“Shut up.” The sound of something thrown — a water bottle? — rang across the gym before Spencer muttered. “Any word yet from the pigeon-brains?”
The machine clanged as Leo set her own weights down with much more control than Spence had. “Nothing. But my guess is we’ll tail Boy Prince next, see who he reports to.”
“Do we know who he is yet?”
“Nope,” Leo sighed. “Oracle’s not big on sharing more than strictly necessary. And apparently an accurate fucking description of our mark is not necessary.”
After a sip of water, Spencer sighed. “I just don’t know why they’re bothering with this place. It’s some sleepy little college town.”
“With just a handful of cults,” Leo quipped.
“Hey,” Spence laughed. “Valemont’s probably got a lower ratio than most other small towns.”
For a moment, silence settled over the room, thick with the weight of whatever was coming next. But before it could get too heavy, Leo let out a sigh. “I’m not sure what they want with Valemont either. All I know is that I want to be ready when we find out. So stop trying to distract me, and get back to lifting.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” Spencer shouted goofily before I heard her pick up her weights again.
The conversation left me frozen for a moment. It was a shock to hear that they really seemed as clueless about our mission as they said they were. I’d kind of figured they were just playing dumb, trying to keep me out of the loop so I wouldn’t ask questions.
And in a sense, it was a relief to be proven wrong. But it also meant that by putting my trust in them, I was putting my fate completely in The Oracle’s hands, and I wasn’t sure if that was a gamble I was willing to take.
Plus, it made me feel a bit worse about pulling one over on them.
But if they’ve been as clueless as it seems, they’ll understand how much it sucks to be kept in the dark. Hopefully that’s enough.
Before I could second guess it, I hit send on my text, holding my breath until I heard two pings from the other room.
Spencer’s weights clattered to the floor again as she called out to Leo. “Text from Kiera!”
Looking down at my phone again, I saw exactly what they did. A selfie I’d taken this morning by one of the marble statues in the garden. The text below it was simple:
Finders keepers ;)
The gym was dead silent for a moment before Leo’s weights clattered to the ground first. “You’re so fucked dude.”
“Oh shove it,” Spencer panted, tripping over something metal as she scrambled for the door. “What happened to focusing on your workout, Major.”
“She’ll be my cardio. Maybe my lifting too.” I heard a body slam into the doorframe — presumably Spencer’s from the groan that followed. And then, they stampeded right past the hallway closet, shoving and bickering with each other all the way out into the yard.
As the door slammed behind them, I could only think one thing:
That was too fucking easy.
A part of me wanted to follow them out there, to watch them fight over me, to let them actually take me. It might be a while before either of them wanted me again after this, if they could forgive me at all.
But despite the pit burning in my stomach, I told myself it didn’t matter. I couldn’t keep living in all of this uncertainty. And now, it was time to answer my questions once and for all.
35
KIERA
My feet poundedagainst the stone of the first floor. Gripping the railing, I used it to slingshot myself up the stairs faster. I took them as quickly as I could, knowing my body would suffer for this later.
Right now, I had one mission. Break into the South Wing.
I knew the photo I’d sent to Leo and Spencer wouldn’t buy me much time. I only had a few minutes before they reached my spot outside and realized I wasn’t there. They’d check the metadata on the photo while the other searched the nearby woods. As soon as they saw it was taken earlier today, they’d come running back inside to punish me.
And they would know where I was heading. The one place I’d been desperate to see since the day I moved in.
