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“I’m on it.” Jax rose up and moved quickly in order to follow Sebastian's instructions. “Let me just grab one from my room.”
Once Jax retreated to handle the file transfer, Sebastian and I looked at each other as the weight of the situation bore down on us. This was so much worse than I’d hoped. I’d never expected Tomas to reach a breakthrough.
Sebastian finally broke the silence with a wry chuckle. “You know, it won’t be that hard for us to take out a bunch of cats if that's Tomas’s plan.”
I did appreciate his attempt to lighten the mood. “Yeah, we could char them in seconds.”
Sebastian’s amusement faded, however. “Still, I think this was more of a test to see how close he could get to us using smaller and less dangerous animals. He was seeing what he could get away with, and he got caught, but unfortunately, he got really close. Too close.”
Mariah frowned. “What does that mean for us?”
“It means we need to be prepared for anything. If Tomas is experimenting with different shifters, there's no telling what he'll try next.”
My heart raced as the gravity of the situation sank in, but I didn’t want Mariah to see my fear. I pulled her into my arms and held her tightly. “We'll get through this, Mariah. We’ll find a way to put an end to this.”
I wanted to believe it, really I did, but it seemed like every time we turned around, Tomas was throwing a new wrench in our plans. She leaned into my embrace as she looked up at me, her light brown eyes searching mine for reassurance. It was that look which made me vow Tomas wouldn’t win this time.
Jax returned, clutching a small flash drive as though it held the key to our survival, then plugged it into his terminal and began tapping away at the keys. A minute later, he held it out to Sebastian, who took it with a nod of approval.
“Thanks, Jax. I don’t know where we’d be without you.” Then he turned to me. “Evan, I want you to take this with you to New York.” It was less than a week until the court date.
“It’s time we admitted Rosalind might not follow through,” he said. “We’ll likely go to trial. I’m getting a message to Rosalind as we speak, but if she doesn't drop the suit by next week, she'll no longer have refuge with us.”
“Understood,” I said, my fingers itching to take the drive and put an end to this mess once and for all.
“First thing I want you to do when you arrive is to meet my contact in the FBI to hand over this file. We don't want to risk it getting into the wrong hands.”
“I won't let you down.”
“Of that, I have no doubt,” Sebastian said, clapping me on the back before leaving the room.
Over the next few days, an uneasy ball of dread formed in my gut, growing larger with each passing day. Still no word from Rosalind. My heart twisted with every glance at Sofia, hating how powerless I was here, and that I faced the very real possibility of losing her. The thought ate away at me, gnawing on my insides like a relentless beast.
It was only when I called my lawyer that we received confirmation: we had to appear in court. Even Catherine Shaw couldn’t stop the inevitable.
“Will Sofia have to be present for the hearing?" I said as we discussed the details.
“Thankfully, no,” Ms. Shaw said, to my relief. She’d be safest here, even after the breach. “But any witnesses you have who could speak on your behalf should be there. Or at the very least, send a statement as a character witness.”
Sebastian had told us he wouldn’t be leaving the clan lands while we were away, or anytime soon after what happened. But I could get him and Abi to record something. “I have a few in mind,” I told her.
“Excellent.” Her professional demeanor never wavered, giving me some small comfort. “That should suffice.”
As I hung up the phone, it felt like a lead weight was sitting on my chest. We spent the next few days preparing for our trip and spending as much time as possible with Sofia. The night before we were supposed to leave, I had a last minute meeting with Sebastian, and on my way out, Jax caught me in the hall.
“Can I talk to you about something before you leave?”
“Sure, what's up?” I said.
“I want to come with you to New York,” Jax said, getting right to the point. “I know it's last minute. I should have asked you sooner, but I didn’t want you to say no.”
“Do you really think it’s safe for you to leave?” I was genuinely concerned for his well-being. We’d gotten off to a bad start, and I might still struggle with that irrational jealousy, but I didn’t want anything to happen to him. Jax had already put himself at risk too many times by helping us gather evidence against his father.
“The way I figure, it’s probably just as safe as you guys going.” He shrugged, but there was a determined glint in his eyes. “I’m certain my father knows about the court appearance. Honestly, you and Mariah might be in more danger than me.”
He had a valid point. I sighed. “We’ve already arranged for Sebastian’s security team to accompany us. They’ll be with us at all times. Are you sure you want to go? It’s a risk I’m not sure you should take.”
“Don’t you both need some kind of backup?” Jax grinned sheepishly. “There's this tech shop I need to visit, anyway. The guy who makes the parts for my new system doesn't ship his goods, and I need a few things to optimize my new setup.”
