He studies me for a beat, and I’m certain he’ll step aside with me. But instead, he shakes his head.
“We can trust everyone here. If we’re going to work as a team, that trust starts now. Whatever you want to say to me, you can say to all of us.”
He moves in close enough for me to catch the faint scent of cedar and steel on his skin. His voice dips, quiet enough for only me to hear. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” I draw in a breath, my throat tight. “I came from the lower levels… way down, past level one. There’s a room down there. Pristine. Monitors everywhere. And I saw”—I glance around the group—“a conversation. Between Irina and Rupert. About the Volkovs. About letting things get worse so they can use it.”
Aurora’s brow furrows, her arm sliding off my shoulder. Bash mutters something under his breath, sharp enough to sound like a curse. Cade straightens, his hands flexing at his sides.
“They’re planning something at the summit,” I add, my voice hardening. “Something big.”
I keep talking, skimming over the details but making sure they understand Irina’s intentions, Rupert’s involvement, the plan to manipulate the attack, even the way Malachi’s name came up. The silence afterward feels loaded. No one knows what to do now.
“And you saw this… where exactly?” Malachi asks finally, his tone careful.
“Below the first floor. I was snooping, I admit, but for good reason,” I say. “It was buried in a room that looks untouched for ages down there. There were sixteen feeds running at once. Someone’s been watching the whole facility from that spot, and they knew I’d show up.”
Malachi exhales, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “We haven’t used the first floor in years. After the flood, it was written off. No one’s assigned down there.”
“Then someone’s lying to you,” I say, meeting his eyes. “Because it’s not abandoned. And whoever’s been down there has access to everything. I don’t know why, but I think Damien helped me. He wanted me to see the footage… Him or someone else.”
“Damien,” Malachi mutters derisively.
“Yes, but that’s besides the point,” I huff.
“Do you think burning down the ranch was a setup, then? Rupert working for your aunt?” Bash asks, his gaze cutting to Malachi, whose hand has curled into a fist at his side.
“Maybe all those documents would have incriminated her somehow, and she wanted them destroyed before you could uncover anything,” Dante says.
Cade leans against the wall, arms crossed. He doesn’t even need to speak for me to know he’s been suspicious all along. This is validation for him.
“I’m going to that summit,” Malachi says suddenly, “and I need to leave tonight.”
My eyes widen. “What?” several of us say at once.
He takes a deep breath, shoving his hand into his pocket. “You’re basically telling me everything I’ve worked for is a lie. That my aunt has been playing me all this time, thinking she can mold me into her puppet.” His lips press into a thin line. “If whatyou saw is real, if she truly is as bad as my father and uncle, then I need to go to the summit. We can save lives, change the narrative.”
It feels like this is slipping away from the task at hand. “What about targeting the lab in the gutter zone? That’s the entire reason we’re even forming this team.”
“We need more training here first,” Cade says. “We won’t be ready to lead a coordinated attack on Marco’s lab for at least a couple weeks.”
My eyes snap to his. I thought he’d have my back on this.
“He’s right,” Alex says. “None of us have worked together as a team, other than Calloway and Mal. We might be good fighters and might have gifts, but that’ll only get us so far. We need to be coordinated and to trust each other enough to know we’ll have each other’s backs when things go south down there.”
Nasha’s violet eyes sweep over us before settling on her brother. “Because things will go south. Every mission has unexpected obstacles. We need to train like a unit.”
Bash says, “A normal team would train together for months. If we’re trying to be ready in two weeks, we need to start putting in the time, like yesterday.”
“The summit is supposed to take place tomorrow,” Malachi says, looking off in the distance like he’s already weighing the risks in his head. “But if what you said is true, the real summit could have happened today, and tomorrow is a facade. Still, tomorrow night is the party you saw them speak about in the footage, so I need to be there. Even if I don’t confront my aunt and keep playing along, I need to save as many people as I can. I need to witness it for myself. I can’t trust hearsay anymore.”
“Don’t you think it’s going to be a red flag if we all show up at the party uninvited?” Aurora asks, her brows lifting.
Bash glances at her, then back at Malachi with a look thatsays he already knows where this is headed. “We’re not invited,” he says flatly.
“I’m going alone,” Malachi continues, like the decision is final. “I’ll only be gone for two nights, three tops. Keep training while I’m gone, with my aunt busy in the Southern District, you’ll have the place to yourselves.”
“I’m going with you,” I blurt out. My arms fold before I even register the motion, like my body has already decided for me. I’m braced for the fight I know is coming.
