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“We know her,” I admitted. “She goes to Briar Hall.”
Diesel’s breathing evened out at the level tone of my voice, or maybe it was something in my face. But he softened, running a palm over his beard with a heavy sigh.
“I don’t know why she followed us, but I do know that she’s the only reason Corvus isn’t the one lying dead in the yard.”
Diesel stilled. He didn’t like that.
“And we both know what would’ve happened if that motherfucker killed Corv.”
It would have been anarchy. We’d have been lucky not to lose another. Or all of us...
“What are you saying, Son?” he asked, clearly exasperated as he shuffled, dropping his head to take a long slow breath. “You saying she’s friendly? Hmm? Is that it? That she came here, what? As...as unsanctioned backup?”
I frowned, shook my head. I didn’t know what I was saying exactly, but I needed to drive this point home. “She saved our asses, Dies.”
“You saying you trust this girl? Thisoutsider?”
I flexed my jaw. “Yes.”
“And your brothers?”
“They trust her, too.”
Not any further than they could throw her, but that wasn’t the point right now. The point was saving her life like she’d just saved my brother’s, and possibly all of ours.
“We owe her a debt of life,” I pushed, speaking in terms he would understand. The unwritten code of the life.
Diesel’s lips pressed into a taut line as he considered that. “She’s a liability. She’s seen what went down here tonight. The girl can’t go free.”
“No,” I agreed. “But maybe there’s another option.”
“Speak it, then.”
“We bring her in.” I spoke the words quickly, my stomach dropping at the implication of them. It was what I’d been saying since the beginning, since I looked at her,reallylooked, and saw someone my soul recognized. That’d only happened three other times in my life. I had to trust it.
“Let her take the trial,” I continued when Diesel looked at me like I might be losing my mind. “If she survives, she’ll be in so deep that she’ll never be able to use anything she’s seen against us without burying herself, too. If she doesn’t...”
I let that hang between us for a second, knowing he might like that option better.
“...then I guess you won’t have anything to worry about.”
“You’re serious.”
I nodded, and he turned pacing away only to return again, rolling my suggestion around behind the dam of his lips. Eyes unfocused.
“She’s a girl,” he argued.
“It’s been done before. Mom was a Saint.”
He bristled, and I realized belatedly it was the wrong thing to say. Comparing AJ to his dead wife.
I waited, unable to take it back now that it was said, but when the silence stretched too long and something inside me felt pulled so tight it was near snapping, I continued.
“You saw how good she is with a blade. She can fight. Sly as a fox, too. She could be useful.”
He looked at me, his stare darting between my eyes as though he might find some truth there I was saying out loud.
“Do you have feelings for this girl?”
