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“Finally,” Max muttered.

“Thank gods,” Dallas breathed. The witch looked relieved.

“I’ve about had enough ofthat one’sshit,” Max whispered to Travis, inclining his head toward Delaney.

Travis chuckled.

“I don’t think we have to worry about Malakai,” Jewels said quietly to Travis as they crossed the road on a green light, the rain-soaked cobbles glinting like emeralds. “He hasn’t taken any Venom lately.”

“That’s good,” he forced out. Her words hardly put him at ease, though. If Venomwasto blame for these bizarre new attacks, there was no telling if someone like Malakai was a threat, regardless of how long ago he’d taken the drug.

And Jewels still hadn’t answered his question.Wasshe a Venom user? If she was, that made a total of two people in their group who had the potential to turn on them and rip out their throats.

Two people they could no longer trust.

“Who wants to be the one to call Darien?” Max asked as they crowded around the pay phone on the gloomy street corner. That was right—Max had recently had a falling out with Darien, so he likely didn’t want to be the one to call.

“This is all you guys,” Malakai grumbled, stepping aside. “I’m not interested in talking to that prick.”

“I’ll call,” Travis said. He squeezed through the group and fished three silver mynet out of his pocket.

“All this for a phone,” Malakai growled. “This better be worth it.”

Travis plunked the coins into the slot and started dialing. “Calling Darien when you’re in trouble is always worth it.”

He lifted the phone to his ear. As he waited for the call to connect, he thought of everything he wanted to say—how he should word the message he would ask Darien to pass along to Roman. He owed his older brother an apology, so he’d start there. He’d tell him how much he loved him, too—that was important. Pax, as well. Too much time had passed since he’dtold his brothers that he loved them—he’d always had trouble saying it. Now was not the time to hold back.

But—

His brow creased.

The line… It wasn’t ringing.

A loud rasping sound sliced through the speakers.

“What the hell?” He yanked the phone away from his head with a wince, his eardrum throbbing as if someone had stabbed a screwdriver into it and twisted.

The sound was so loud, everyone could hear it. They shared glances, confused.

Then it cut out, and a robotic voice came through the speakers. “No service. Please try again.” More ear-bleeding static. And then: “No service. Please try again.”

The voice cut out, and so did the static. The line started beeping.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Travis felt like he had no strength in his hand as he put the phone on the receiver. His coins were spat out through the slot, one dropping on his boot and rolling down the sidewalk.

Lost and confused, he faced the others, who stared at him with expectance. Denial—that was denial he was looking at. He knew they’d heard everything themselves, but he said, his lungs so small he could hardly breathe, “No service.”

A pause. Dallas shared a wary look with Max, her crossed arms tightening.

This was their one shot. Contacting Darien to see if he could find Roark was their only plan, and now…

Now…

Fuck, Travis didn’t know.

“Maybe it’s just pay phones?” Jewels offered.