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“Why?”
“To freak out Knox.” He shrugs. “That guy needs a good shove to do anything. Besides, if they come here guns blazing, it’ll probably scare away the guy Luke hired. Then we can get you back to safety.”
“That’s a Band-Aid,” I point out. “I mean, what’s the point of any of this?”
“You’ll live to see another day, Aurora McGovern. That’s the important part.”
Well… yeah. He’s got a point. But then what? Let Knox force me out of Denver until he deems it safe? Let him rule my life for even longer?
My mind twists this like one of my books. If I were a character, if I were the hero, what would I do?
The problem is—I built this new, budding career on writing an anti-hero as the love interest. And while Knox definitely has anti-hero qualities, he’s also been my knight in shining armor.
Too bad I’m starting to crave the tarnished armor look.
What would Knox do to end this? If my life was actually on the line?
“If we want to end this… why drag it out?” My plan is taking shape. Not a good plan, but it’ll do for now. “I trust you to point Knox in the right direction.”
He shoots to his feet, but I’m faster. I beat him to the door, and his sister’s voice behind him makes him slow. The elevator arrives before he can get to me. I raise my eyebrows as Camden slams to a halt, the doors closing in his face. I press the buttons for Joel’s floor and the lobby.
It stops at his floor first.
And waiting for me is a bloody-knuckled Luke Abernathy. Not some hired dickbag.
Okay, so, maybe not the best plan. But I’m here, and he’s here, and I’m definitely screwed.
So I smile at him and step back, giving him room to come on.
“Doing your own dirty work, then?” I ask with a tilt of my head.
He smiles. “Just the lady I was searching for.”
He enters the elevator, and it’s like the air gets sucked out with his presence. After a moment, the doors close behind him. A prickle of nervous energy slides down my spine, but I ignore it. I ignore everything except the way his hands tighten into fists.
“Bet you wish you were the one who beat me,” I murmur. “For all the trouble I’ve caused you.”
“The pictures didn’t do it justice,” he answers. “But I’ll see you curled on the floor again soon enough.”
I accept that. Because sometimes, the only way to get a monster put down is to force the hero into action.
50
KNOX
Camden: Aurora’s walking into a trap. Joel’s apartment.
The text to the burner phone clearly wasn’t sent for Aurora—it was a message for me. It makesno sense. What game is he playing at?
I tighten my grip on the phone. Greyson and Miles stuck with me as Iranthe three blocks to Joel’s building. We caught someone on their way out, which solved the locked door issue, and went up to Joel’s floor.
We stand outside his door now. It’s open, which made me slam on the brakes.
“Why do they always put themselves in harm’s way?” Miles mutters. “Running into danger without any plan.”
Referring to Aurora. And probably every other damn girl in our group. This feels like an initiation of sorts.
I shake my head, trying to understand it. Aurora camehere? At this hour? When I try to go through the door, Greyson stops me. He gives me a look that says,Don’t be an idiot. Then he goes first.
