Page 24 of Bound

Then he says, “And every lie you ever told.”

He doesn’t want our shared secrets spilled out on this table.

Only ones he doesn’t already know.

I swallow back our shared history. “Yes.”

Erin’s gaze stays on me. Steady. Unforgiving.

But Marina is dead.

Carlos is coming for all of us.

And this time, when the fire reaches for Lucian Bachman, it will find him no longer standing alone.

CHAPTER FOUR

Erin

The house does not move after Marina dies on-screen.

It’s too much. For all of us. We all need rest.

“We’ll pick this back up tomorrow. We’ll be our own worst enemy if we don’t sleep,” Rafe says.

“Aye,” Blaze jokes. “Bayne becomes a Scottish bear without his beauty rest.”

For once, everyone appreciates Blaze lightening the mood.

I have trouble falling asleep. As does Lucian. The man never seems to sleep. I roll over, running my fingertips over his back until he finally drifts off.

The morning comes too soon. And we all wake with the same thoughts in our minds.

Five days ago, Marina Vale was alive. Now she is not.

Carlos killed her before Isobel ever reached Red Shutters.

Before Iceland.

Before any of us understood we were already standing inside the final move.

We shower and dress quickly since every moment spent outside the war room feels wasted. I eat breakfast because Lucian makes me and because sitting down now is my last chance to see Cass and Ryan, possibly until dinner.

If Carlos doesn’t get to us, or we don’t kill one another by then.

This house is running off tension, adrenaline, caffeine, held together by our joint effort to stay cheerful for one precious little boy’s sake.

Mack stays with Cass and Ryan. They’re attempting a 1,000-piece puzzle. Ryan’s very focused and takes minimal snack breaks, but it’s still almost impossible until Mack showed them how to outline the straight pieces and group the same-colored ones together.

Pretty sure the massive, tattooed walking armor that is Mack is sneaking pieces together when Ryan’s not looking.

Isobel sits across from us, pale and shaken, one hand pressed to her mouth. Blaze is by the wall; fury carved into every line of him. Bayne watches the screen with cold, lethal stillness. Gregory stands beside Rafe, glasses slipping down his nose, his face too pale in the blue glow of the monitors.

Lucian is beside me. Still. Too still.

That is what scares me most. Not his rage. His stillness. The quiet before he becomes something no one can call off. I imagine this was what he was like before he killed Caleb.

Rafe lowers the tablet. “Carlos has Marina’s files.”