Page 79 of Fractured Memories

She pulls away, chest heaving as she sucks in the air I’ve been denying her. She looks so beautiful in the soft glow of the twilight, smiling up at me in a way that looks perfect on her—even if she rarely lets anyone see her with her guard down this much.

“I love you, too, Kieran.”

I swear something inside me shatters at that. Any restraint that was holding me back from giving this woman everything, any careful reservation that the logical part of my mind was trying to keep in place—it’s gone.

Three words and Eden Resnick has ripped every vital part out of my body, has stolen my soul itself and made it all hers.

And I don’t want it back.

All I want is her.

CHAPTER 26

KIERAN

Present day…

“What the fuck do you mean he’s dead?”

I’m seething, and Lochlan’s no better next to me. But Caius doesn’t even flinch. His gray eyes flick between the two of us before he shrugs a shoulder. “You’ve been torturing him for a week. How long did you think he’d last?”

“Larkin was supposed to be keeping him alive,” I grit out.

“Larkin isn’t a miracle worker.” His expression is bored, and it’s pissing me off. “We did what we could, Kieran, but you haven’t gotten a thing out of him all week.”

I turn away, nostrils flaring as I fight to keep my cool. Caius is too important for me to unleash my anger on. Not only does he run the cages every night, but the interrogation rooms we use are underneath the building. Very few people know that they are there, easily hidden in the massive building with branching hallways.

“Where is he now?” Lochlan asks, his voice low and dark. I know he’s just as pissed as I am, which means his violent side will be coming out soon.

“Larkin disposed of the body.” Footsteps tell me Caius is moving around his thick desk. “If he held out that long, then he didn’t know anything anyway. He was a shop owner. He would’ve broken easily if there was any information to get out of him.”

I’ve been considering the same thing. Jude didn’t get anything out of the man the day Lochlan was shot, so I had him brought here. I made Lochlan wait a full twenty-four hours—which was about twenty-three longer than he wanted to—before unleashing him on the shop owner. Honestly, it was a miracle he’d lived through that initial interaction.

No matter the questions we asked or the beatings he withstood, we never got anything out of the man. No one has brought forth information despite increasing our incentives. And Jude couldn’t find a trace that told us how anyone knew Lochlan was going to be there that morning. We suspected the shop owner tipped off the rebels, but now I’m not so sure.

Spinning around, I take in Caius’s expression. He looks unbothered, and while he has a higher level of clearance than most, I don’t trust him like I do Jude. “You’ve still heard nothing?”

Caius sometimes collects information in place of debts. If it is worth it. Given his position in the city itself, it’s easier for him to hear the rumors that are spreading than it is for the rest of us. He’s trusted in a way that the Elite will never be.

I prefer it that way.

He shakes his head, leaning back against his desk. “Nothing. No one even knows Lochlan was shot from what I hear. Or about Eden’s situation.”

My jaw ticks at the reminder. “And the sweeps? The rebel sightings?”

“I have nothing new on either. People don’t love extra guards in their spaces, but they are cooperating. There’s been no talk about the rebels. The word going around is that the increased sweeps are keeping them out of the city.”

I nod, rubbing at my jaw. I’ve considered pulling the guards for that reason. I need the rebels to come out of their hiding spots. But it appears they have given the wound in Lochlan’s shoulder.

“Send word if you do hear anything.” I lean toward Lochlan. “Let’s go.”

He’s stiff but doesn’t argue as we exit Caius’s office. Keeping my head down, I move past the activity of the cages getting ready to open, heading toward Jude by the side door. He steps through it as we approach, leading us down the hall and a few turns that take us outside and behind the building.

Into the alley where Eden and I spoke for the first time.

I pause outside my car, stopping Lochlan. “You good?”

He doesn’t look at me as his jaw works, but I can see how dark his eyes have gone, the blue almost black. The sun glints off his blonde curls that he’s made into a mess with all his tugging.