It’s rusted in spots, paint peeling off in streaks like it’s survived too many bad days. But sure enough, the keys hang from the ignition, practically begging someone to drive it straight to the junkyard.
Nathaniel pushes me up to the passenger side and yanks the door open.
“Talon, help her in.”
Talon lifts me out of the chair and dumps me into the seat like I’m a sack of potatoes.
I wheeze. “I hope your next meal gives you food poisoning.”
Talon grins. “So eager to play nurse?”
Fuck.
“Do I look like I’m even capable?” I snap.
“Give it time, baby,” is all he says.
Cassian slides into the driver’s seat, jamming the key into the ignition with a sharp twist. The engine coughs to life like it’s dying a dramatic death, rattling so loud I wince.
Nathaniel pulls himself into the back seat, and Talon climbs in after him.
“I can’t believe you guys actually did that,” I mutter as Cassian slams the truck into gear and rolls us out of the construction site. “Like. You just delivered the Candy Maker’s body to a literal crime syndicate.”
“You were there too,” Cassian says flatly. “Could argue you were part of it.”
I glare at him.
“I was not,” I snap.
“You didn’t object,” he says, maddeningly calm.
“Uh, yeah?” My eyebrows knit together. “Because I didn’t realize what was happening until it was happening. One second I’m getting wheeled into a construction site, the next I’m face-to-face with some sunglasses-wearing organ lord, trying not to hyperventilate while Talon shows him a corpse in a wheelbarrow.”
“You still didn’t object.”
“Oh my God.” I widen my eyes so hard it physically hurts. “What exactly was I supposed to do? Leap out of the chair and yell, ‘Hey, maybe don’t sell that corpse to your crime buddies’? I could barely sit upright. Still can’t.”
Talon laughs in the back. “Well, she did glare.”
“Yeah,” I say, pointing a finger. “Exactly. I glared. I wasclearlynot on board.”
Nathaniel shifts in the front, voice mild. “Intent or not, you were still there. No one’s blaming you. Just… noting the involvement.”
“Unwillingly,” I growl. “Like a hostage.”
Cassian lifts an eyebrow in the rearview mirror. “A witness wouldn’t make the distinction.”
“I am not okay with this logic!” I throw my hands up, then instantly regret it as nausea rolls through me. “So because I got dragged into your sketchy little corpse exchange and didn’t bite the buyer’s hand off, I’m an accomplice now?”
“You made eye contact,” Talon says under his breath. “That’s basically a verbal contract.”
I nearly combust. “That is not—! You are—!”
It takes a beat of silence for me to realize... they’re joking. Talon snickers and leans back in his seat. Nathaniel hides a smile, turning to the window. And Cassian, God help me, I swear I catch the corner of his mouth twitch in the mirror.
“You know, I saved your lives,” I say eventually. “Twice, in Cassian’s case. You should be worshipping the ground I walk on.”
“And you got a second chance at life,” Cassian replies. “Because of us.”
