If what they said about the shares was true, they needed Dom and me to comply. More so than we needed them.
But more than anything, I wanted to meet the person my late father had trusted with my future. Who he’d known could protect my inheritance until I was allowed to emerge from the shadows.
I put my hand on Dom’s lower back, trying to bring her back to the ground as I asked The Oracle a final question. “Will you at least tell uswhenthe instructions will come?”
There was a moment of quiet as my eyes strained to see the members’ faces. The bright spotlight on us made it nearly impossible for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the surrounding chamber.
The center voice returned, “Four weeks.”
Speaking as one, The Oracle bid us farewell. “The Violence is dismissed.”
From the shadows, six people dressed the exact same as the first pigeon appeared. My heart dropped seeing so many peoplein here. How many had heard me divulge our secrets? I’d spent weeks learning how to live in this world, the underground one full of mistruths and lies.
Had I spilled my guts to people I could trust? Thatwecould trust?
The tattoo on my arm itched as the pigeons began to usher us out of the chambers. Leo and Spencer moved first, knowing our time was up.
Following them, I looked over my shoulder at Dom who hadn’t broken her staring contest with the shadows.
Just as a pigeon was about to lay a hand on her, she ripped herself off the railing. “Don’t fucking touch me, birdbrains.”
We trudged out of the chambers, our steps heavy with disappointment as we walked back into the quiet administrative hallway.
The pigeons slammed the wood doors behind us, a deafening silence washing over all of us as we processed what had happened.
Rubbing her chin, Spencer shrugged. “Four fucking weeks? What are we supposed to do until then?”
It was a question none of us knew how to answer. Danger was lurking around every corner and every moment that we didn’t get answers was another moment we were vulnerable.
Gabriel and Isaac were closing in and if they found a way to trap us, we’d have nowhere to run.
79
KIERA
Two weeks had passedwithout another word from The Oracle, and the whole house was going stir-crazy.
Only two more to go.
The thought made me wince. I wasn’t sure how we were going to make it two more hours without Spencer finally snapping on Dom. Our trip to Delphi had been a change of pace, and Dom’s bravado had smoothed things over temporarily.
But the second we were back in the house, both of them fell into old habits: Spencer clung to her spite while Dom clung to her righteousness.
I couldn’t deal with refereeing their fight, though. Two weeks had given me far too much time to stew in my own conflicting feelings about Dom’s betrayal. Yes, she’d done a lot to regain our trust, and yes, she’d even apologized.
But ever since we’d gotten home, she’d been a total fucking brute. She’d hardly look at me, and when she did, it was with a gaze that told me she’d rather be looking anywhere else. I wasn’t sure what had happened to the Dom that had taken me to the Station and nearly ripped off the security guard’s head for tryingto do their job, but the Dom that had taken her place in the weeks since fucking sucked.
I nuzzled my face into Lady’s fur with a sigh, “What am I going to do, baby?”
The question was hardly past my lips though when Dom came storming into the living room to prove my point. “I told you no dogs on the couch.”
“First off, I’ve caught you up here cuddling her several times since we got home,” I frowned. “But secondly, there’s only one dog on the couch, so technically we haven’t broken any rules.”
Dom crossed her arms, fixing me with a frown. “Looks like two bitches to me.”
“Do you have to be such a fucking monster all the time?” I shouldn’t have indulged her, but I couldn’t keep my hackles from raising as I snarled up at her. “This is why the dog likes me better.”
“Does she though?” Dom smirked before whistling to my puppy. “Lady, come.”
