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But he also helped us in the fight back at the other house.
I don’t know quite how he survived after Adrian’s man broke into the room, but he must’ve been ready and waiting for the guy. And instead of trying to run or joining our attackers, he chose our side. Again.
Fucking hell, Ayla. Stop trying to redefine his personality now that you know who he is. You can’t make him something he’s not.
I grimace, annoyed at myself, but Marcus just nods.
“Fine,” he says coolly. He strides into the living room and sets his laptop on a small table next to an over-sized chair. The rest of us follow him, and his gaze flicks up to Victoria. “How well do you know this hacker? You trust him?”
“Yes.” She nods, pulling her auburn hair out of the ponytail before smoothing it down and retying it. “And he’s no friend of Luca’s either. He’ll do what we need and won’t ask questions.”
“Will he pick up at this hour?”
She shrugs an elegant shoulder. “For me? Yes.”
Marcus rolls his eyes, jerking his chin to gesture her over as he flips his laptop open. As they discuss plans to send her hacker all the files Zee couldn’t crack, Ryland rests a hand on my shoulder.
I blink, and it takes serious force of will to get my eyes to open again. I’m dead on my feet, the lack of sleep and the exhaustion of an adrenaline crash making me feel groggy and fuzzy.
“You need to get some rest, Ayla,” Ryland murmurs. “Some real sleep. We won’t be able to do anything until Victoria’s guy comes back to us with whatever he’s able to decrypt. And then we’ll have to go through all of it. So you should sleep while you can.”
“What about you guys?” I lean back against him, my body melting into his.
He chuckles, the sound vibrating against the bare skin of my back. “We’ll get sleep too. But you first.”
“We’ve got this, Rose,” Theo adds. Then he punches Ryland lightly on the shoulder. “You go with her. Marcus and I will get settled in here.”
Ryland looks like he wants to object, but I like the idea of at least one of the guys getting a break if they’re going to tell me to take one. We’ve all been through the same shit, and I know we’re all feeling the effects of it.
Taking Ryland’s hand, I shoot a questioning glance at Dominic.
He waves. “Down the hall. Second door on the right. There’s a bathroom across the hall.”
His body sways a little as he
speaks, and my jaw clenches. Dom looks worse off than any of us. He barely got medical attention back at the other house, and he’s got to have a minor concussion and probably some whiplash too.
I hope he’s all right.
The thought rises up before I can stop it, and I don’t try to force it down this time. I just give him a nod of thanks and lead Ryland down the hall toward the bedroom.
Chapter 18
A little hand, smaller than mine, grips my own.
“I don’t want to go, LaLa! Don’t make me go!”
My heart twists. I’m not making him go. Can’t he see that?
Shadowy figures crawl through the space around us, their large forms towering and imposing. They terrify me. Each one holds power over me just being a grown-up. By being so big when I’m so small.
I want to take Caleb and run from them, but there’s nowhere to go.
Why won’t one of them help me? Help him?
He grabs my other hand too, his blue eyes shining with tears as his lower lip quivers. “I don’t want to go. Please!”
I swallow, opening my mouth to speak, but my throat is clogged. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to make this right. The low hum of voices surrounds us, and I try to pick out the individual words, to figure out what a grown-up would say at a time like this, but I can’t.
