40

40

The deafening silence was interrupted by footstrides. Hara and Tiffany had just excitedly joined them on the patio but immediately recognized the cold silence.

"Giveon. Good to have you back." Hara smiled, giving him a warm pat. Then she stepped over to Ryder and her brows arched. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing—" He was gonna lie about it, but at the same time, he didn't have enough balls to. With how crazy it sounded, he needed as many calm heads as possible to make sense of it.

"Tell me, Ryder. What's wrong?" Hara hugged him, hoping to melt away his resolve. She did. Seconds later, he was clearing his throat.

"Giveon has some news for us. Uh—" He looked over to the guys, hoping one of them would bail him out and say the words instead. But they didn't seem like they wanted to. So he continued. "Okay. Uh — he met Jason and Ciara. And, uh — Jason could hear Ciara's thoughts."

"What?" Hara was shaken. Just like the others. "What does that mean?"

"There's just one explanation for that, i