“You remembered.” He blinks, taken aback. “That day I took an enormous risk to get into her apartment. They were already planning to take her, but they didn’t know that I knew. That’s why I could break in and make a mess, knowing it would force her to move in with you. Or, rather, that you would give her no other choice. It was the only thing I could think of in such a short time to keep her safe. If I had reached out and made myself known to you, they would’ve killed someone… someone very important to me.” He stares into the void, fury simmering in what used to be a warm hazel color in his eyes. “I couldn’t risk it. And there wasn’t another way—believe me, therewasn’t.”
“Where is that someone now?”
“She’s safe, for now.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’ve been planning this rebellion for the past two years. The EFW is crumbling from the inside. They’ve wronged so many of their own people that it wasn’t hard to turn some of them against the cause. But he’s smart, Salister. And they’ve been butchering people left and right, then recruiting new soldiers. Starting this rebellion… it wasn’t simple. And it took time.”
I listen and nod, because I don’t know what else to do. I’m lost for words, and I know that no amount of killing is going to fix me this time. Just when I thought I was gaining the upper hand,my entire world crashes down on me knowing Dove is in more danger now than when I found her. And that I’m the reason she’s infected with a deadly virus with no fucking cure in sight.
“This virus…” My breath leaves my lungs in a rush. “What do you know about it?”
Just like me, he exhales and plops down in the chair next to mine, groaning from the pain in his abdomen.
“Not much. They have two labs outside the country, but their location is secret, even to the ones with my rank. It’s probably where they engineered it, and I don’t think it was made just for Dove. There’s a bigger plan at play—a pandemic, I imagine. They want to change the system, and… I mean… it’s not hard to do it when an entire country is suddenly preoccupied with keeping their loved ones alive.”
Fuck.
“But?” I ask, sensing that there’s more.
He dips his head. “I think I know who has this kind of information. About where the labs are, and how to get our hands on the cure. I just need to—”
“You’re planning to go back,” I deadpan. “You were never going to remain here.”
“I have to. Without me, the whole plan falls apart. And everything we worked for goes down the drain.”
I open my mouth to protest, but the ringing phone on my desk gets both of our attention. I get up, thinking it might be Maddox on the other end. I gave him a quick rundown of what happened, and he sent his doctor, then said he’d come meet us here today.
Except… the number flashing on my screen isn’t from the White House. I don’t recognize it, and very few people have my personal contact details. I look outside at the willow tree in my backyard, watching it sway with the wind. The sound coming through the cracked window is eerie—less the rustling of leavesand more of a hollow, rasping hiss, as if the tree exhales despair with every gust.
Slowly, I turn around with the phone in my hand, eyeing Cole as I tap the speaker button.
I pick up the call, and silence meets me from the other end
Cole and I hold each other’s stare, a tacit understanding flowing between us.
This isn’t some random number calling me, and we both know that.
My hand tightens around the phone as the words finally come out.
“Hello, Rowan.” A low, sinister voice fills the room. “Have we got your full attention now?”
Dove
Rowan’s colonial house looks spotless as always when I walk out of his bedroom on wobbly feet. The lights are dimmed all the way into the open living room, and the sun is almost gone from the sky. I don’t know how many hours have passed since he and I talked—my body is still clinging to sleep every chance it gets. But I need to see my brother. My brother… wholivesand breathes under the same roof as me.
The sound of cutlery and vessels clinking together draws me into the large kitchen. I trudge toward it, expecting to see either Rowan or Cole, but I see the back of another man’s head instead. One that I recognize.
“Saint?” I call out.
He turns to face me, his brows raised before he clears his throat, looking me up and down. I still don’t know why he’s here and what kind of work he’s doing for Rowan. Last time I saw him, he was driving me back to my apartment after Odette Chevrier showed up to mess with my head. He got in trouble because of that, so I’m not exactly sure where we stand.
“Miss Finnegan,” he says, surprised. “I am… glad that you’re back.”
I smile, but the action makes me tear up a bit. Seeing Saint here, in this house, reminds me I’m safe and back where I belong. In Rowan’s world, around him, and with him.
“It’s good to be home. How are you doing?”
“Me?” he asks, as if no one ever asks him that.
My brows quirk up, expecting a response—one that never comes. Instead, he clears his throat and jerks his head toward Rowan’s office door. “He’s in there.”
