Nathan’s body is shaking. He howls out loud in front of everyone and sinks to his knees, staring at the words in the chat.
Holy fuck, I have never seen him collapse like that.
“What the fuck happened?” I ask.
“Nathan?” Kai approaches and tries to touch his shoulder, but Nathan grips his wrist and yells, “Romeo took Lana!”
My eyes widen. “What?”
“Oh fuck no,” Kai grits, stealing Nathan’s phone from his hand to check the message himself.
Then he pulls out his own phone. “I’m calling her.”
“It’s no use. Romeo wouldn’t send this if it weren’t true.” Nathan’s hands touch down on the ground, his nails digging into the concrete. “They took her because she saved Ro.”
Little droplets darken the pavement beneath him.
“It’s all my fault. If my parents hadn’t committed fraud, if I’d just saved Ro by myself, if we’d never taken those fucking pictures—”
I grip him by the shoulders and make him look at me. “Don’t blame yourself.”
“She got taken because of me!” he screams.
“We couldn’t protect her because we were too busy arguing over some stupid fucking pictures!” I yell back.
He stares blankly at me for a moment, realizing the fault lies within all of us for not sticking with her even when she hated us the most. And I wrap my arms around him, hugging him tightly. He molds into my embrace, burying his face into my neck.
“We’ll get her back,” I say.
I’ve never seen him this distraught before.
When shit breaks out, he’s always the strong one, the one who wields his rage as a weapon.
But if he can’t gather his anger and use it against them, I’ll be his rock for him.
“I promise.”
Kai
Every beep on the phone makes my heart rate pick up. “She’s not answering. Dammit.”
She’s never not picked up when I called, which means she really is in trouble.
Fuck.
My fist balls at the thought of someone snatching my little kitty. If there’s one thing you don’t do, it’s mess with a guy’s kitty cat.
My Lana … stolen from me.
Someone’s going to bleed empty today.
“Wait … are you telling me the same guys we saved your sister from now went after your girlfriend?” Blaine asks with narrowed eyes.
“Yes,” I reply through gritted teeth. “Except she wouldn’t have been fucking taken if we’d been able to keep an eye on her, which we fucking couldn’t because of that picture Caleb shared, which made her hate us.”
“Which I didn’t,” Caleb interjects, and I scowl at him.
“I see …” Blaine mutters under his breath, and he turns to look at the guys watching us from the door opening to the Tartarus House.
“All right, Caleb, you go with them to save her.”
“What?” Caleb rasps.
“You heard me,” Blaine says.
He runs his fingers through his hair. “I’m not even responsible for this fucking mess, and now I get to shoulder the blame?”
“Caleb. It’s settled. You’re going with them,” Blaine commands.
“Fuck no, I’m not going anywhere with those three—”
“You wanna take it up with Ares?” Blaine raises a single brow.
It immediately shuts Caleb up.
“Good. Then it’s settled,” Blaine says.
“We’re gonna need more help, though,” Milo says, looking up at Blaine. “Please?”
Blaine makes a face and rubs his lips together. “I really have to stay out of this one. I already came along the last time. I can’t keep risking—”
“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Nathan interjects, and he grabs Milo’s arm and drags him away. “Let’s go.”
We walk back across campus with Caleb veering to the side of the group, staying as far away as possible from us as he can. I don’t mind as long as he sticks around and fights when we need him to. Whether he is or isn’t responsible remains a point of dispute, but if he helps us get her out of there, it might clear him of the blame.
“Wait …” Milo pauses midway past the Skull & Serpent House. He points at his chest, and my eyes widen when I spot the red dot. “Why is there a marker on me?”
“Take another step and I’ll put you all down,” someone growls from the top window.
“What the—Have you gone insane?” Nathan yells at the sniper.
He lifts his head above the rifle, and my eyes widen when I see it’s Alistair. “Might want to check your back.”
As he turns around, Felix pummels him in the face. “You motherfucker! You’re the one who took those pictures of my sister, aren’t you?”
Caleb snorts.
Nathan growls at him, “Ow, fuck! What’s so funny?”
“You punch, you get punched. We’ve gone full circle now,” Caleb says.
A metal barrel prods into my back. “Make one wrong move and I’ll make you crawl for the rest of your life.”
I raise my hands, not wanting to get shot. “Wow, calm down. We’re just passing through.”
“Like hell you are,” Dylan grits. “You three were in that picture that got shared all around campus. You involving Lana in murder now?”
I snort and let out a big sigh.
“You think this is funny?” Felix asks, punching Nathan in the gut before turning his attention to me.
“Yes, considering she was the one who killed him,” I say.
His eyes widen in surprise. I guess he didn’t know his sister as well as he thought.
But it’s all out now anyway, might as well get rid of the last secret still standing.
“No fucking way,” Felix says.
“You think she’s all sweet and innocent?” I say. “She’s been killing longer than you can imagine.”
“Fuck no, my sister would never—”
“She likes it.” I lick my lips at the sight of his rage.
He grips my collar and looks me dead in the eyes. “Give me one good reason not to shoot you point blank right now.”
“You won’t because she’ll hate you for it,” I say, tilting my head.
“You’re a liar,” Felix says through gritted teeth.
