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She couldn’t have been more than thirty years old, and her only crime was working at our diner.
We owned, or partially owned, most of Wake Forest. How were we supposed to protect everyone linked to us in that way? We couldn’t hide an entire town in a safe room.
We didn’t even know who we needed to protect them from.
And how was I supposed to protect Tree when I was already aching to get back to her after only an hour away from her? When every beat of my heart was demanding I keep her close. Safe. With me. Nearly drowning out all logic that bringing her deeper into my world would only put her in more danger.
With a harsh shake of my head, I stepped out of the van and said, “I know how to find her.”
“I’m coming with you,” Maverick said as soon as I started distancing myself from the van.
Before I could object, Kieran asked, “How?”
I glanced at him absentmindedly before focusing on him when I realized he was talking to me. Surprised that he would even question me, considering Dare never once had.
He just always expected me to do what he needed, which was this. And so long as it hadn’t been days or there wasn’t a shit ton of rain, I did my job flawlessly.
“Excuse me?”
“How are you gonna find her?” he asked, challenge and doubt in his voice. “You didn’t even know she’d been in the van.”
I took a step toward him, a harsh smirk curling at the edge of my mouth just as Maverick shoved his hand against my chest, pushing me the opposite way.
“Why don’t you tell me how you find people, Nightshade?” I suggested, dragging out the dark world’s nickname for the assassin as I held my ground against my brother. “Do you make pacts with demons or just use the fear of your next victim to get information?” At the narrowing of Kieran’s eyes, my smirk widened.
“Enough,” Dare snapped, but I was too lost in my restlessness of this mission, rage from the threat, and fear of what would happen next to stop.
“How about this? Someone says go, and we start tracking her.” I smacked Maverick’s hand away when he tried shoving me back another step and kept my stare on Kieran. “Last one there has to divulge all their secrets.”
“The hell is wrong with you?” Maverick hissed when he finally succeeded in pushing me away, horrified stare on me before he spared a glance over his shoulder at where Kieran stood, watching us.
I just turned and continued in the direction I’d been going, away from the van. Taking in deep breaths, trying to clear the smell of the blood I’d been tracking and standing in for the better part of an hour.
“Diggs—”
“It’s blood,” I said over Maverick. “Whoever’s doing this wants us to find these girls. Wants me to find them. They’re making sure I can smell them.”
Maverick wavered for a moment before speaking, voice soft and low. “How sure are you?”
“Mav,” I muttered irritably, then gestured to the van and the people we’d left with it. “That van? The inspection expired years ago. I should’ve been following the smell of it, but I followed blood. Fresh blood, even though they’d had the waitress since yesterday.”
I rocked back a step and let my eyelids shut as a soft breeze kicked up, bringing with it the exact scent I was worried I’d find. Drawing in a slow, deep breath, I let the scent fill my lungs until that restlessness consumed every part of me.
“This way,” I said as my eyes opened, then started in the direction of rust and copper.
“More blood?” Maverick asked as he kept pace with me, keeping a step just behind me. When I grunted, he added, “People know we have a tracker.”
“Right, but why go through all this trouble just to make sure I could find the people they’re killing?” I challenged. “We’re either walking into a trap, or they’re setting us up for something bigger. Something we won’t be expecting after what they’ve been doing.” I sent him a meaningful look and added, “Something I won’t be able to track.”
“We’ll find them before that can happen,” he said, trying to give us both hope when there wasn’t a whole lot of it at that moment. “Einstein’s working on it at every angle. She’ll find something. Until then, you need to figure out your shit because you’re pushing everyone, and Kieran fucking Hayes isn’t someone you should push.”
A breath of a scoff left me. “He’s fine.”
Maverick grabbed my shoulder and brought me to a stop, turning me to face him as he did. “Diggs, I’m serious. You’re not yourself lately, and it’s worrying. When are you gonna see that keeping yourself from what you want is gonna hurt you?”
“When are you gonna see what we’re in the middle of?” I seethed. “Why the fuck would I put a target on Tree’s back by linking her to me when people are getting murdered because they’re linked to us? Why can’t you understand that I don’t want to bring anyone into our world?”
“I do,” he argued. “You know I do. Einstein and I were so against any kid being brought into this life, but that changed for us. It’s obvious this girl has changed your wants too.”
