Page 61 of Duality

“I’ll show you sympathy when you aren’t the reason you got kidnapped in the first place.” He growled at me, but I could see the worry in his eyes. He had always taken on the responsibility for our safety, even as little kids.

“I’m sorry,” I said gruffly. “It won’t happen again.”

Alexander studied me for a few moments before nodding. He moved to Evelyn and gave her his sternest look. I had seen full-grown men almost shit themselves when on the receiving end of that look, but Evelyn just smiled at him and held out her hand, still leaning on Adrian’s chest.

Alexander shook his head but took her hand, tugging her gently out of Adrian’s hold. “You scared at least a decade off my life,” he scolded gently. “I thought you were going to start letting us help.”

“I am, but you were moving too slow. I tried to tell you.” She pinned him with a look. “But you’ve got to stop seeing me as your helpless assistant.”

He crowded her. “I don’t see you as my helpless assistant,” he growled. “But as someone very precious to me. To us.”

Something in Evelyn deflated, and she looked down at her feet. I didn’t like seeing her so defeated. I moved forward, but Sebastian stepped in my way. He shook his head at me, and I stopped.

“I’m sorry,” Evelyn whispered. “I’m trying, I am. But I’m not used to having help, and SDS is already helping with the safe houses. I didn’t want anything to happen to Marcus.”

He softened and tipped her chin up. “I get it. I’m sorry we didn’t listen to you earlier. Thank you for saving him.”

She lowered her head to his chest, and he rubbed her back. It felt like I was intruding on a private moment, so I looked away.

“What did she mean by the safe houses?” I asked.

Sebastian clapped his hand on my shoulder. “We’ve got a lot to fill you in on.”

He gave me a rundown on everything I had missed while Finch had me. Apparently, Citadel was attacking the safe houses right now. Alexander had called in four of our teams to help the Archers and the Ghosts protect the safe houses and the people the Archers were helping, but Finch’s ransom call coincided with the start of the attacks, which I had no doubt wasn’t coincidental.

Carter approached us, phone to his ear. “Okay, I’ll let them know.” He hung up and slid the phone into his pocket. “That was Samson. They successfully evacuated everyone to Ashford, Langston, and Everton. Yarlton, Clay, Briar, and Mapleton were destroyed in the attack, but Holloway is still standing. It was either lose the buildings or take collateral damage.”

I didn’t even have to ask to know what Evelyn’s decision would have been. She would have chosen to protect everyone she could have, even if it meant losing the safe houses.

Evelyn sucked in a breath, and Alexander held her tighter before she moved back out of his arms. She looked exhausted,her eyes heavy and bruises starting to blossom on her skin. This was the last thing she needed.

“We’ll help you rebuild,” I promised.

Her eyes met mine and I could see the relief and trepidation in them. She was trying to lean on us, and I had been a big obstacle in getting her to trust us, but no more. I would do anything to prove to her that she could have trusted us with her secret all along.

“Together,” Sebastian said. Evelyn closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she opened them.

“Together.”

CHAPTER 27

EVELYN

Did normal people actually sleep for eight hours a night? Was that even possible? I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten eight hours of sleep in a row at night. Not in many, many years, at least. In the last two weeks, I had gotten it more often than not, and I had never felt so well rested. Or had so much extra energy to think. My brain was firing on all cylinders after rescuing Marcus yesterday, and I wasn’t able to shut it down. I had tried going to bed a few hours ago but gave up after tossing and turning. So I turned to tea.

I stared at the steam rising off the chamomile tea in my favorite mug. My brain spun in loops. The Mayor’s Gala was tomorrow evening. We had gone over the plan time and time again, but it still felt like we were missing something. I felt off center and unsettled, like there was something just on the edge of my periphery, but I couldn’t quite grasp it. It was a good plan, but there were a lot of moving parts, a lot of pieces and people outside my control, and it was making my brain spin.

It wasn’t just the thoughts of the gala keeping me up. I was still processing the events of yesterday and all the emotions I felt when I realized Marcus was missing and then finding him with Finch holding a gun to his head. It had taken everything in meyesterday to enter that room and act like I didn’t have a care in the world. But I had done it. And I had shot Finch. It wasn’t the first time I’d had to take a life. In my line of work, it was inevitable.

The first person I killed had been a man who had broken into our first safe house, intent on killing his wife, who had taken their kids and ran from him. I had been sleeping on the couch when he’d stormed through the front door in a drunken rage. He’d kept on coming even after I had pulled my gun, and when he’d lunged towards the hallway where his family slept, I had put two bullets in his chest.

The Archers had just started back then, and it had actually been my first interaction with Detective Patel. I had explained I was a family friend helping the woman get out of a bad situation, and he had broken in. It was a clear case of self-defense, but I had been torn up over it for weeks. Not because of killing him, per se. I didn’t feel any guilt over killing him, especially not when his six-year-old daughter sported bruises around her throat. But to this day, I could feel the recoil of the gun in my hands and the realization in his eyes as two bloody spots bloomed on his chest.

I didn’t feel guilt over killing Finch. He had kidnapped Marcus, and I didn’t believe he planned on letting him go, even if Alexander had paid the ransom. It was why I had followed Carter out of the door while Alexander and the others planned on the best strategy to take him out when they made the exchange. Finch would have taken the double payday from both Alexander and Citadel if he had been given the option. No, I didn’t regret killing him. But I still felt the recoil of the gun in my hands and his blank eyes when he fell to the floor. The life draining from his eyes… Well, that was a nice addition to the nightmares that always haunted my dreams.

Maybe that was why I was avoiding sleeping tonight.

I pulled out my phone and opened the email from Liam. I scrolled through the options he sent for new safe houses. I rubbed my temples as I scanned through the listings. We needed to replace them quickly. People needed our help, and they needed safe places to escape to. Spouses and children escaping from abusive partners and parents, stalking victims having a safe place to go while we located their stalkers, people who had lost their jobs and just needed a place to stay while they got back on their feet. We couldn’t help them all, but I would be damned if we didn’t try.