AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We shouldn’t have to rely only on ourselves and Mercy’s people,” I said, and looked at Wylder. “We have the Nobles too. At least, we should have them when your father understands what we’re really up against here.”
Wylder let out a huff of breath. “Or he’ll kick me to the curb for making up stories that sound crazy to him.”
I could tell that even though he was balking, he knew I was right. His mouth twisted as he grappled with the idea.
A sudden resolve gripped me, a flicker of anticipation coursing through me alongside it. I might not be a whole lot of use in the middle of a battle, but I had plenty of other strengths. The largest was that I knew my data. Wylder’s current problem was one I could actually tackle.
“We should go talk to him now,” I said. “Give him time to wrap his head around it before we need to get into the thick of preparing. I’ll come with you—I’ll bring my tablet, show him all the evidence, and lay out a case for why his cooperation is necessary tohissurvival as well as everyone else’s.”
“He’s not going to like hearing that either,” Wylder said, but then he sighed and offered me a smaller smile. “But I’m not leading us into a slaughter just because I hate talking to him. Let’s go take him on together.” He glanced at Rowan and Kaige. “You two, get some sleep. I want you totally fresh tomorrow.”
He marched toward the door, and I hurried after him. As he strode down the hall, his gaze snagged on one closed door, and his steps slowed for just a second.
My gut knotted. That room had been Roland’s back before the guy had run off.
A surge of emotions, more than I was used to dealing with, swept through me. I bit my tongue, and a metallic trickle of blood seeped through my mouth.
I couldn’t keep quiet about this. Wylder deserved to know.
I stopped completely, and Wylder immediately turned to me with a quizzical look.
“I need to tell you something,” I said. “But first you should know how incredibly sorry I am that I fucked things up so badly.”
Wylder’s forehead furrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?”
My throat tightened, but I forced myself to keep talking. “It’s my fault. That Xavier targeted Roland. I—when he was questioning me, and I was doing whatever I could to distract him so that maybe I could get the tracker on him, I babbled a bunch of random things, and one of them was that you had an older brother. Most of it was bullshit. I claimed that Roland was off training to eventually come back and take over, that you were some kind of decoy…”
I winced inwardly at the memory, knowing how close that idea came to the fears that had driven Wylder to pull out all the stops to live up to his older brother’s legacy in Ezra’s eyes.
“I was just shooting my mouth off, saying the first things that popped into my head that I thought would catch his attention,” I went on. “I had no idea—I mean, none of us knew where Roland even was. It never occurred to me that Xavier would manage to track him down and do something like that. But I shouldn’t have brought him up at all—I should have realized what a mistake that was—”
Wylder was staring at me. The vice-like sensation crept around my lungs again, until I could barely breathe.
“I’m sorry,” I added again, hating how weak my voice sounded. “I should have told you sooner.”
My best friend dragged in a breath, ragged with emotion. Then he let it out in a rush and stepped forward to clasp my shoulder. “I know you were only trying to help every way you could. And you reallycouldn’thave known that Xavier had the kind of resources to track Roland down when not even my dad has been able to. And—hell, I can’t imagine what it was like, being captured by that guy. I’m impressed by how well you did keep your head together.”
What, that I hadn’t completely fallen apart? “Any of the other guys—” I started.
Wylder shook his head. “It would have been hard for any of us. But yeah, it was probably harder for you because you’re not usually out there fighting people face to face. I recognize that. I’m not going to blame you for what that sicko did.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Roland might have been my brother by blood, but you’re my brother in every other way that matters. I know you would never purposefully betray me or the Nobles.”
Relief I still wasn’t totally sure I’d earned trickled through me. I ducked my head. “Thank you.” Maybe there was more I should have said, but I couldn’t find the words. And besides, we had another possible villain to tackle that needed to take priority over my self-doubt. The seconds were ticking away before the Long Night swept into Paradise Bend.
We walked around the landing to the opposite wing and down the hall to Ezra’s office. Wylder knocked on the door. There was no response. We waited a minute, Wylder trying again. Then he checked the handle and found it unlocked. We glanced at each other.
Ezra never left his office unlocked unless he was in it.
Wylder turned the knob and pushed the door open so we could enter.
Ezra was sitting at his desk, a glass in his hand. He took a long swig of whiskey before he turned to us with a glare. “I’m not entertaining anybody.”
Wylder’s jaw locked. “It’s important.”
“Go away,” Ezra muttered before he poured some of the fire-colored liquid into his glass.
“Dad,” Wylder said, his tone stiff. “It’s important. The lives of every man working under us are on the line. So please put the fucking whiskey away and let us talk to you.”
Instead of answering, Ezra hurled the glass at us. Wylder ducked, and it shattered on the wall behind us. Wylder turned to Ezra with a glare that his dad returned with a tight smirk. He was more out of it than I’d realized.
