Dash looked at me helplessly.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “We’re keeping an astronomical secret for you. Why wouldn’t we ask for a fair share? You stay away from Marlowe’s pack, including your son. And while you’re at it, make sure Edith Winston stays away from them, too. She’s got some rather incriminating pictures of him killing someone at an underground fight club.”
The tiny widening of Soren’s eyes told me he hadn’t known that. His lips turned down in a frown, eyes darkening with irritation.
“You drive a hard bargain. You’re lucky I don’t appreciate other people blackmailing my family members, because I’d be happy to take care of Edith. However, you cannot get all of this for free. It would make me look bad if it got out.”
His phone pinged with an incoming message and he read it, nodding to himself.
“I want Leighton,” Soren said. He paused long enough for me to panic before snorting a laugh. “As my employee. Her reputation is trashed thanks to the news of the dark bond, but we can rebuild her business together. She’s been far too useful to lose.”
Committing Leighton to a deal with the devil wasn’t the best way to save her, but I liked to think I knew how her brain worked.
If being employed by Soren was the price for her brother’s safety, then she would do it.
It was a hell of a lot better than being blackmailed by him.
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” I said, sharing a glance with Dash. His expressive green eyes were pools of relief.
“Perfect,” Soren said, standing. “Glad we could come to an understanding. The good news is we know where Leighton is being held—the Connollys don’t have an abundance of properties to do their dirty work at. The bad news…”
He grabbed another pastry and took an ungodly amount of time to chew and swallow it. My heart kicked in my chest, unsure if my pack could handle more bad news.
“Your omega is about to be held there with her.”
I had to blink a couple of times before I processed what he said. What it meant. Then, panic rushed into the bond—coming directly from Ambrose. Wading through it was like wading through oil, the sticky substance weighing me down.
We’d just negotiated our way into saving Leighton, but somehow…
Kiara was gone.
FIFTY-FIVE
KIARA
The texts taunted me for hours.
I stared at them even when my vision went blurry from the tears. Even as pain like I’d never felt before washed over me. They were burned in my brain before I half-fell out of the nest, my decision made.
I cleaned up in the bathroom, puking when the heat cramps got particularly intense. They were only getting worse the longer I was in heat without relief. Having Dash’s knot at the onset may have helped me, but it may have only made me more eager for what I knew I could have, if I’d just give in.
Giving in still wasn’t an option.
Tobias wanted me back, and I wouldn’t let him hurt my alpha in his efforts to get me.
So I had to go to him—to her.
A quick shower washed away the sweat coating my body, but I was sticky again soon after. The cotton clothes I pulled on were far from comfortable, the normally butter soft fabric scratching my skin.
I briefly debated leaving Nyla behind—Tobias would know I had her, this time. It was impossible to fool him with a hidden knife twice. The idea of leaving this room without my protection stalled my footsteps, though. Unless I left with Nyla, I wouldn’t be able to leave at all.
I used my waist holster, tucking it under my clothes.
“She needs me,” I murmured, looking at my haggard self in the mirror.
My fatigue was obvious from the smears of purple beneath my eyes and the beginnings of a breakout scattered across my forehead. My neck was a map of purple and green bruises, partially healed but still tender to touch. Leighton’s dark bond laid among them, tendrils of the bond leeching like oil across my skin. That’s why it was often considered a poisoned bond. It looked like it at first glance, but I only looked at mine with affection.
Placing a hand on my clenching abdomen, I sent a plea up to whoever would listen. I somehow had to get out of this apartment undetected—easier, since I’d heard Dash and Mercury leaving a while ago—and then flee to my parent’s mansion without buckling over in the streets.
