Well, almost the same symbol.
In the center of the cross, instead of the letter J, like in the stable, there was a letter I.
Or maybe it was supposed to be an I but it got smeared.
That didn’t matter right now.
All that did is the fact that Blake had been playing me from the beginning.
“I knew something was up when I noticed that brand in the hospital. And the way you reacted when I told you Sarah had been chosen. But I brushed it off.” I swallowed hard through the lump forming in my throat.
I trusted this man. Confided in him. Even when he refused to confide in me. I figured he had to work through his own shit. Just like I had to work through mine once upon a time. Now I knew why. Because he was using me.
“Now tell me. Where the fuck is Ariana?” I pressed the gun against his chest. Against the twisted crown and cross.
“I swear to you, Henry. I don’t?—”
“Don’t fucking lie to me!” I roared. “What does this mean? Is it from some fucked-up secret society or something?”
He blinked, his eyes searching mine, as if trying to figure out what to say.
“I’ll give you to three. One…”
“Henry,” he pleaded.
“Two.” I tightened my grip on the gun, every voice in my head telling me there was an explanation for all of this.
But I’d listened to those voices before. And it got me here. Pointing a weapon at my most trusted confidant with the love of my life gone.
“Last chance, Blake.” I pushed the gun harder against him, fighting to steady my hold as I brought my finger toward the trigger.
“Three,” I said at the same time as Blake shouted, “It’s a mark of ownership!”
I blinked repeatedly.
It wasn’t just his words that gave me pause.
It was the fear in his face.
“Explain,” I demanded.
“Can you put the gun down? Or at least give me a little breathing room here? I haven’t… I haven’t talked about this in years. I’d rather not relive the worst time of my life with a gun pointed at me, if it’s all the same to you.”
I glowered at him for a beat. Then, despite myself, I lowered my gun. “Fine. But if you make a single move off that couch, I will put a bullet in you.”
He chuckled under his breath. “I’d expect nothing less.”
I increased the distance between us, moving toward the chair opposite him. Cato trotted toward me and sat beside me, his attention focused solely on Blake as he pushed himself to sitting.
“Explain,” I demanded once more, wanting him to get on with it. With every second he delayed, my chances of finding Ariana grew slimmer and slimmer.
On a long sigh, he ran a hand over his face, hanging his head. Then he met my eyes. “I didn’t have the best home life as a kid.”
I wasn’t all that surprised by this. To become men like us who had no problem blurring the lines of morality and legality, you’d have to have some serious shit lurking in your closet.
“I never knew my dad. And my mom had problems with drugs. She tried to get her shit together, but her addiction always won to the point she’d often forget she had two kids.”
“Two kids?” I arched a brow.
