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My gaze drifted to Kaylor. Her icy blue eyes were affixed to the list. She had every reason to hate this. Every reason to want nothing to do with revenge or justice or whatever the hell we were calling this crusade. And yet here she was, helping us dismantle them piece by piece.
I didn’t have to like it, having her involved, but I also understood her reasons. She wasn’t the only one who wanted to hurt them. “If Silvia’s alive, she’ll surface eventually. People like her always do. They won’t stop. The money will draw them out again. It might not be in Elmwood this time, but they will start again,” I said.
“I’m not known for my patience,” Kreed grumbled.
I leaned back in my chair, my fingers drumming against the armrest as my mind raced. It had been a frustrating few months, but we were bound to hit a break soon. Rusty had been the rot that everyone could see, the obvious infection you could point to and say, “There. That’s the problem.”
But the rest of them? They were the disease that had spread quietly while everyone was distracted by the visible symptoms. Hidden. Insidious. Spreading.
Raine grabbed his phone from the table, pocketing it. “I’ll keep digging. Fynn and I came up with a tracking program. If Silvia surfaces anywhere—even a hint—we’ll know.”
Raine was a bit of a computer whiz, and when you paired him with Fynn Dupree, one of the Elite, the two of them were basically digital warlords capable of hacking into damn near anything with Wi-Fi.
“And the others?” I asked. “Do we have a lead on them? The guards? The missing girls?”
Kreed’s expression didn’t change, but danger glimmered in his eyes. “We will. We’re getting closer. I can feel it.”
I wasn’t sure Kreed’s hunch alone was going to be enough. We needed a break before my sanity broke.
My gaze tracked Kaylor as she got up and walked to the other room with Kreed right behind her. I couldn’t stop from watching her whenever she was near. Hell, half the fucking time, I didn’t even know my eyes were on her.
Mason reached over and whacked me on the chest, drawing my attention away from the girl I had no business wanting. “You need to get over her.”
I wanted to get under her, not over her, but I figured it was best I didn’t voice that out loud in the present company. I didn’t particularly want my ass beaten by three of my brothers and one of their friends. Nope. Not on my agenda today. “And why is that?”
“Let me rephrase.Weneed to help you get over her.”
“And how,” I said slowly, suspicion crawling up my spine, “are you planning to do that?”
His grin widened. “We find you another fucking girl, brother. A replacement.”
I scrubbed a hand down my face, exhaling hard. “That sounds…horrible. I mean, I’m all for being a dick, but using a girl for purely self-serving purposes…?”
Mason raised an eyebrow, leaning back with his arms spread across the top of the sofa. “Didn’t stop you last year.”
The reminder hit exactly where he’d aimed it. It was true last year we’d all done some fucked-up shit to Kaylor, and perhaps I had some unresolved emotions that tied me to her. Guilt? Remorse? Maybe just the lingering ache of wanting something I could never have. “That was different,” I muttered.
“How?” he prompted, calling out my shit.
I didn’t have an answer for that. Because it wasn’t different. Not really.
Raine shifted. “He’s right, though. We do need to get your head out of the past.”
I didn’t have a comeback for that either, which was becoming a pattern I didn’t like.
Mason leaned forward. “You’ve got to let her go, Mad. She loves Kreed. There’s no scenario where this ends well for you.”
“For now,” I muttered even though I knew how pathetic it sounded.
Mason shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“There’s still plenty of time,” I said, the words hollow even as I spoke them, “for her to realize she chose the wrong Corvo.”
“You’re exhausting, you know that?” Mason grumbled, shaking his head.
“What’s wrong with knowing what I want? Besides, how about you butt out of my fucking business.”
Our father had raised killers and strategists. Not quitters. But he also hadn’t raised idiots, and clinging to someone that was never mine to begin with was starting to feel like the stupidest thing I’d ever done.
