the pile of paperwork that he needed to finish.

Hope was irritated would be an understatement. Fury radiated off of her in waves. The others at the base have stayed out of her way wisely sensing her mood. She sighed thinking about the conversation that took place at the base.

Hope felt a sense of tranquility spread over her as soon as she stepped into the base. This place was her home, even though everything reminded her of Silver these days. She hasn't informed anyone about being here except for Nora. She walked through the corridors in the direction of the secluded area.

"What is it?" she asked as soon as she entered.

"You might want to sit down for this." Nora replied adjusting her glasses. That's it. No pleasantries exchanged. She sat down. Nora was still typing on her laptop. Her green eyes were narrowed at the screen and her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail.

"You might freak, get angry and destructive but please don't take it out on my baby." Nora muttered as she passed her the laptop

"What was so important that..." she trailed of as she took in the reports displayed on the screen. She read the report once, blinked her eyes a couple of times then read them again. It still showed the same. She prayed that this was Nora's idea of a sick prank. Honestly, that would be better.