Page 156 of Deceived Wrath

What if he gets hurt? What if he ends up like my sister because I wasn’t careful enough? And god, what if Scout ends up caught in the crossfire of all this because Lorcan decides I’m no longer useful?

A wave of nausea hits me so sharply I grip the counter as I fight the urge to vomit.

I can’t live with that.

Iwon’t.

I need to fix this. I need to untangle this mess before it swallows all of us whole.

But how? I don’t know where Lorcan is. All I have is a burner number he uses to pull my strings. Even if Ididwant to find him, I don’t have any idea where to start?—

My head snaps up as an idea sparks in my mind.

Zoe.

Or, more importantly, Zoe’s uncle.

He’s not exactly a law-abiding citizen, but from what Zoe has told me, he can track down the untraceable and expose secrets even people like Lorcan want to keep hidden. And if Zoe’s constant dramatic stories are anything to go by, he’s damn good at it too.

Maybe he could find Lorcan, or at the very least, give me something,anything, to work with.

I shove away from the counter and hurry upstairs to my room. I shut the door quietly behind me and sit on the bed with my phone gripped in both hands.

I can’t believe I’m about to do this, but if my gut feeling is right and Cormac is starting to question my loyalty, I need to move fast.

I scroll to Zoe’s name before I can second-guess myself and hit call.

“Fi! Perfect timing, I swear to God, you wouldn’t believe the?—”

“Zoe.” My voice cracks, and I suck in a breath as I’m hit with a wave of panic. “I—I need your help.”

The shift in her tone is instant. “Fiona… What’s going on?”

“I need your uncle’s number.”

There’s a beat of silence until Zoe speaks again. “Is this because of Joe, or because of Cormac?”

I close my eyes as the tears start to stream down my cheeks. I can’t tell her. I can’t drag her into this nightmare.

“I just need it. Please.”

She must hear the desperation in my voice because for once, she doesn’t push for answers.

“I’ll text it to you.”

“Thank you.”

“But just tell me this… Are you safe?”

No.

“I’m okay. I’ll call you later.”

I hang up the phone before she decides to start asking questions.

A second later, her uncle’s number pops up in my messages.

My hands tremble as I press call. It rings only twice before a deep, firm voice answers.