Bethany’s smile flashes—bright, quick. “Good. I’m great in a crisis. Mediocre at small talk. But I make a mean cup of tea.”
Justin watches the exchange like he’s committing it to memory. Then he leans down slightly, close enough that I can smell him.
His voice drops.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
It’s not a promise he makes lightly.
My chest tightens anyway. “Do you have to?—”
“I do,” he cuts in, soft but absolute.
And then he’s moving—grabbing his jacket, checking something on his phone, the entire room shifting around the fact that he’s about to vanish into the city again.
Bethany watches him go with an expression that’s too knowing, too practiced.
When the door shuts, the silence is different. Not empty. Just… strange.
Bethany turns back to me, perches on the edge of the desk, and studies me like she’s figuring out how to speak to a toddler.
“So,” her voice is light but her eyes are serious as she looks at me “tell me something, Rowan.”
I lift my chin. “What?”
Her smile is a little wicked again. A little too real.
“What did my brother do to make you look at him like you want to bite him?”
My breath catches.
And Bethany’s laugh is soft as she watches me struggle not to laugh.
31
JUSTIN
The man wakes up screaming.
He’s tied to a chair in one of Ironreach’s forgotten warehouses, wrists bound behind him, ankles zip-tied to the legs. His face is swollen, one eye already sealed shut.
I step into his line of sight and let him see my face again.
Recognition hits immediately.
“No - what the fuck, man -”
I crouch in front of him. I’ve let him have three days of respite. Three days to recover from the near death beating I gave him at Rowan’s place, just so I can kill him all over again.
“You messed with the wrong person this time,” I say evenly. “Tell me what you were planning to do to Rowan Hale.”
He sobs.
“I don’t?—”
I hit him, but it’s not hard enough to add to the damage on his face.
“There’s only one of two ways you leave this place. On foot, or in a body bag. And I won’t hesitate to wrap the plastic around you myself.”
