Page 41 of Off the Rails

Revenge.

But the Three of Swords was many things. Pain. Sorrow. Grief. A release even.

That was my choice of analysis, on the days that I believed the prophecy or my intuition were even real.

We’d found the cards when we got to Feverpoint. The bright yellow card case drawing our eyes in the dusty ruins of the amusement park we’d loved through our childhoods. Even as we were pushed from home to home, all of us had always been drawn to the towering peaks of the coasters that lived here.

The Three of Swords was the first card we pulled when we decided to shuffle the deck. It had only been a few days since we left the group home, forced to run to save Cyrus. Because of what Tess did.

Shaking my head, it was hard to believe that my Sweet Lamb would do something so horrible.

She was a child.

That was my reading. Three of Swords. She’d return, we’d have our reckoning with the adult woman who could reflect on what position she’d put Cyrus in. We’d move on, go back to being friends.

But Cyrus clung to revenge.

Seething in rage, her knuckles white, I knew Cyrus wasn’t going to relent.

I met Blade’s eyes, both of us afraid of what Cyrus would do to her now.

Gritting her teeth, Cyrus stood straight and moved toward the door. “I’ll give her my retribution. On Fright Night.”

She would follow the rules. Unwilling to break the decorum of getting Justice. There was a way to do these things.

“Fate will decide when it’s time. And when it does, I won’t hold back.” Cyrus sucked in a deep breath before disappearing out of the security room.

In the silence, Blade’s finger started to tap on the steel table. “Shit.”

“Yeah.” I shook my head. “We can’t set her free.”

“No, she might rat.” Blade’s laugh was more of a scoff. “Blow up our spot again.”

Though I huffed out a laugh of my own, I struggled to believe it.

She was a kid. She didn’t know what would happen if she lied to Pastor Harris about Cyrus. Would the adult Tess, the one who stripped for a living, the one who’d let us hunt her, would she really turn us in?

Maybe she doesn’t deserve whatever Cyrus has planned.

Whether I believed that or not, didn’t really matter. I wouldn’t lose her, couldn’t risk setting her loose into a world full of assholes. Men like the ones who’d chased her in here were everywhere. That’s why we disposed of so many of them.

My stomach ached at the thought of her in danger again.

I could protect her here. From the monsters out there and the vengeful beast in Feverpoint who went by the name Cyrus.

Nodding, I met Blade’s bright green eyes. “We have to find her. Every hunt.”

Blade’s pierced lips lifted into a smile, thinking about having more nights with our captive. “Then Cyrus can’t exact her revenge. And we get more time with our plaything.”

“Asshole.” I nudged Blade as I made my way back to the door. We needed to retrieve her from the apartment before Cyrus did. “We can’t let Cyrus have her way. We don’t even know what she has planned. So we’ll win. Every time.”

The deal was sealed in that basement.

It was the only way we could keep Tess safe. And I refused to let anything happen to her now.

23

TESS