He looks around the circle like he’s deeply, deeply betrayed.
“We’re going to do it anyway, so at this point, you’re deciding whether you’ll join us.”
The air gushes from his lungs. “I’m in this to the end, but this is a big ask.”
“I know. I’m agreeing to someone playing tradesies with me.”
“We could always run away. Far, far away.”
“What about Saint Clare’s? And Margot and Elle?” That stumps him. “This will be over soon. Just say you’re gonna help.”
“Fine.” It doesn’t sound at all fine. “I’ll help.”
“We will too.”
I glance up at the person who’s joined Colin. Fiery dyed-red hair, as muscular as the people around us, and a sunshiny smile that’s at odds with how they make me want to cower behind St. Clare.
“If he thinks he’s getting to Colin, he has to go through me.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
ST. CLARE
We head back upto Onyx’s apartment, all of us cramming into the tiny space, and while the relief in my soul over finding Colin is immense, I only have eyes for one man.
I’m sick at the thought of what they’re planning.
“So …” I confirm, to make sure I’m following as Onyx sets out some freshly baked cookies. “Arlie will take Perry to Lethal Poison and tell Luther that he’ll get Colin once she gets the address?”
“Not quite,” Tommy says, licking crumbs off his fingers. “She’s going to show him footage of Colin—maybe we’ll set up downstairs—all tied up and gagged with Ever waiting with him. Once he hands over the address, I’ll intercept the feed and create a deepfake of Ever shooting Colin. In other words, it’ll look real but won’t actually be real. Then Luther will think Colin’s dead, Arlie will leave, and …”
“And the rest is up to me,” Perry finishes.
That’s the part I’m most worried about. Arlie has to leave without him so that Luther doesn’t know they’re working together, but to do that, she has to leave Perry completely unprotected. With a man who wants him dead. And my beautiful, amazing, precious soul of a human refuses to come up with a plan to get himself out.
“I still think we need a contingency plan,” I push. “What ifsomething goes wrong and Perry can’t get out? We can’t just leave him.”
“We won’t.” Onyx is firm about that. “My friends and I will start hell in the bar the second we see Arlie leave.”
I mean, that’s … something.
Perry is so determined to do this, though, that there isn’t really anything else I can do. It just feels as though my heart is being shredded, and I hate, hate, hate uncertainty. It isn’t something I knew about myself before now because I’ve never really been tested. Uncertain times in my life were whether Saint Clare’s would go well—and I had a full, controlled plan to ensure it would—and beyond that, it was college and following my parents’ rules and … well, apparently, I’ve been far too sheltered to be thrown into whatever the fuck we’re currently in.
They go back to discussing logistics, which I’m not really a part of, and when Perry glances up and catches my eye, his expression goes from hopeful to concerned. He leaves the others, and I step out into the small hallway. He follows me, bringing the smell of bath wash and the sight of his sweet eyes with him.
“What’s that look?” he asks.
“Not sure what you mean? It’s definitely not blind terror or existential dread.”
He cracks a smile at that. “It’ll be fine.”
“As fine as the last time you saw Luther?”
“Exactly.”
It’s always impossible to know whether Perry is joking or not, but in this instance, I’m certain he isn’t. “What part of being threatened to give up my brother or die was successful to you?”
“The part where I didn’t die.”
