A sharp click of her tongue came through the speaker, clear and familiar enough that I could picture the exact look on her face—a slight tilt to her head, the narrowed eyes.
“Just because someone says something doesn’t mean you follow it, R.”
A quiet breath slipped past my lips as they curled into a grin as memories surfaced. Us as kids, causing chaos, picking fights and finishing them. Back when life was simpler. Less… tangled.
Back when I was just R. She was just E. And we both gave Cal hell.
Now, she was the boss. Calix was my boss. And I was second-in-command. All of us were locked into the roles we’d been born into.
“And yet,” I said, “when the Syndicate says jump, all I do is ask how high. That’s always been my place. I figured that out early, Boss Ezra.”
A long, heavy sigh filled the line before she shifted gears, back to business. That was Ezra Desmond.
“How’s Calix? Has he left the lab yet? Did my suggestion help? He can be… a lot when he gets stuck in fix-it mode.” My eyes flicked to the empty passenger seat.
Did it help? Yeah. Did it complicate things? Also yeah.
Her tear-filled green-blue eyes flashed through my mind, and guilt twisted in my gut again. Maybe I’d been too hard on her.
“He surfaced,” I said. “Had a… productive night. I’m hoping it helped.”
I was also hoping that dazed, almost giddy look I’d seen on him didn’t mean he was spiraling into obsession. That particular family trait ran strong in him.
“Good. Good.” I could hear her drifting into thought before she continued. “Today’s meeting was short. No major breakthroughs from Calix or Nova, but one of the hostages from Nova’s raids finally talked.”
My focus snapped back.
“Before the silencing spell triggered?”
“You know how these groups work,” she continued, her voice smoothing out. “Layers. Cells. Everyone is disposable.”
I nodded even though she couldn’t see it.
We’d seen it too many times. The same pattern. One person per cell with real information—and even they didn’t get far before the failsafe kicked in.
“You got them to speak before it went off?” I asked.
A low chuckle slipped through the line.
“You know I always get what I want, Rack.”
There was something in her words, something colder, sharper, that settled along my spine. I didn’t respond.
Not only was Ezra powerful, but she was the most ruthless of the Desmond kids. When she wanted something, nothing stood in her way.
Nothing except her siblings.
They were her anchor. Her love for them was fierce and absolute. Even if they didn’t fully understand it, I did. I’d seen it. Hell, part of me envied it.
“They call themselves…Excitatio.”
I frowned, the word tugging at something distant in my memory.
“Wait—is that?—”
“Yes.” Her voice dropped. “Latin. It meansThe Awakening.”
Silence stretched for a beat, then she let out another soft, almost amused sound, but it didn’t reach anything real.
