Cain gives me a baleful look. “She graduated college when she was 17. She’s a prodigy.”
Of courseshe is. Whoever she is, she wouldn’t have caught Cain’s eye unless she were exceptional and prodigal. It sounds like she’s both.
“Why would Dagon take her?” I ask.
“Because I took something of his, so he’s taking something of mine.” He works his jaw, pacing around the room. Notices a crystal tumbler on the coffee table. Picks it up and hurls it at the wall. I watch as the venerated leader of the Nighthawks begin to lose his mind, and I understand with stark clarity that this girl who he’s been stalking, possibly tormenting, is his undoing.
The same way Scarlett is Greyson’s, and Ember’s mine. All of us have a single, glaring vulnerability, and only two of us have them locked up in a fortress more impenetrable than Fort Knox.
“Nobody was supposed to know about her until I brought her here.” He rakes his hand through his hair once, and then again. Tugs at it from the roots.
His eyes are wide and manic. His composure’s long-since crumbled. He’s a shell of the man I know him as, and I’m not sure whether it’s a relief to know he has humanity, or frightening to see him slowly losing his mind.
In either case, it’s imperative that he gets his hands on his Chosenimmediately. I saw what Dagon did to Ember, and he cared for her. I cannot imagine what horrors he’ll inflict on a woman who means nothing to him, who is only a mode of revenge.
“We need Tobias up here—”
“No,” Cain snarls, cutting me off. “No outsiders.”
“He’s not an outsider. He’s the best hacker in the world. If you haven’t been able to find Azalea, then we won’t—but he can.” I glance at Greyson. “He found Scarlett, and she had her big brother hiding her tracks.”
Greyson nods. “I’ll call him up.”
“I said no—”
“Did it sound like I was fucking asking?” Grey snaps, phone already in hand. “I wasn’t. You wanted help, you’re getting help. At least have the decency to acknowledge that you’re not fucking thinking straight, and let us fix the problem that your arrogance caused.”
“My arrogance?” Cain roars.
“Yes, you fuckingcunt. Yourarrogance. Your belief that you can see into the future and predetermine every move someone will make before they’ve even thought of it. I hope this serves as a cold fucking reminder;you’re not omniscient.”
Hours pass. Tobias works away on the half-destroyed couch, clicking on his laptop, squinting hard at the screen.
I can’t pretend that his presence won’t cause further complications. Him helping Cain will incline Cain to allow Toby to claim Alina, which will spell disaster for Ember, and therefore,me.Possibly the entire goddamn fortress.
But, right now, his services are needed to make sure thereisa fortress once all is said and done. If Cain loses his obsession—hisvulnerability—there might not be.
“Where are we?” Cain barks for the fifth time in as many minutes, pacing in front of Toby.
Toby wipes some sweat from his brow. He’s terrified, as the rest of us are. All of our lives hang in the balance right now.
“Close,” he says. “I got footage of the abduction, and a blurry shot of the license plate of the car she was stuffed into. I need to clear up the resolution so I can follow it through traffic cams. Let me breathe.”
“You won’t be breathing much longer if you fuck this up,” Cain says, but he stalks into his office, leaving the three of us alone.
I think we all collectively exhale a deep breath of relief.
“This is bad,” Greyson says quietly. “If we fail—”
“Take your nihilism somewhere else; I need to focus,” Toby barks.
I don’t think it’s safe for us to leave Toby alone in an apartment with Cain right now—there’s no knowing if Cain will snap Toby’s neck in a fit of rage—but Greyson and I do head into the kitchen to give him space.
“If he fails, we’re all dead,” Grey murmurs.
“Yup,” I respond.
Grey glances at me. “Dagon’s going to request a trade for Ember.”
