“Questions later. Prince first,” she tutted.
They sat in the car together. Mindy turned the engine on and sped into the night before Aiden properly put on his seatbelt.
• • •
Mindy slid the car into the parking lot of a closed store. Before waiting for her to fully park, Aiden stumbled out, collapsing onto the ground. “Come on.” Mindy pulled him again. “You can rest once we rescue him.” She started walking away.
“Christina and Javier.” Panting, Aiden followed. His creaked with every step. “We need to check on them, too.”
“They’re not in trouble.”
“They’ll be looking for me with Brendan.”
“It’s not the looking that’s trouble. It’s the background.”
Aiden stopped and propped his hands against his knees, wheezing. The sound of Mindy’s heels clicked away. Clenching his hands, Aiden wiped the sweat from his brow and churned his legs forward to catch up.
“What background? He’s definitely not involved with Infinite.”
“Oh, you weren’t aware?” Mindy glanced back. “His father isn’t just an ordinary lawyer. He’s one of the best in the state, and his current case is to take down Infinite. He’s been working on it for years.”
Aiden froze. For extra measure, he repeated her words back to himself until his brain finally processed and understood the implications. Grabbing his head, he bent over and groaned. “No wonder they wouldn’t believe me. Brendan looking everywhere for me just made it seem like I was the traitor even more!”
“Yes, quite unfortunate for you. Or lucky? Either way, fate has a sense of humor, don’t you think?”
Mindy’s lackadaisical attitude faded into the darkness when Aiden grasped the true sense of danger Brendan was in. He ran up to her. “What’s the quickest way to his apartment?” he asked, and the second she pointed, he sped past her, clutching the gun.
He heard nothing except his heartbeats, and his eyes observed every shadow. The dim streetlights glowed, creating silhouettes ahead. One was a man with his hand on a gun, and it slowly approached another silhouette with recognizable long legs, tense shoulders, and slightly combed hair.
His brother’s voice whispered in his ears.
Do you sense danger? Shoot. Don’t rely on anything else but the weapon.
He leveled the gun and aimed. A muted crack echoed on the street, and the stranger dropped to the ground, grasping at his leg.
Brendan yelped at the sight.
Aiden gasped, flying to Brendan’s side. He jumped around the writhing man and threw his arms around Brendan. His legs collapsed, and, amid Brendan’s confused cursing, the other still caught him, holding him from falling.
He gripped Brendan tighter.
“Aiden, what in the hell—what the fuck is going on?” Brendan sputtered.
It’s still him. He’s so warm.He looked up, smiling, and Brendan’s face turned aghast. “Oh my god—where have you been? What happened to you?”
“Why areyouout here at this hour?”
“Youtexted me!”
Shit, they used my phone!
Another muffled shot rang in the air, and Aiden jumped up, whirling around with his arms in position to throw the perpetrator. Mindy fired another shot at the man’s head. The assassin dropped to the ground dead.
“Fuck!” Brendan shoved Aiden behind him. “She just!”
“It’s okay, Brendan.” He ran back around and covered Brendan’s mouth. “She saved me. She’s with us.”
“With us—she just murdered someone!” Brendan hissed through Aiden’s hand. He grabbed Aiden’s arm and placed his own body before Aiden’s again.
