VERITY

The lit town streets switch to darker country lanes as Heath speeds away from my home. For a few minutes, neither of us speaks. I sit on my cold hands, attempting to catch up to what's happening.

Heath's phone rings and he answers over speaker.

"Did you find her?" asks a voice. "Is she okay?"

He side glances me. "Yeah. I'm bringing her back."

"Back where?" I ask. "Who's that?"

"Hey, Verity, it's Joss," calls a voice. "How's things?"

"Oh, you know, a man apparently called Fay tried to abduct me and set fire to my house."

The sound of snorted laughter comes down the line. "Fay, huh? Is that right, Heath?"

"Yeah. Not fucking funny, he had a bodyguard with him. Now deceased. Told you they'd located her. We should've found and spoken to her before they did."

"Her is sitting next to you," I retort.

"Sorry. Verity."

"Vee."

"I like Vee," puts in Joss. "Single letter names, awesome people."

"What happened to the fae?" A second voice comes across the speakers, and even without seeing his sullen face, I can guess who this is. Ewan.

"Dead."

"Oh, shit, man," complains Ewan. "Seriously?"

"His fucking demon was attacking Verity! I don't know if they're intending to kill her or what."

"Heath. They can't kill her if you're around. You know that."

"I panicked, okay?" he snaps back.

"But you can't go around killing fae, for fuck's sake! Now they've an extra reason not to trust us. Nice work," replies Owen with a snarl to his voice.

"Next time something needs dealing with, you bloody go then!"

"This would be easier if Xander hadn't upped and disappeared again. He's better at this shit," replies Joss. "Have you heard from him?"

"No. He never contacts me first if we argue. You know that. Look, I'm almost home, can we talk then?" Heath turns the SUV down a narrow lane, the tree canopies above us folding over the road and meeting, obscuring the stars.

"And nobody's following you?" asks Joss.

"Not as far as I know."

"S'okay, I have the place on lockdown. Any of those guys feet touch our ground, their hair will fall out and skin turn grey." Ewan snickers to himself. "And we all know fae will want to avoid that."

This is weird. Really bloody odd. Heath told me his car was at the garage and couldn't be driven, and suddenly it's outside me house. I toyed with the idea of leaping from the car at the first set of traffic lights in town, then hightailing it to the police station, but something about the situation I just escaped, and Heath's actions, suggest I'm better off around him.

Apart from the fact he's a knife-wielding, homicidal guy.

"Where did you come from?" I ask him. "You left."

"Yeah, I came back."

"Obviously," I mutter. "Did you know that was going to happen?"

"Suspected but thought you were safe when I left you." He slams his palm on the steering wheel. "Fuck! I should've got to the bastards before they touched you."

"You're going to tell me I'll be safe with you, aren't you?" I ask him.

He glances at me, then back to the road. "I was, but thought it would sound like a cliche and you'd decide I was abducting you. But it's true. You're safer when the five of us are together."

"Five?"

"Yeah, you met three of us. One is on a kind of mission, I guess."

"Like you? What the hell just happened? Who was that?"

Heath doesn't respond for a few moments. "I know it's a big ask, but will you stay the night with us? We'll talk. Then you can decide what you want to do."

A large farmhouse house looms towards us, beyond the trees, and Heath stops the SUV in front of a low metal gate attached to a chain fence. He hops out and pulls open the gate. When he drives through and closes the gate again, I wait for the trepidation to swirl into my system as we approach.

Instead, I experience a strange calm the closer we get to the large brick house. Heath parks the SUV beside a large motorcycle. When he walks out and opens my door, I hesitate. Heath digs his hands in his pockets as he regards me.

"If you want to leave, that's okay, I'll take you to a hotel or a friend's. But I hope you understand why you'll be safer here. There're more like him out there who want to find you, and I can't guarantee you'll be safe alone tonight."

I follow Heath and his cryptic words into the house. The slate floors and low, wooden-beamed ceilings add a rustic feel, and the place is warm. A pungent herb smell permeates the building; I recognise cloves and maybe sage? We walk through the large hallway and into a kitchen with a large, rectangular pine table. Joss and Ewan look up from where they're studying a laptop on the table in front of Ewan.

"Good evening, Vee. Again." Joss's natural smile and warmth contrast with Ewan's sullenness and Heath's guarded nature, and I wish he'd been the one to find me tonight. Maybe they leave the killing to Heath?

I tuck my hands under my arms.

"You don't look too good," Joss says.

The shaking runs through my body again as his words remind me what happened. "I... Something... Heath just..." I wrap my arms tighter around myself, as if this will stop me collapsing to the floor.

Joss stands and crosses to the sink to fill a glass with water. He passes it to me, the concern in his eyes blooming warmth in my chest. Heath remained edgy on the journey here, understandably, and I need this friendlier face.

The kitchen's brighter than the pub was, and I take a closer look at Joss’s features. His eyes are the same green as Heath's, the perfect bone structure and symmetry too. He's slimmer than Heath, and although I guess they're the same age, he has the air of someone older and calmer.

