“Maybe we should talk about this later,” I say, but Tripp grabs my arm.

  His expression is fierce. Loyal. “I will never betray you, Mac. I swear it. Do you believe me?”

  “I believe you,” I say quietly.

  But I don’t promise the same in return. I can’t. And the reality of that makes me sick. Before he can see the truth in my eyes, I turn away and crawl over the second cot toward the door.

  “Now what?” Tripp asks.

  “Now we find out where the hell my mother is.”

  Hunger gnaws at my stomach as I follow Tripp back through the maze. A few Jades nod hello as we pass them in the narrow walkway. The rest scowl or curse—or ignore me completely. I tell myself it’s to be expected. Levi brought me here as an enemy, a prisoner, and now I walk among them like I’m trustworthy.

  I’m not.

  “They’ll warm up,” Tripp says as we step out of the store and into the open corridor.

  I shoot him a look. “Why should they do that?”

  “Because we’re all on the same side.”

  “Just because we want the same things doesn’t mean we should trust one another.”

  He doesn’t answer.

  I sense movement behind me, and from the corner of my eye, I’m not surprised to see Grey shadowing us. Maybe it’s for the best. The more witnesses I have, the less I have to worry about someone trying to kill me. The list of those wanting to try is growing by the day.

  We make it nearly to the atrium, where the smell of food is drawing me like a siren’s song, before Tripp stops.

  “What?” I ask when he gestures toward a storefront.

  “You want to know about your mom, this is the best place for answers.”

  I glance inside and spot several Jades loitering around a single arcade game. Pac-Man, I realize. An innocent enough game. But the threats being called out are not.

  “Twenty bucks on this asshole to choke in the first thirty seconds,” a man says.

  I almost laugh until I hear the response.

  “Thirty says I’ll choke your mom if you don’t fuck off,” says another voice—this one familiar and disgusting.

  Dirk.

  And with him are two of the asshole Hellions from the alley behind Inferno.

  I step inside the small shop, every instinct pushing me to start knocking heads together until every last one of them is laid out on their backs, maybe even without their tongues still attached. But then I remember my wolf is still out of reach.

  I grit my teeth as Tripp steps up beside me.

  “Pike,” he calls out sharply.

  The group of men turns as one, eyeing us with varying levels of hostility.

  A large man wearing a Hellion jacket steps out of the group and faces us. The others part to give him room, but they crowd in to make it clear whose side they’re on. Dirk is front and center, glaring back at us.

  “What the fuck do you want, Thompson?” Pike asks.

  “You just got back from Blackstone,” Tripp says. “We want to know what you found.”

  Pike and a couple of others exchange a look I can’t read. When he turns back to us, he crosses his arms and relaxes his expression. “I don’t have to tell you shit.”

  His gaze lands on me then, his eyes roaming as if exploring my body. As if he has the right to. Or he’ll just take the right even if I refuse. It reminds me of that night in the alley with Dirk. How they all tried to gang up on me. Use what they saw as their brute strength against mine. It triggered me then, and it triggers me now.

  With a roar, I close the distance and slam my fist into Pike’s smug face.

  He bends at the waist, hand cupping his eye where my knuckle collided with bone. His uncovered eye glares back at me with murder shining inside it.

  “You bitch,” he snarls.

  Then he attacks me back.

  “Whoa, hold up!” Tripp’s yell is lost to the roar of a dozen more men hurrying to join Pike. Fists fly. I catch a wild punch in the chin, and my knees buckle. Instead of making me retreat, the pain ignites my fury. I shouldn’t be this easy to beat.

  What the hell is wrong with my wolf?

  I fight back, kicking and dodging and using my nails.

  My training goes out the window. Without the strength of my beast, I’m nothing compared to these men, and if they figure that out, I’m dead. The harder I fight, the less I care about dying. I just need to take a few of them with me.

  Someone produces a knife.

