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“We know she didn’t do it,” Elias rushes out. “We have proof.”

Something vicious flashes across Trey’s face. “Oh, congratulations. You finally figured out what she told you from the fucking beginning.”

Jace drops his gaze.

“You’re right.” Trey looks genuinely surprised. I continue before he can decide whether that makes him hate me more. “The breach was designed to point us toward her, and I fell for it.”

“You didn’t fall for shit.” His voice stays frighteningly calm. “You chose to believe the worst thing possible about a woman who trusted you.”

There’s a beat where I almost say something, but I let it go. “We need to see her.”

“No, you need to leave her alone.”

“Trey.” Jace’s plea comes out frayed and thin. “I just need to know she’s okay.”

The hard line of Trey’s shoulders eases a fraction. Not enough to make Trey step aside, but enough that some of the fury leaves his expression when he looks at Jace.

“She’s not okay. She cried until she couldn’t anymore,” he continues. “Then she packed what was left of her shit, held that cat like somebody was trying to steal him too, and spent the rest of the night staring at nothing.”

Jace closes his eyes, and a knot forms in my stomach. “We need to talk to her,” I say.

Trey’s attention snaps back to me. “No. You need to live with the fact that you don’t always get access to somebody just because you deem them worthy.”

Elias cuts in before I can. “You said she packed. Is she here?”

Trey looks between us, and I see the knowledge dawn in the rigid set of Elias’s shoulders, in the way Jace stops breathing. And I know.

“Wheredid she go?”

“She left before sunrise.”

For a moment, I can't process what Trey just said. Beside me, Elias asks, “Where?”

Trey scrubs a hand over his face, the fight seeming to drain out of him for a second. “She’s with her family.”

“Louisiana.” Elias says.

“Yup. And before any of you get the bright idea to follow her, you should probably know Sloane has four older brothers.”

Jace blinks. “Four?”

“Four.” Trey’s expression is almost pitying now. “All protective, all over six feet, and all of them know exactly what you three did to their baby sister.”

Elias exhales slowly, but Trey isn’t finished. “You think I’m pissed? I’m the easy one.”

Jace mutters, “Well, that’s not terrifying at all.”

A humorless smile touches Trey’s lips. “It should be.” Then his gaze comes back to me. “You show up on her doorstep, and all they’re going to see is the reason she doesn’t feel safe here anymore.”

Jace hesitates. “And her dad?”

Trey’s mouth curves slowly, like he’s knows something we don't. “Good luck.”

He closes the door, leaving us standing there as the lock clicks into place. For several seconds, none of us says anything.

Jace finally breaks, dragging a hand through his curls. “Well, that went about as well as a fucking funeral.”

I barely hear him. I'm already working through the logistics. The plane. The drive from the airport. How quickly we can get there.