Page 3 of Saint’s Revenge

"I—"

"Riley. Promise me."

A pause. Then: "I promise."

"Don't try to help. Don't try to stop anyone. You just hide and stay alive."

"Okay. I will. I promise, Lucas."

I want to say more. Want to tell her I'm sorry I left. Want to tell her I never stopped thinking about her. Want to tell her that if I'd stayed, I would have destroyed myself, but leaving destroyed something else.

Instead, I say, "Stay safe."

"You too."

The line goes dead.

I sit there in my room at the clubhouse, phone still pressed to my ear, listening to empty static and feeling like I've been split open.

Five years. Five years of nothing, and she calls me now. Calls me to give up the location of the man she spent half her life standing beside. Calls me Lucas like the last five years never happened, like I'm still the kid who loved her too much to say it out loud.

I want to throw the phone across the room. Want to punch something until my knuckles split. Want to call her back and demand answers to questions I don't even know how to ask.

Instead I stand up, grab my cut from where it's draped over the chair, and head downstairs to find Phoenix.

He’s in the kitchen with Judge and Brick, all three of them drinking coffee that smells like it's been sitting in the pot since yesterday. They look up when I walk in, and whatever they see on my face makes Phoenix set his mug down immediately.

"What happened?"

I close the distance between us. Keep my voice low even though there's no one else around to hear. "I know where Demon is."

Judge straightens. Brick goes still. Phoenix's eyes sharpen.

"How?"

"Got a call this morning. Someone I knew before."

Phoenix stares at me. "Someone from Oakridge?"

"Yeah."

"Someone close to Demon?"

I hesitate. Consider lying. Decide against it because Phoenix can smell a lie from three rooms away. "Riley Mason. She grew up with me and my brother. The three of us were inseparable until I left. She's been living with the Vipers."

Judge's eyebrows rise slightly. Brick's expression darkens.

"She's with the Vipers and she's giving up their location?" Phoenix asks, left eyebrow raised.

"She's done with him. Done with all of it. She wouldn't lie about this."

"You sure about that?"

I meet his gaze. "Yeah. I'm sure."

I’m lying. I’m not sure, but it’s Riley, and she might be the enemy, but I still want to believe her.

Phoenix leans back against the counter, arms crossed. "Where?"