  I can’t see who. There’s no time. It’s all I can do to stay out of the way of the sharp end. Another hand juts in, grabbing the wrist of whoever holds the blade and twisting sharply. The knife-wielder doesn’t let go, but in the end, that’s his mistake. I glance up in time to see Grey turning Dirk’s hand around and then shoving the blade into Dirk’s gut.

  Dirk curses as blood leaks from beneath his shirt.

  The others work into a frenzy at the scent of blood in the air.

  This fight just reached a whole new level.

  Someone calls my name, but I ignore them.

  A fist slams into my temple, too fast and out of sight for me to see it coming until it’s knocked me fully sideways.

  Reeling, and with a migraine exploding behind my eyes, I know I’ve pushed too far. Black dots swim in my vision, and dizziness threatens to suck me into unconsciousness. If I do that, I’m dead for sure.

  Struggling to remain conscious—and out of the way of another hit—I stumble back directly into a body. Jerking away is no use. Strong arms come around me, holding me fast. I kick awkwardly, trying to make contact with a kneecap, but the angle is wrong. Or I’m wrong.

  I miss completely and only end up nearly tripping myself.

  Rage courses through me, and my thrashing increases. I should be better than this. I am better than this.

  “Relax, Mac. You’re safe now.”

  I stiffen as Jadick’s voice registers against my ear.

  A second later, he’s shuffling me to the side, and I find Tripp reaching for me instead. In this moment, I trust him a hell of a lot more than I do Jadick, so I let him tug me behind him as Jadick steps forward to address the crowd.

  Around us, security is already rushing in and pulling the remaining fighters apart. Mostly, it’s just five Hellion guys trying to pound Grey—all of which are failing at the attempt.

  “Everyone stop!” Jadick’s voice booms as he stands before us all, confident, cool, and obviously fully expecting everyone to obey his issued command. In this moment, he looks every inch the alpha. But it’s not flattering. In this moment, he’s Crigger. Ruling by fear and by force.

  Still, it works.

  The remaining fighters break apart, all of them breathing heavily.

  “Whatever this is about, it’s over,” Jadick says, and I’m too surprised he’s not going to demand the details to argue with him. “Suit up and get to your Protocol B exit points,” he adds.

  The men look at him, startled.

  “Shit,” Tripp swears under his breath.

  “What is Protocol B?” I ask.

  But Jadick’s already pulling me away and down the hall. “I’ll tell you on the way,” he says.

  “On the way where?”

  “Anywhere but here,” he snaps. “We’re leaving.”

  CHAPTER 16

  Tripp tries to follow us, but Jadick screams at him to get to his exit point.

  “I’m not leaving her,” Tripp snarls, marching up to Jadick to face off with him.

  Jadick glares back. “You know how this works, soldier. Abandon your exit point and you’re abandoning your own people. Is that what you’re choosing right now?”

  Tripp doesn’t answer.

  I watch his chest rise and fall with angry breaths. Finally, he shakes his head. “If anything happens to her—”

  “She’s safest with me,” Jadick snaps impatiently.

  Tripp looks over at me. “I’ll see you at the rendezvous,” he says, clearly torn.

  I nod, still confused.

  Finally, Tripp runs off in the opposite direction, and we start moving again. A killer headache pounds in my head, but I ignore it and pull away from Jadick’s iron grip. Or attempt to. I don’t get far before he grabs me again and practically drags me away from the crowd. In the atrium, a security team is shouting orders, but the only thing that sticks out to me is their repeated use of “Protocol B” to anyone not already running toward wherever it is they’re supposed to go.

  The energy is hectic. The security team looks strained. Or nervous.

  “What the hell is going on?” I ask.

  “We’re leaving,” Jadick says, still as vague as ever.

  “Are we going to Blackstone?”

  I can’t keep the hope out of my voice, so I don’t even try.

  He shoots me a withering look. “You’d love that.”

  It’s not an answer, but I’m starting to think I won’t be getting one.

  We reach the office door, and Jadick shoves me through. In the short hall, he goes left into the first room. The one where he frisked me earlier. Being back here puts me on edge, but he’s not paying attention to me.

