“Agreed,” Grant says. “We’ve been tracking all the people our mother listed as Terra’s top advisers. Two are unaccounted for,so we’ll prepare for them too. One is a tech genius. He’s worked for the top companies around the world. That’s how she’s been skirting our systems, but I doubt he’ll be much use in the field. The other is lesser known, so we assume he’s dangerous.”
“How do we get the message to her?” Chief asks.
“We’ll reply to the number that sent Clover a text message at the compound,” Roman says, sliding a phone to me. “Sterling still hasn’t been able to trace it, but she wouldn’t have closed off that line of communication. It’s her only link to Clover right now. She’s waiting for a response.”
“What should I say?” I ask.
Everyone looks at me.
Okay.
“What does Terra want to hear?” I mutter. “What would make her come running?”
Biting my lip, I allow my fingers to press into the keyboard. “I know it’s me you want,” I say slowly, the words forming as I type. “Valen has been through enough. I won’t drag him into this fight. I’ll meet you alone if you promise to leave him out of this.” I finish typing and look to Roman. “Should I tell her where?”
“Not yet,” Roman says. “Tell her you’ll give her a time and place tomorrow at four p.m. when Valen leaves to meet his cousins. It gives us time to move into position and makes her think you’ll be alone.”
“She’ll know it’s a trap,” Valen warns.
“She might,” I say. “But she won’t be able to resist because, despite everything—the planning and the stalking and the control—Terra has one weakness.”
“What?” Chase asks.
“Her need to win.” I meet Valen’s gaze. “She needs to win above all else. To look me in the eye and prove that she was right. To prove that I always belonged to her, that I couldn’t ruin what she’d built. That I could never really escape. She wants to knowthat she will always own me, my fears, my dreams, my basic human rights.”
“And we’ll give her that win,” Grant says. “Right before we rip it all away. This time, for good.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
VALEN
The text goes out at exactly four p.m.
Sterling hits send, then sets the phone gingerly on the table between us, as though it might explode.
I don’t remember ever feeling true fear like I do now. It’s invaded every molecule of my body—an infestation created by my own mother, an inherited disease that’s slowly eating away at my resolve, my honor, and even my moral compass because my mind is full of murderous thoughts.
And not the kind Clover dreams up for her fictional worlds.
No, this is the kind where I practically taste the blood of vengeance on my tongue.
I glance around at my family, all staring at the phone.
Seven people holding their breath, waiting for three dots to appear. Waiting for Terra to take the bait.
One minute passes.
Two.
Five.
Nothing.
“Maybe she didn’t get it,” Chase says.
“She got it,” Clover says quietly. She’s been sitting on the edge of the couch for the last hour. Wrecks is in front of her withhis head in her lap, but she stares at nothing. “She’s deciding whether to respond or not. Everything with her is about control, and she despises taking orders.”
“Or she’s already on her way,” Roman adds, checking his tablet. “I have cameras surrounding our meeting point and a guy stationed at all four corners of the property. We’ll enter from the west. If she’s anywhere near it, we’ll know.”
