AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was sure he knew Dylan was the key to controlling Amelia.
I’d keep him safe so she could focus on what she needed to do, so they could both be safe and free together.
I’d never really thought much about having kids. Now I realized that they fucked up your whole world, but maybe in a good way.
"So," Dylan said after a while. He lay his iPad down in his lap. "Do you like my mom?"
Suddenly I wished we could go back to the finer points of Paw Patrol. "Of course I do. She's a wonderful lady. Very smart. A good mom."
Dylan was giving me the most unimpressed look.
"Let's get you a Happy Meal so we can keep driving."
I drove all night with Dylan sleeping in the back seat. From time to time, I glanced back. His face was sweet in sleep, and a wave of affection crashed over me.
It was followed by a wave of longing.
I wanted Amelia in my life, for keeps. And I wanted Dylan, too. The thought of not having either of them near me formed a physical knot in my chest. I wanted to protect them, and I wanted the light and joy I felt with them.
We finally pulled back into King territory. I knew Stone would be aware of me long before I pulled into the garage, and sure enough, he was waiting for me.
“Time to get up, buddy,” I said, swinging open the rear door.
He was cranky, and I finally had to reach in and pull him out. Stone waited behind me with his arms crossed, and even though he didn’t move a muscle, I could sense his impatience. Even though Dylan had just been refusing to leave the car, he wrapped his arms around my neck and rested his head on my shoulder as I turned to face Stone.
“It’s okay to be grouchy, buddy,” I told him.
I was pretty grouchy too. It was not great timing to face Stone.
“We’ll have words later,” Stone promised. “For now, we’ve got to get Dylan to school. And then we have work to do.”
I knew what Stone meant when he saidwork.
He meant killing.
CHAPTER17
Amelia
"So doyou know anything about this guy?" I asked. Shaw had called home and asked Teresa to help him with research. I'd overheard a lot of cursing and at least two references to doing his homework for him since they were in third grade.
Now we were sitting outside the politician's mansion, getting ready to break into his house and steal back the ceremonial dagger. His phone had just chimed, and the wall of text on the screen had to be Teresa.
Shaw had his feet up on the dashboard and was drinking a Coke. His relaxed, casual air made it seem as if nothing could go too far wrong tonight.
"Yes, let me read you what she wrote," he said."He failed upwards into being a politician, it seems. Heston Holmes has told all these stories about how he started his career as a starving artist, but his parents were rich. He was never at risk of starving. He was just... untalented."
Shaw passed me over his phone so I could see the painting on screen. Then he held up to Liam, who grunted.
"I can't paint," Liam said.
"I can't paint either, but I know when I’m looking at failure in acrylics," Shaw answered. "So anyway, he has all these stories about how he bootstrapped his way up, but the truth is he had that rich family bankrolling him the whole way. He's been involved in a lot of shady deals."
"And why did he steal her ceremonial dagger? Any ideas?"
"Just to be a dickhead?" Shaw suggested. "I don't suppose your witch revealed what the spell is she used the dagger for?"
I shook my head.