  He rifles through the desk drawers and shoves a few small items into a duffle bag. A notebook. A pocket watch. A gun.

  I watch, trying to figure out what has him spooked enough to abandon this place. The only time we’ve done it before is when the compound was attacked. I freeze in horror, thinking of Guy and Lenny with a creeping sense of dread.

  Jadick zips the bag just as Burnett and Gregario appear in the open doorway behind me.

  “We’re ready,” Burnett says.

  “Good. Let’s go,” Jadick tells them. He rounds the desk and reaches for me again.

  “This is crazy,” I say. “What happened to make us run? I thought we had a plan. The scouts—”

  “The scouts gave us up,” he hisses, rounding on me so sharply I step back.

  “How do you know for sure?”

  “Our perimeter checkpoint was just slaughtered,” he snaps. “Your brilliant fucking idea to turn them to our side backfired. I’m getting us out before a repeat of the compound makes escape impossible.”

  He shoves me toward the door where Burnett manhandles me toward the back hall. From there, I’m hustled into the conference room, and Gregario pushes me out of the way just as Burnett yanks the large projection screen straight off the wall. Behind it is a hole cut directly into the cement. Burnett sits in front of it and then uses both legs to kick it hard enough to knock loose the drywall enclosing it.

  The entire square flies off then breaks into pieces as it hits the asphalt on the other side. Fading sunlight streams in, and Burnett wastes no time crawling through the opening that’s just big enough to allow him passage.

  Gregario jumps up, shoving me forward, and I fall into line behind Jadick who’s already hurrying to be the next one out. I’m too shaken to resist. The pounding in my head hammers to the beat of my heart now.

  A broken heart.

  The threat of my own death doesn’t produce so much as a drop of adrenaline. But this? Almost killing an entire tribe of people because everything I do backfires—twice? This sends fear racing through my bloodstream like a dam has broken.

  In the dying daylight, I look around, trying to get my bearings.

  We’re in an abandoned parking lot in an area bordered by trees. No other Jades are in sight, and I have no idea if that means they’ve all escaped through another exit or if Jadick’s just that selfish and brutal to have abandoned them already.

  “Hurry up,” Jadick snaps, and I start to follow out of pure instinct but then hesitate.

  “I can’t shift,” I say, worry snaking through me. “I can’t run from here.”

  “We’re not literally running,” he says as if I’m being slow.

  An engine revs, and I see an SUV careening around the corner of the outer wall then lurching to a stop before us.

  Grey’s in the driver’s seat.

  For some reason, seeing him here is a relief. I feel safer with him, and that’s probably going to get me killed eventually. Burnett hurries to pull open the passenger door and Jadick climbs inside the backseat.

  I hesitate, thinking again of Tripp and wondering why I don’t see other Jades exiting the building. Instead of joining Jadick, I begin to back away.

  Then Gregario is there, shoving me toward the car. He crowds in behind me, wedging me between him and Jadick with zero access to either door. Burnett climbs into the front passenger seat beside Grey, his broad shoulders taking up more space than most. Of the two, I prefer Gregario. Mostly because he didn’t try to flatten me with his fists. Yet.

  “Go,” Jadick orders.

  The moment the car door shuts behind us, Grey accelerates, and we speed diagonally across the empty lot toward the road.

  “Where are the others?” I ask, again looking for signs of the others leaving like we are. But as far as I can see, the lot is empty other than us.

  “On their way out,” Jadick says. He’s looking down at his phone, which he’s angled away from me so I can’t see the screen.

  Already, the sky is darkening to pink with the setting sun. It’ll be dark soon. And then what?

  “Where are we going?” I ask.

  “Somewhere safe.”

  “Is that where my mother is?”

  Finally, he looks up at me. “What?”

  “I know she isn’t Kari’s prisoner.” I watch his expression as he continues to text. “I know you’re lying to me about her not checking in, too.”

  A small twitch of his eye gives it away.