“Ask her yourself,” I say.
“Where is she?” he seethes.
“Gone.”
“What the fuck do you mean gone?”
“Pull back your men, and I’ll tell you,” I say.
His nostrils twitch, but after a while, he throws a single look at Dylan and Alistair, who was still trying to snipe us down from the window. The red dot disappears, and Dylan’s gun is removed from my back.
“Thank you,” I say.
“Tell me where my sister is,” Felix says with a stern voice.
“She was taken,” Nathan fills in for me, his face full of worry. “Bones Brotherhood.”
Felix’s pupils dilate, and he releases me from his grasp to march right over to Nathan. “You let her get taken by those fuckers?!” he screams. “FUCK! What the fuck do they want with her?”
“Revenge,” Nathan replies. “She went into their club and killed a bunch of them.”
“Why? Why the fuck would she?” Felix growls. “She wouldn’t fucking do that.”
“She would … to save my sister,” Nathan says, averting his eyes.
“That sounds out of character,” Dylan mutters.
“Is it, though?” I reply. I tilt my head at Felix when he glances at me. “Or is she just good at hiding it?”
“She saved my sister, and Romeo found her, and he’s taken her fuck knows where,” Nathan says.
Penelope barges out the front door in a simple bathrobe. “What the hell is going on here? I was trying to take a shower, and then I hear you all screaming.” She looks at all three of us and sighs out loud. “What are you doing here?”
“We just collected our little helper over here,” Milo says, placing his hand on Caleb’s shoulder.
Alistair calls out from the window, “Is that a Tartarus guy?”
“Yep. He’s gonna help us free Lana, aren’t you, Caleb?” Nathan says, folding his arms. “I’m sure you don’t want to disappoint these three Skull & Serpent Society guys. Felix here is Lana’s brother.”
Caleb’s eyes narrow, his muscles tightening. He knows it’s a threat.
Nathan makes a tsk sound, but I throw him a glare, and he keeps his mouth shut.
“Free Lana?” Penelope mutters. “What do you mean? Where is she?”
“The Bonesmen took her,” Dylan says.
“Oh God.” Penelope plants her hand against her mouth. “I told her about their location.”
“You did what?” Felix snarls at her.
She folds her arms and sneers, “She asked for my help, so I gave it to her.”
“To save my sister,” Nathan fills in.
“She’d really go through all that trouble for you?” Dylan mutters.
Nathan raises his brow. “Does it sound so hard to believe?”
“Yes, yes, it does,” Alistair yells from the top window.
Felix balls his fists. “I knew I shouldn’t have let her get close to you three. She’s in this shit because of you!” He tries to hit me again, but Penelope stops him.
“Don’t! Not again! She asked you not to fight!”
“Can we go now?” Caleb says impatiently. “My blade is itching, and if I don’t shove it into one of those Bones Brotherhood fuckers soon, it might want a taste of your blood first.”
“Shut it,” Nathan grits. “We’re working on it.”
“Look, I hate them as much as you do for what they did to my sister,” Penelope says to Felix.
“For your information, we didn’t want to do any of it. You know we were forced. My parents would be reported to the feds if I didn’t oblige,” Nathan says.
“So much for that because they’re still in jail,” Dylan quips, and the remark almost makes Nathan snap.
“And you? What’s your excuse?” Penelope rasps at me.
“I owe his family a lot,” I say, swallowing. “I did what I had to for my friend.”
“If she’s really in trouble, there’s no time for random chitchat,” Alistair calls from the window.
Penelope makes a tsk sound but keeps her mouth shut. “Fine. If Lana’s in trouble, we gotta save her first.”
“Wait, what?” Milo mutters. “We?”
“You didn’t think we’d let you go out there by yourself, did you?” Penelope quips, and she rushes back into the house. “Wait here.”
“Wait, you’re not thinking of inviting them to come with us, are you?” Nathan growls at me.
“No one’s inviting anyone,” Felix retorts, flashing his knife. “I’m coming to save my fucking sister.”
A lopsided smirk forms on my face. The protectiveness runs in the family, I see.
“All right,” I say. “As long as you keep your boys away from us.”
“You stay in your lane; I’ll stay in mine,” Felix snarls, going back inside with Penelope. “You stay.”
“There’s no way I’d ever step one foot into the Skull & Serpent Society building,” Nathan says.
“I would,” Milo muses, shrugging.
Nathan throws him a look. “You just want them to hurt you.”
“How do you know me so well?” Milo winks.
Caleb makes a gag motion. “Sorry, I just threw up a little.”
“And there’s a reason I left your ass for his,” Nathan retorts.
“No time for being petty,” I tell them. “We have a job to do. Let’s do it properly.”
“Do you even know where we’re supposed to go?” I turn my head to see Alistair casually strolling out of their door.
I shrug. “We’ll go to the same club and see if they’re hiding out there. If not, I’ll find someone and make them tell.”
“No need.” Penelope throws a giant bag on the ground in front of us. “I already know where they’re keeping her.”
I bend over and zip it open, marveling at the number of guns and weapons inside.
Felix pushes a magazine into his gun. “For where we’re going, you’d better pray that’s enough.”
