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She sighed over me, the sound obnoxiously loud and drawn out as she lifted her index finger to her stitched mouth and drew it across as if silently hushing me.
“Oh my God, you ask so many questions—oh. I forgot.” A soft, feigned laugh left her as she turned for the door. “You were more interested in a shower than food, but Lachlan says you need to eat. I’ll go get it.”
I glanced at the plate of food as she slipped out the door, then around the room as if someone else in a mask might pop out at any moment. Not that there was anywhere to hide in that room, but I’d never had an interaction with her like that.
Normally, she set the plate and drawing down beside me. Asked how my back felt after checking it and dressing it. Then told me to deal with the pain before leaving.
With a curious look at the drawing in my hand, I carefully followed after her, wondering if I’d stepped into an alternate universe. But when I tried the door, it was still locked.
“Here,” she said when she came bursting in a couple minutes later, nothing more than another folded piece of paper in hand. “Eat. Or don’t. My brother’s the only one who cares.”
I paused halfway through opening the paper, nearly choking over the words when I confirmed, “Broth—wait, brother? Lachlan...Lachlan’s your brother?”
“One of them,” she said as if having that terrifying man as her brother was nothing more than an inconvenience, and then she was gone.
I stared at the shut door for a while longer, stunned by the knowledge that the girl taking care of me was the sister of the man who’d been haunting me for so long. With a heaving exhale, I resumed unfolding the same thick paper I’d received a few times before, my brow furrowing when I found a note rather than a drawing.
Be careful what you say...he’s listening to you.
Practice silence.
Next time you see me, implement it.
Don’t fall asleep.
My head snapped up and my eyes widened as I stared at the closed door. My heart slammed against my ribs as hope swirled through my veins, mixing with that doubt and heartache and a new kind of fear and uncertainty.
Because, as Lachlan had said, it’d been three days, and I was still here. With them—with him—and there’d been nothing from Diggs or anyone in his family. I also knew nothing about this woman other than she wore the mask of my nightmares and was the sister of the man I feared and hated most in this world.
The note could be nothing more than a trick.
Or it could be the escape I’d waited for.
DIGGS
Our orders were to wait. To give Willow enough recovery time that she could potentially run out on her own since Dare expected nothing less than a blood bath when we went to get her.
I would’ve gladly carried her out while shooting down every one of them.
But I kept my mouth shut because I’d pushed Dare enough recently. And if I pushed any harder, Dare wouldn’t just leave me out of this; he’d ensure I wouldn’t be able to follow.
That didn’t mean I was fine with sitting idly by, waiting and planning. All while Kieran was constantly being forced back from his path to self-destruction, and Einstein was in the middle of a meltdown and questioning her abilities for the first time ever.
Which, for Einstein, meant she was still working. She was just more irritable and snapping at everyone who even looked her way. Not that any of us handled failure well, but Einstein didn’t fail, so she wasn’t handling this.
But when I tried slipping away that first night, Maverick was there, already anticipating my move.
“You’re an idiot if you think I’d let you do this without me,” he said from where he stood beside the front door.
“So, come with me,” I suggested as I reached for the handle.
“We can’t go yet.”
I muttered something under my breath about the inconsistencies in rescuing Willow and their wives as I eased the door open, but came to an abrupt stop when Maverick held out a tablet directly in front of me.
Einstein’s tablet. And on the screen was a short, one-sided message.
Unknown
