‘No.’
‘Then you’ll never know how I survived all those excellent headshots.’
Kade grits his teeth.
‘My earliest memory is my boss helping me recover from a serious injury.’
‘Head injury?’
‘Myturn.How are you still alive?’
Lachlan gives an insolent smile.‘Magic.’
‘Are you some kind of jacked-up Paranatural?Explain—’
‘Do you have dreams about things you don’t remember?’
‘I dream of sharks swimming up to me while I’m standing on the sidewalk.’
Rather than seeming pissed off at thenon-response, Lachlan says, ‘Sharks signify betrayal and hidden danger, so I’m not surprised.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Someone taught me dream meanings once.’
‘Explain to me how you survived.Explainwhat I saw.’
‘There was a ritual I performed that gives me protection until my task is fulfilled.It is,’ Lachlan declares flatly, holding Kade’s disbelieving stare, ‘quite literally magic.’Kade wants to ask what task he’s set on fulfilling but knows now to wait his turn.‘Tell me about your family.’
‘Iron Star is my family.No parents, no siblings, no one but the people you came to kill.’Lachlan makes a face like he wants to say something nasty, but Kade is too quick.‘What task did you come to fulfil?’
‘I told you.Killing everyone involved in what happened seven years ago.It was Iron Star who took you and Mimi.IsawHarker put a bullet in her and then you.I was too slow.I...’Lachlan swallows, trails off and doesn’t finish.
‘Why did you go down for it?’
‘Iron Star had resources then as I’m sure they still do now.Harker was a skilled suppressor.Unbeaten at managingoverflow, as the old man called it.I served half of a fourteen-year sentence and for each of those years, I swore revenge for what they did to you both.’He looks around.‘How much of this place did you design yourself?It was nothing like this the last time I saw it.’
‘A fair amount.’
‘How long did it—?’
‘Prove what you’re saying.’
Lachlan inclines his head.‘I can prove it easily.’
‘Do it then.Prove to me that this is real.’
‘You have a crescent moon tattoo on your wrist.’
‘Wrong.’He shows Lachlan the Iron Star ink.
Lachlan frowns.‘All right.You have a…’ He clears his throat.‘A small scar shaped like a rose on your inner thigh.Left side, very high.’
‘How small?’
‘Two inches.’
‘Wrong.’
