“Oh, all sorts. This place is disgusting. And I have very low standards, so that’s saying something. But funnily enough, I,too, am looking for someone who is missing. How fortuitous that we met in this place doing the same thing.”
“Who are you looking for?” Kit asks.
Casey steps up to our sides but stays silent, waiting for his answer.
“My sister. She used to work here, and now she’s missing.”
“Does your sister have a name?” Kit asks, and I eye him. He shouldn’t be asking useless questions.
“Yes, Ellery. Dark hair, a bit of shit, loud mouth, obnoxious, manipulative…”
“Ellery?” Kit asks, his eyes widening. “They’re literally back at the?—”
“Don’t,” Jax says, nudging Kit. “We don’t know if he’s telling the truth. We could put them in danger.”
Fallow rolls his eyes. “Fuck off. I’m no danger to her. She’s my sister.”
“It’s they/them,” Kit supplies, and Fallow arches an eyebrow.
“For you, maybe. But I shared a womb with her, so I get to call her whatever I want. Plus, she always calls me worse, I promise. And I still tore half the country apart so I could rescue her. So, where the fuck have you hidden her?”
No one tells him.
“How about one of us calls and verifies your story?” Jax suggests. “And if they want to see you, then maybe we can tell you where they are.”
Fallow rolls his eyes. “Do you fucking believe this? This is fucking ridiculous. But fine. I’ll bite. Call her and tell her Fallow has been looking for her.”
“After we find Bane,” I growl. “We’ve wasted enough time.”
But I go ignored.
“How long have you been looking for Ellery?” Kit asks him, and I nearly growl, the energy changing in the space as hebristles. This has nothing to do with Bane. And right now, he’s the only one I care about.
“Years. Too fucking long. I tracked her here from Missouri, and the East Coast before that. And that led me here, to all this.” Fallow leans a little closer. “Like I said, there’s a strip club right in the back. Lots of shady business done in those locked, soundproof rooms. If they took your man, he might be there. No one would see or hear him if he screamed.”
That makes my chest constrict.
He better not be hurt.
“Fuck,” Kit murmurs, and I push forward, but not before Casey reaches out and stops me.
“We need a plan,” he says. “We don’t even know if we can trust him.”
I shrug him off. “Like the plan you had when you strangled the bartender and stuffed him in a closet? Right now, I trust no one but myself. Call Ellery, verify who this guy is so we can find Bane.”
When he says nothing, I continue pushing my way forward, my hand landing on the door Fallow came through.
“Where is this club?”
Fallow rubs his hands together, light in his eyes.
“Was just there. Follow me.”
As we move down the dim hallway, I hear Kit on the phone, verifying who Fallow is, and it seems he was telling the truth.
He just gives me a simple nod, and I know what that means. It means Ellery is his sibling. He was telling the truth.
“Fuck, why is the lighting so shit back here?” Kit asks.