This guy towers over me like Heath too. If it weren't for his calm demeanour, I'd be wary of the strength I can see in him.

He returns the steady gaze. "Are you hurt?" He gestures at me. "Your neck's red. Did he do anything else?" I swear he's about to touch my throat, but instead he nods at me.

"Nothing, apart from set fire to my bedroom."

"He was in your bedroom?" Joss cocks a brow. "I know they're seductive, but that was bloody quick work on his part."

"Who're seductive? And no, I was in the bedroom hiding from him. And did you miss the 'on fire' part?"

Joss rubs his cheek. "Smart move getting away. They're vicious buggers."

"I kind of noticed that," I retort.

Heath pulls out a chair and gestures to me. "She's in shock. Vee, sit down."

I obey, clutching my water. Ewan hasn't paid me much attention, instead his focus remaining on scrolling through the laptop screen, messy hair disguising his expression.

"Who was it?" asks Ewan.

"Not sure. Fae definitely, but not someone I've come across."

"If he had a demon with him, I doubt he's allied with the Council," replies Joss.

"Xander told you something was happening behind the scenes with them, that they're hiding this from us," replies Ewan.

"Yes, and that's where Xander has gone, right?" asks Heath.

"With his own personal brand of diplomacy," says Joss with a laugh.

"More diplomatic than killing people, huh, Heath?" Ewan slams the laptop lid closed. "Idiot."

"What would you've done?" snaps Heath. "I couldn't stop myself. Literally, saw her and had no control over anything but getting Verity out of there."

Joss and Ewan exchange glances. "Xander was right. The Fifth equals trouble."

"I'm sure everything will be okay once she's strong enough," Heath replies.

"Strong enough for what?" I ask. "Somebody please tell me what's happening? Why are you talking about demons?" Despite my scrambled head, their words resounded, the extraordinariness of their conversation edging reality after what I saw.

"How open-minded are you about the world?" asks Heath.

Joss burst into laughter. "She's a conspiracy theorist. She's open-minded about a lot of things." He bites his lip. "Not everything."

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist. Don't use that phrase."

"We've seen your blog. It's how we found you," says Joss.

"Yeah, broadcasting yourself around the world," mutters Ewan. "Not smart."

"She doesn't know! And it meant we found her too," replies Heath.

"What don't I know?"

"You investigate shit. Some would call it obsessive paranoia, but we're looking into the same things as you. Government. Corporate. Someone's pulling the strings."

I straighten. "Yes! Exactly. Money's exchanging hands. Whoever’s controlling the world has a reach into all society."

"Nobody's controlling the world," remarks Ewan. "They're trying, but we're going to stop them."

"Oh!" The situation dawns on me. "Are you the guys I spoke to the other week? The ones who've been emailing me about the new CEO of Alphanet and his connection to the British government?"

Now it's Ewan's turn to straighten. "No. Who's contacted you?"

"A guy who works for them. He wanted to meet me. Our group is by invite only and have a code, you know, on the secret boards we use, so I know he's genuine. He has information."

"Your secret boards are filled with lunatics," says Ewan. "Do you mean Spillz?"

Is Ewan a secret member of our site in the deep web? We’re all anonymous on there and share a passion for hacking into or digging for evidence. "No, DoomMan."

He frowns. "I haven't heard of or looked into him." Ewan reopens the laptop, lips pursed as he taps the keys.

"He could be fae?" suggests Heath. "Or from the Order?" I look from guy to guy, increasingly losing track of their rapid conversation. "You did right not to meet him."

"Ah. I kind of arranged to," I admit.

Joss's face darkens. "On your own?"

"In a public place!" I retort.

"That doesn't always help," Heath says.

I place my elbows on the table and run hands through my hair. "This is exhausting. Please tell me what's happening. Why did someone break into my flat and attempt to barbecue me? I should be contacting the police, not sitting here!"

The men fall silent, and I try hard not to keep my eyes off Joss. I've never had a thing for blond guys, but each time I look over, his eyes are on me. His presence calms me, but there's a contradiction in that the way he looks at me stirs a desire for him to touch me.

"Do you believe there's more to the world than humans?" asks Joss in a soft voice.

"I've always considered alien life is a safe bet," I reply. "I mean the universe is infinite, right? How can we be the only planet that can sustain a population?"

"Yeah, but other things. Like witches. Demons." He pauses. "Vampires. Fae."

"I know Wiccans."

Ewan snorts and doesn't look up from his laptop. "Not the religion. A different kind of witches."

Snarky, much? "Demons? I'm not religious. Ghosts, maybe. Vampires? Well, probably some weird cults who drink blood. I've heard of that."

"You're not religious?" asks Heath. "Really?"

"I have a thing about not believing people. I hate lies. I read the Bible—forcibly—at school, and as soon as the teacher discussed it, she really annoyed me. She was supposed to teach me, not lie to me with stories invented to keep the masses in check."

