“Are you sure you don’t mind? I’m going over sugar structures.”
“I love sugar.” I grin, taking her offered computer and flipping the screen open. I blink, finding a series of H’s and OH’s stacked around vertical lines and connected across it with perpendicular lines. “Uhhhh…”
“Read the name at the bottom, and I’ll describe the structure.”
“D-Ribose,” I murmur, squinting at the smalllabel.
“Thumbs up,” Tempest says, raising her hand. “Double-bonded oxygen on top, all OH’s on the right.”
“D-Mannose,” I call next, not understanding what she’s saying.
“Pew-pew,” she says, mimicking a gun with her pointer and middle finger. “First two have the OH’s on the left, and the last two on the right.”
“Yes,” I answer, starting to catch on. “D-Glucose.”
She holds up her middle finger with a grin just as the back door flies open. Noctis rushes in, shoving his helmet off as the others file in behind him. My brows furrow as I scan the group for the emerald serpent, but come up empty.
“Silas, Mavros, and Erik have been arrested,” Noctis says, his voice lethally quiet.
I blink, my gaze sweeping the room as my mind tries to process his words. Teal sloth for Noctis. Orange hellhound for Bane. Gold dragon for Adrian. Navy blue devil goat for Dominic. My pulse picks up as I look again, hoping I missed something.
“How?” Tempest whispers.
“Her,” Noctic snarls.
My brow furrows at his pointed finger, not comprehending why it’s aimed at me. I glance at Tempest, hoping for clarity, only to find confusion mirrored in her eyes.
“What are you talking about, Noctis?” Tempest snaps, slapping his hand away and pinning the others with a glare as she pushes to her feet. I rise too, having her back as a gnawing sense of dread coils in the pit of my stomach.
“I’ve gone through everything in the last hour,” Noctis mutters, shaking his head as he begins to pace. “The cleaners were there within minutes, and nobody else knew the location.”
“I don’t understand,” I say.
“Mark,” Adrian answers, pulling out his gold coin and giving it a flip. It whirls, spinning end over head until he snatches itfrom the air and slaps it against the back of his palm. He cocks his head, studying the result before lifting golden eyes to mine. “You’re the only person outside of us who knew about Mark’s death—specifically, the location of his justified end.”
My throat goes dry as understanding finally dawns. “You think I gave Silas up to the police?”
“Are you saying you didn’t?” Bane asks, and for the first time I see the ruthless glint of his Italian lineage.
“Of course she fucking didn’t,” Tempest snaps. “She’s half in love with the idiot.”
Blood rushes to my cheeks as my heart flutters. God above, am I in love with Silas? No. He’s dangerous. Devious. Completely unhinged. I couldn’t possibly?—
“Really?” Dominic asks with a smirk, his deep voice smooth and full of intrigue.
“There’s no one else, Tempest,” Noctis insists. “The cleaners are loyal to a fault, and even if they weren’t, I’ve got too much shit on them to risk defection. Next thing I know, Silas is calling me saying there are two cops taking them in.”
“You weren’t with him?” Tempest bites.
“I needed to get back.” Noctis lifts his chin. “Erik and Mavros stayed.”
“A lot of fucking good that did,” Adrian adds, pocketing his coin. “We heard Erik running his mouth and Mavros cackling while getting the shit kicked out of him.”
“Crazy bastard,” Bane mutters with a shake of his head.
“Cops are crawling all over the canyon,” Noctis says, fixing me with a dark stare. “And bail is set at three times the norm. If you didn’t rat us out, then you told someone what happened.”
Something about the ringing silence and loathing in Noctis’s eyes finally shatters the last remnants of disbelief. I stiffen, clenching my fists as I straighten and meet each of their gazes.