  My anger flares. “Was it all a way to manipulate me then?”

  No answer.

  His silence only serves to confirm my fears. Of course he was manipulating me. Hadn’t he been the one to say that love was a weakness? And he’d made sure to exploit mine.

  “You better be taking me to her,” I say as if I could actually back up my unspoken threat.

  He glances over at me then goes back to his phone. “You’ll see her soon.”

  I stifle a scream, my hands balling into fists in my lap. Suddenly, Grey jerks the wheel, and I’m thrown against Jadick, but for once, he doesn’t even seem to notice me. Then Grey’s straightening out the wheel again as we finally hit a main road full of evening traffic.

  I straighten, pulling my body away from Jadick’s, and glance around us for some sign of an imminent threat. But there’s nothing out of place among the other vehicles coming and going on the four-lane road. Nothing like the compound with its cave-in and utter destruction.

  Maybe Jadick’s intel was wrong. Or maybe he’s lying again. Manipulating us all—

  Boom.

  The car swerves as the force of an explosion hits us from behind.

  Grey’s eyes flick to the rearview as he grabs the wheel, gripping it to maintain control. I twist in my seat and see a plume of black smoke rising above the trees. Behind them stands the mall. Or it did.

  My breath sticks in my chest.

  I turn back around slowly and meet Grey’s eyes in the mirror.

  “Son of a bitch,” Gregario mutters from beside me.

  “Find out if everyone got out,” Jadick says, and I’m surprised to hear him so worried for others. Maybe there’s hope for him after all. “We’re going to need every damn soldier we have now,” he adds, and I shake myself for even thinking he’s capable of real empathy.

  Up front, Burnett’s phone dings with a text. He swipes to read it, and I watch as his entire body tenses.

  “What is it?” Jadick asks.

  “Good news,” he says, though I don’t believe that for a second. Not when every drop of energy rolling off him screams the opposite. “Your package is ready for delivery.”

  “That is good news.” Jadick leans back into his seat, instantly relaxed.

  Whatever this package is, it’s important enough to make him forget his people could, at this very moment, be dying or dead. Another explosion sounds, this one quieter now that we’ve put more distance between us and the mall.

  No one even looks up. Their apathy is horrifying.

  All I can think about is Tripp.

  No, not just Tripp.

  I think about Frankie and Nely and even Lorenz. Did they all really get out?

  Or were more lives lost just now because Jadick’s determined to think only of himself?

  “And the safe house?” Jadick asks.

  “Still secure,” Burnett says.

  “Good. We’ll regroup there. Wake me when we arrive.”

  He leans his head back against the seat and closes his eyes. I stare at him, disbelief and indignation heating me from the inside.

  “You’re going to sleep?” I demand. “Now?”

  He doesn’t crack an eye as he answers me, his voice dangerously clipped. “I am, and you should too. When we get where we’re going, there will be no rest. Not for you.”

  His words are mildly threatening. Or maybe it’s the silky sweet way he says them that has a trickle of unease running down my spine. My fear makes me snarky.

  “If I say no, are you just going to drug me again?”

  His eyes open, and he lifts his head to look at me. “Again? You think I drugged you?”

  “I know you did.”

  “And when did this alleged drugging occur exactly?”

  “When I first came to the compound. When Levi held me in that room.”

  My voice wavers.

  After the last few days with Tripp, seeing him be here for me, I can’t imagine anyone else being behind it anymore, but the way Jadick’s looking at me now…it throws me off balance. He’s not simply denying the accusation. There’s a wistfulness to his expression; a darkness that shakes me to my core.

  “Listen carefully, Mac. I don’t want you unconscious for what I plan to do. When I make my move, I want you wide awake. Do you understand me?”

  My stomach hardens until it feels as if I’ve swallowed a stone.

  When I don’t answer, he closes his eyes and returns to his reclined position. No one else in the car says a word. I can feel Grey’s eyes on me again, but I don’t look up. Not for the entire ride. I don’t sleep either.