‘Julian Penhalyx is dead.’
‘Let him go.’
‘You don’t understand.’
‘I’ll doanythingyou want.Name it.’
‘That’s not my interest.’
‘Whatisyour interest?’
‘You want to know?’
‘Yes.’
Riley pulls a gun out from his rear holster, says, ‘This,’ and then fires a single bullet into Lachlan’s left thigh.Lachlan grunts but otherwise doesn’t react.Intently, Riley observes the bullet do what all the others did.
Wriggle its way out of Lachlan’s body.
‘Thisis my interest,’ Riley declares quietly.‘This isn’t a Knot.You didn’t do this yourself.You had help.I want to know everything.’
‘Like what?’
‘Did you get your ritual from a book?’
‘What will you give me for it if I tell you?’
‘Time with Kade.’
‘Whoring him out to me?’
‘Don’t pretend it’s not what you want.’
‘Maybe.’Lachlan nods, sobers a little.‘Time, yeah.Hey, speaking of.’
Kade tenses up sharply.
On screen, Riley does the same.
Lachlan asks, ‘Whatisthe time?’
Riley steps back towards the door.
Kade’s instincts flare.‘Thermals were clear, right?’he asks the boys.
‘Yeah, absolutely.’Cole types.‘The whole place was swept.’
‘You’re positive?’
Finn says, ‘Yes.’
‘The tunnels?’
‘Yes.’
‘The incinerators?’
‘All closed off, but yeah.’
