Wylder’s nostrils flare. “Okay, so it wasn’t Ansel. But if you tell me you weren’t acting on his orders, then I’m going to call you a liar.”
“Oh, I was acting on his orders, all right,” Neo says in a dangerously low tone. “Ansel asked me to add extra layers of security around those files. To put so many protections in place that even someone as talented as either of us couldn’t hack in. So what I think you mean to say is, thank you, Neo and Ansel, for protecting our secret society bullshit.”
The silence that follows this is almost deafening. I don’t feel any triumph, just a bone-deep confusion.
Why is Ansel going to such lengths to shield us? And why did he ask Neo to do it instead of doing it himself?
An answer is flickering in my mind, but it’s as though my brain knows it’s going to be too painful. It’s keeping it just out of reach, trying to keep me in the dark as long as possible.
I’m tired of living there. I need to be back in the light. I need my butterfly to make my life bright again.
“Neo—” I step toward him, my voice cracking. “—please. If you know something about what’s going on, tell us. Is Ansel okay?”
Neo’s gaze softens as he looks at me. “Shit, you look even worse than him, which is saying something.”
I try and swallow, but the lump in my throat is too big. “How is he?”
“I don’t know,” Neo admits, rocking back and forth. “That’s why I’m here.”
“If I wanted to disappear and never be found, I could.”
Ansel’s statement comes to the forefront of my mind, and I feel my world start to spin.
“Explain.” Wylder’s eyes narrow as he grabs Neo’s arm again.
“Fuck off,” Neo mutters, shaking him off. “You’re an asshole. You know that, right?”
Unshed tears fill my vision as I fight to breathe. “Neo,please.”
I hate the pity in his eyes, but not as much as the fear. It’s the fear that has my blood running cold. “Ansel’s gone.”
My pulse quickens. “Gone? Where? When?”
From the corner of my eye, I see my brothers leap into action. Wylder’s putting a phone to his ear while Harley is opening a laptop, Dalton grabbing a seat beside him.
Matthias and Samson come to my sides, each gripping one of my shoulders.
Neo’s lips thin. “I don’t know where, and it can’t have been too long ago. I’d only been asleep for less than an hour when I woke up. As soon as I read the letter, I came straight here.”
“What letter?”
Neo mutely holds out a folded sheet. It vibrates as I unfold it, my nerves traveling from my hands to the paper.
I have to blink a couple of times before I can make out the words. It hits me then that I’ve never seen my butterfly’s handwriting before.
There’s so much I need to learn about him still.
Fuck, I hope I get the chance.
My eyes finally focus, and I immediately wish they hadn’t.
Neo,
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry that I haven’t explained anything. I’m sorry that I’m sneaking out without saying a real goodbye.
Most of all, I’m sorry to be leaving you.
