“It’s not a game.” She pushes away from me and folds her arms. “I think he’s mad about Robbie.”
“We’re all mad about Robbie. That’s why I told you to stay the fuck away.”
Trent stares at the doorway, lips pursed. “Yeah, but they were closer.”
“He was never going to see him again, no matter what happened, so what’s the difference?”
Lilac snorts softly. “You really don’t know the difference between not seeing someone and them being dead?”
“Sometimes dead’s better.”
Caylon walks back into the room, holding a glass of discoloured water that he thrusts into Lilac’s hand. “Here, I took the liberty of pre-mixing.”
“Pre-mixing what?” I shove him in the chest when he doesn’t answer. “Could you fill me in, pretty fucking please?”
When Lilac takes a sip from the glass, I try to take it from her, but she hunches her shoulder to move it out of reach.
“Don’t drink that.”
“She has to.” Caylon stands toe to toe. He’s a few inches shorter, but it doesn’t matter. We’re not getting into a fight. For one, we’re mates. For another, he’s too devious to be trusted to fight fair. “This is my last wish.”
“What was the first one?”
Lilac clears her throat. “He asked me to pickpocket some guy’s wallet at the club.”
“That’s not…” Trent looks unhappy as he falters to a stop. I turn back to Caylon, but the dude only wears expressions when he can be bothered, and now isn’t one of those times. “What’s in the glass?”
“The same sedative that’s always in it. Thought you might appreciate the parting gift.”
“Who’s leaving?” Caylon just gazes blankly ahead and Lilac stares at her shoes. Her face is a study in misery. “I’m not asking you to do this,” I tell her, the words gathering urgency as she remains so resolutely impassive. “I would never ask you to do this. It’s not—”
“Not what?” Her chin tilts and her eyes look straight into my soul. “Not something you’re into? Not something you ask of other girls?”
“You know we don’t need this.”
She shakes her head. “Just let him prove his point and we can move on.” Her lips curl slightly. “You don’t seem to enjoy it when you’re not the one in control.”
“No shit.”
Lilac laughs and I feel a surge of hope because wherever she’s gone, she hasn’t gone there fully.
Then she steps forward, standing on her tippy toes to be level and still missing by half a foot. “You can always give me the gun back. The requests mean nothing if you’re no longer holding the gun.”
“I—” There’s something in her eyes I can’t read. “No. That wasn’t the deal.”
“No,” she says sadly. “It wasn’t.”
“Why don’t you explain how Stefan asked you to get rid of—”
My fist bunches the front of Caylon’s shirt as I thrust him against the wall. Trent is at our side in a second, hands forcing us apart. “No. This isn’t how we act. Not with each other.”
“There shouldn’t be any we,” Caylon spits out—the words his venom. “Our group should have split up when Robbie first became problematic. This is stupid. All these games are stupid.”
“So, leave.”
“Not until she knows once and for all what you really are. Let her experience what it’s like to live next to someone with a hair trigger and no practice at self-control.”
“Games are stupid, but we have to finish the game.” Caylon’s eyes narrow as I mock him, but he doesn’t contradict my assessment. “And what about work? How’re you going to explain to Stefan that we can’t go out on jobs together?”
