He paused before speaking in a hushed tone.
“If I’ve been initiated, I have to go. I have no choice. But you can’t come with me. This ismyinitiation. It’s too dangerous.”
“Who are you talking to? Who’s messaging you? What the hell is going on?”
Tears spilled from my eyes.
“I can’t tell you, Mackenzie. I’m so sorry, but I wish I could. There is some real scary shit happening. And there are people out to get you, and I have to keep you in the dark. I have to. I’m so sorry.”
He was begging me to trust him, but how could I trust someone who was keeping such a huge secret from me?
“Why are you even involved? Huh?”
“I… I’m your husband.”
“That doesn’t mean shit. You’re not the FBI. What are you doing?”
His mouth closed, and I saw the hardness in his eyes settle. He was shutting me out, so I couldn’t read him.
I pulled myself away from his arms, tears clouding my vision.
“Fine. Keep your secrets. And when they get me killed, you can put your ring on someone else and pretend she was yours all along.”
30
MAX
If she wanted to break my heart, she’d already done it. She shot out of my reach so fast I couldn’t catch her. I knew myself well enough. If I didn’t give her space, I’d be in her face in three… two… one.
“Trouble! Wait!” I yelled, but she kept running. I wanted to chase after her and drag the truth out into the light between us. I wanted to tell her everything. I hated hiding this from her, hated the way the secrets sat between us like a loaded weapon.
West’s warning echoed in my mind like a curse: “You tell her, and you’re putting her in even more danger.”
Part of me wanted to hack in and see what I could find, to peel back the code and expose whoever was watching us, but I felt almost guilty now. It was as if, because we were married, I shouldn’t do it. I didn’t know where this sudden moral compass was coming from, but she made me want to be a better person. A better man. Less monster.
I also knew they were coming for me—the group of people who were hunting Mackenzie. I didn’t have many details, but I knew enough to realize that whatever game we were in had already started. We were already pieces on someone else’s board.
The characters changed often, and I was fucking terrified of that. You can’t protect someone if you don’t even know who the enemy is.
Yesterday, I heard her phone ping when she stepped into the shower. I told myself not to look, but temptation has never been something I’m good at resisting, especially when it comes to her safety. I picked up her phone from the nightstand and swiped my thumb up the screen to unlock it.
When I saw the text messages, everything around me came to a halt. The room seemed to narrow, the air getting thick and cold. I knew this was Jackson, even though it was an unknown number. This was the first time we had heard from him since her stabbing.
My paranoia escalated with every word I read.
UNKNOWN
They’re coming for him first, then you. Be ready.
The devil emoji stared back at me, stupid and cartoonish, but it made my stomach drop. I could almost feel him in the room, breathing down our necks, laughing.
I had stopped tracking her messages as soon as we got back to camp because I thought we were done with Jackson. He was gone, untraceable, and I thought our search was a bust. I was a fucking idiot to think he wasn’t still watching us.
I quickly took a screenshot of the messages, my thumbs shaking, and forwarded the images to my email. Then I tried to trace the number, typed it into every search bar, and checked every handle I could think of. The profiles were gone. When I tried to ping one account, a block notification popped up like a door slamming in my face.
Typical. Ghosts in the machine.
I wanted to tear the phone in half.
