Page 120 of Power of Shadow

My heart stops, and then I jump to my feet. The invisible knife lodged in my gut is razor sharp.

Looking at the woman who lives rent-free in my head and heart, I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Betrayal is the only word echoing in my head.

“How could you not tell me!” I yell, and she jumps up too.

“Let me explain! She doesn’t want you to find her. She said everything that happened to her is because of you!”

“Of course it’s because of me!” The urge to clench my fingers around this woman’s neck is overwhelming, and to stop myself, I grab my hair. Jesus Christ. My sister... “I told you the same thing, that it’s my fault! Mine. Because of me, my father took her away.”

“That’s not the point! She insinuated—I don’t know. She said it as if you were directly to blame, not your father. I didn’t believe it. But she knew my father had contacted you and predicted you wouldn’t tell me.”

With pain, my eyes close. I can’t help it.

My sister? How could she know all this?

It doesn’t make sense, absolutely no sense. And why on earth does she doubt that I’m on her side? Meanwhile, every single day, I’m ready to tear the world apart for her, burn everything down and rebuild it just to find her.

“Ryker—”

I raise my hand to stop her from speaking for a moment. I try to put all the pieces together.

“She made you doubt me. And I didn’t help when I didn’t tell you the whole truth right away.”

Ash sighs and looks at me with sadness in her eyes.

I’m not mistaken.

“I’m sorry,” she says gently. “For God’s sake, I really didn’t know what to think about all this. I just can’t understand why you’re the bad guy in her eyes. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I know. Maybe it’s all another game, manipulation on my father’s part. I have no idea what he could have told her about me, what image he could have painted of me.”

“You’re right. When she said that everything that happened to her was your fault, I felt like she was stabbing me with a knife because... It’s clear how much you’re hurting because she isn’t here.”

What I’m feeling right now... Words fail me. “I’m sorry, Ash, for my outburst. It’s just—I’ve been looking for her for so fucking long. I can’t believe you heard her voice.”

It wasn’t anger at her. It was anger at myself. But she couldn’t have known that.

I down another shot of tequila. The pleasant burning sensation distracts my thoughts for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Ryker. Maybe it wasn’t even her? I wouldn’t know. It could have been a stupid prank.”

That’s possible. Another mystery I can’t solve right now.

We sit down again. “My father is a son of a bitch. No means is too dirty for him to achieve his goals. This could be another one of his games. And now you’re in danger because of me.”

“What do you mean?”

“That morning when I came to you—I’d been to James’s place earlier. It was because of him you were attacked, but it was a warning to me. At the gala, he realized how much you mean to me. It was my mistake because I forget about the universe when I’m with you. And he sensed it and saw it. It didn’t take him long to connect the dots and realize you’re my weakness, one that he could use against me. He sent me a picture of that bastard with his hands around your delicate neck.”

Ash doesn’t say a word, listening.

“I had a knife to his throat when the tables turned. He played a recording full of Aisling’s screams. A few years ago, she got away from his watch and two months ago, she was seen in Paris. She was on a flight to New Orleans, and her current whereabouts are unknown. It’s possible she’s free, but it’s also conceivable that my father has her back under his control. The risk—”

“It’s too big,” Ash finishes my thought.

“Yeah. I blew up his weapons warehouse and burned down his drug warehouse. He surely grasped that regarding you, I’m utterly merciless. But—he gave me a week to deliver your father to the red room. He put Aisling’s life and yours on the line. Now do you understand?”

She confirms with a nod.