Page 45 of Untamed Sinner

She's right. I know she's right, but that doesn't make this any less of a clusterfuck. "Fine. Only, if we're doing this, we do it my way. No more games. No more distractions. We stay sharp."

Her eyes meet mine, and there's something dangerous in them—something that tells me she knows exactly what I mean by distractions.

"Whatever you say," she murmurs. "Archibald."

In this moment, I know without a doubt that if Mandy’s the bait, I’m the one’s who’s hooked.

41

MANDY

I'm on the back porch when the guilt about not contacting Lily finally catches up to me.

Growing up, Lily was my person. My little shadow. My best friend. We spent eighteen years laughing, fighting, stealing each other’s clothes, and believing we’d always have tomorrow.

After we were taken, I helped her escape, but I was told she was killed. I carried that grief for thirteen years—until five weeks ago when I found out she was still alive.

I'm not the same person I was then. I'm a killer—a hunter. Lily found peace. She found Mason, started a new life at Blackthorn, and learned how to be normal again.

There's a gap between us now—not in love, but in understanding. She looks at me and sees her sister. I look at her and see everything I couldn't protect, everything I failed to save. She's proof that survival can lead to something good. I'm proof that it can also lead to something sharp and unforgiving.

I look at the phone in my hand. It sits there like a live grenade.

I could call. It’d be nice to hear her voice, except it’d mean hearing the worry in it, the questions I can't answer, the way she'd know immediately that something's wrong. Lily's always been able to read me, even when I don't want to be read.

Texting is safer.

I open the message thread and stare at the last text she sent me two days ago.

Lily

Stay safe. Love you.

I hadn't responded.

My thumbs hover over the keyboard. What do I even say? Hey, remember Hendricks, that mercenary I met at your place before Turner's raid? Yeah, I'm living with him now. But just for a few days, until we find a girl I’m trying to help like I couldn’t help you. It's fine. Totally fine.

Shaking my head, I start typing before I can overthink it.

I’m in Iron Ridge, at Hendrick’s place. Though I guess you already know that.

I hit send and immediately regret it.

The read receipt appears in an instant. She's seen it. But the typing indicator doesn't show up.

A minute passes.

Then two.

The silence is worse than anything she could say.

I know what she's thinking—I know because I'd be thinking the same thing if our positions were reversed. Why are you in Iron Ridge? Why didn’t you tell me? What are you doing with Hendricks? And underneath all of that: Are you okay?

I type again, faster this time, trying to fill the silence before it swallows me whole.

He and I have an arrangement.

He's helping me with some information I need.