"Ha!" Joss laughs and points at me. "Absolutely! But that's the thing with stories, right? They get told through generations over hundreds of years, until someone writes them down. The stories stem from somewhere though. It's a version of the truth, right? The original truth became lost in people's motivations to control others. The original messages are lost. Doesn't mean there's no Higher Power out there, or that you should ignore the morality taught."

I smile. "That was always my opinion, although I don't believe in God and the devil."

"But demons are real," Joss bats back and our smiles disappear. "You just met one."

Mine doesn't disappear because he's lying, but because, thanks to my oh-so awesome talents, I know, in no uncertain terms, he's telling me the truth.

A truth that cannot possibly be true.

"What?" I ask in a low voice.

"And vampires and shifters and fae and—"

"Zombies?" I interrupt sarcastically.

Ewan snorts again, which I take as a derisive no. But my heart's speeding at each word, and suddenly my exhaustion's replaced by energy suggesting I run.

Every. Word. Is. True.

"I think you should stop there, Joss," says Heath. "Vee's had a pretty shit evening, and I don't think a run down on the secret world living alongside the human is the best conversation right now."

"I get that, but she's confused. I think Vee needs to understand that she's in danger from something, and the police can't and won't help her with it."

"Why won't the police help? Someone committed arson in my home and attacked me!"

"If the Order are in government and corporations, do you really think law enforcement is exempt?" asks Ewan.

On everything I've heard today, this confirmation of my suspicions over the last few years smacks me the hardest. "What Order?"

"The one you investigate but don't have a name for. Vee, you already suspected that."

"Fuck," I mumble.

"I'll give you my phone if you want to contact the police or anybody else," says Heath. "But I'd rather you waited and considered the safest thing to do. Honestly, giving yourself over to the police is not safe." He pauses. "You're exhausted, I can see that. Stay. Sleep. We can talk again tomorrow."

"Yeah. I told the guys you could have my bed." Joss nods at me. "Don't worry. I won't climb into it with you."

"Can you stop with the innuendo," mutters Ewan. "She's in a house with three guys she hardly knows. Do you want her to freak out and leave?"

"Ah, sorry, Vee. I don't mean anything by my comments. Just teasing you."

For the first time tonight, I know he's lying to me because I've seen the opposite in his eyes.

* * *

I'm hesitant when Joss offers to show me where I can sleep. Thoughts of demons and God-knows what waiting for me in the night, and conformation of my own suspicions about whether I can trust the police, sway me towards staying. The calmness in Joss I've picked up on since I arrived intensifies the more he speaks to me, or the closer he gets. In an odd way, spending time with the three guys feels like meeting up with old friends.

The stairs to the second storey are worn from years of use, and at the top, a wide hallway leads to several rooms. Joss pauses by a door and rubs the back of his head as he indicates the room.

"Your accommodation for the night, ma'am."

I shake my head at his mock formality, and he grins. Joss flicks a switch, and I peek into the room. A large bed fills the room, with a small wardrobe in one corner and heavy curtains across the window. Bare. Functional. Apart from clothes spread around the room, which Joss walks in and collects in his arms.

"Ah yeah, sorry. I'll move these."

"I'm fine to sleep on the sofa," I say.

"No. You need to rest after the day you've had."

I swallow and sit on the edge of the bed. "If I can."

Concern crosses Joss's face, and he sets the clothes on a nearby chair before sitting next to me. The mattress sinks as he does, and his leg touches mine. My first instinct is to move my leg away, but his accidental touch has a weird combination of effects. Hyperawareness this man close to me digs into the primal part of my brain, triggering a sudden arousal, and then it’s replaced by a soothing drop into comfort.

I turn to him as the remaining reticence I had about staying here drops away. His green eyes meet mine, and my pulse rate kicks up a notch again at the affection and concern in them. Joss bites his lip and shifts away so we're no longer touching.

"You all have the same eye colour," I say.

"You have green eyes too."

People occasionally comment on the striking colour, and I'd noticed Heath's, but how many people can look at someone else and realise they share the same shade?

"Are we related?" I ask him. "Is that what this is?"

"We're not blood, apart from Xander and Heath; they’re brothers.”

"Right." I pick at the dark grey sheets I sit on. "My head hurts."

"Do you feel any calmer?" asks Joss.

"I do, maybe the prospect of a comfortable bed and the protection of three guys helps." I give a wry smile. "Thanks for giving me your room."

Joss shrugs and reaches out to touch my hand before stopping and sitting on both instead. "All good. I want you to feel you belong."

"So, yeah. Maybe I should sleep?"

He stands at my pointed comments and picks up his clothes. "Good plan. And I promise not to reclaim my bed while you're sleeping in it."

"You'd regret it if you tried," I warn him.

"Vee, I hope you realise I'm kidding. I have no intention of doing anything inappropriate."

I laugh at his use of the word inappropriate. “I know. I can tell."

"Ah, the human lie detector, of course you can." He walks backwards towards the door and gives a small bow as he leaves. "Sleep well. You're safe here."

I watch as he quietly closes the door before flopping backwards on the bed and staring at the bare light bulb overhead.

Again, he's telling the truth.