I was off the bed and reaching for Mallory to help her do the same as soon as I saw him.
Jaw twitching like he was putting so much pressure on it, it might shatter. Eyes all fury and agitation. Hand gripping the doorknob like he wanted to crush something.
Briggs drew in a breath and released it just as slowly as he glared at some unseen spot in the room. “We...” He released a breath that might’ve been considered a laugh, but it was too rough to be sure. Dragging his free hand through his hair, he muttered, “We have company,” and shoved the door the rest of the way open.
The hand I’d been holding out for Mallory instinctively gripped her arm and pulled her closer against me as soon as her feet touched the floor. “Wreckercompany?” I asked at the same time Mallory scoffed, “Wow, you’d already called them?”
Briggs’ stare snapped her way. “If you’re referring to the shadows, that still hasn’t been decided on.”
“Are we talking about Wreckers?” I asked more firmly as my mind raced, trying to figure out how to keep my wife out of a fight she wasn’t recovered enough for, when I knew she wouldn’t let me.
Briggs just released another slow exhale before looking at me and mumbling, “No,” as he turned and left, expecting us to follow.
When I took a step with Mallory at my side, she whispered, “Are you going to keep me from whatever we’re about to walk in on?”
My mouth twitched. “Depends on what it is.”
Instead of arguing the way I expected her to, she surprised me by saying, “If you do, I’ll try to remember why. I’ll try to remember that you’ve always been right here”—she nudged my side—“every other time.”
I slid my hand down to hers, teasing her palm and savoring that quick intake of breath before I weaved my fingers through hers. “Thank you.”
Considering the way they’d suddenly appeared last fall, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, but they really were the last people I was expecting to see when we spilled out into the living room, where the rest of the Shadow crew waited. Kaia and the rest of the girls were noticeably absent, but that was probably for the best.
Members of ARCK were gathered near the entryway, same as they’d been when they’d last found a way into Briggs’ house and terrified Chloe. Only this time, their giant of a Viking was missing—like ours—and a tiny redhead, with her face planted in the screen of a tablet she was rapidly tapping on, was in his place.
“Now,” Briggs began with another one of those calming breaths, like that was all that was keeping him from yelling, “considering you handed off information to us like this new family wasourproblem, and we’re in the process of handling it, I can’t imagine why you’re here.”
“Um, you’re welcome,” the redhead said, barely taking a second to look at Briggs over her tablet as she added, “For the information and for being here now.”
“I didn’t ask you to be here.”
At that, the redhead lowered her tablet so it slapped against her thighs. “We’ll happily leave, if you’d?—”
“Einstein,” one of the others muttered in a low tone. From all our dealings with them, I was pretty sure his name was Kieran. All I knew for sure was that he scared all of us, Briggs included.
Not that any of us let on to that.
Guy was just terrifying, even though he looked normal. But darkness was something that couldn’t be hidden, and it clung to him.
“Einstein,” I echoed, her name all wry amusement as it left me. “You’re how these three got in here last time.”
“And this time,” she added arrogantly as she lifted the tablet and returned to whatever she was doing.
“My wife,” one of the twins explained with a jerk of his head in her direction. Considering Maverick had been the one to stay back with us last fall, I assumed it was him. Not that I could tell the two apart. When he continued, his voice dripped with malice. “Funny thing about wives...”
My hand instinctively tightened against Mallory’s when his stare lingered on her for a few moments before snapping to Briggs and narrowing.
“You got one killed.” The words were a dark and taunting reminder of what Briggs had said to Maverick months ago in regards to Kieran’s wife, and also that none of us were immune to the frailty of this life. Especially when the mafia was involved. “Thought you could prevent that from happening?”
“I’m right here, and I’m fine,” Mallory seethed.
“Thanks to medical experts,” Einstein added without looking up, “thatyouhave the luxury of using.”
Kieran’s lethally suspicious glare was shifting from Briggs to Maverick, but when he elbowed the other twin in question, the twin thankfully shook his head in dismissal.
“People in our world don’t,” Einstein continued in a dull tone that was still somehow laced with a hint of venom. “That’s if they even have a chance of survival. Ask Diggs.”
“Who?” Thatch asked on a snort, all while I continued watching Kieran to make sure he wasn’t about to react to the conversation.
