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Chance chuckled and ruffled his hair, earning him a scowl from the youngest of my men.

‘So… what, we divide and conquer?’ I asked.

‘Actually, that might not be the worst idea,’ Chance said, and then we promptly lost him to his thoughts.

‘I can go back to the police station,’ Morty offered. ‘I know where to find the detective.’

‘And then what?’ I asked. ‘To what end?’

‘No, she’s right,’ Chance chimed in again. ‘If we want to fuck Blake over as much as possible, the police are the last thing on the list. If we call them in too soon, we could lose our opportunity to really make my little brother pay.’

My heart clenched with sadness for him when he spat out those words with so much venom that even I felt sick.

‘So we hold off on going to the detective. We just need to figure out how to separate Blake and Dakota, and how to get the cop out of the basement.’

‘The basement?’ Rhodes asked, disappointment twisting his face into a sneer. ‘Seriously? He has a murder basement in his secret murder house? What a fucking cliché.’

‘I know,’ Chance agreed. ‘I was pretty let down when I found out, too. I expected something more… elaborate from him.’

‘I don’t know what you guys are talking about,’ I scoffed. ‘His murder basement is creepy as hell, completely kitted out, and even has a reinforced door. There’s no escaping, you’re stuck down there for days, possibly even weeks with nothing more than the torture tools hanging on the wall to keep you company, a lumpy mattress, and a bucket to shit in. There are no windows. No hope. No nothing except Blake and pain.’

They were silent for a beat as they absorbed the hint of what I’d been through at his hands.

‘I’m sorry, Kali,’ Rhodes said, stroking a hand over my hair. ‘I didn’t mean it like that, and that was super insensitive of me. Forgive me?’

I sighed. My anger wasn’t directed at them. Not really. ‘There’s nothing to forgive. I just…’

‘Need to make him pay for what he’s done,’ Chance finished for me. ‘Yeah. Me, too.’

‘Then let’s stop yapping and get started,’ Morty interrupted, annoyance causing his shadows to flick at the tips like the tails of hundreds and angry cats.

‘Dakota first,’ I reminded him, and though he rolled his eyes at me, he acquiesced.

‘Fine. Where do you want me to take her?’

‘Take her?’

He huffed at my question, but I was still stuck on the fact that he could move entire people, and up until recently, I struggled with making a breeze. ‘Yes. I am a powerful man, Kali. I can wrap her in my shadows and drag her through the darkness to wherever you choose.’

I blinked, then blinked again, until I finally snapped myself out of it. ‘Uh,’ I stammered. ‘How about we don’t do that?’

He growled out his frustration and threw his hands in the air, his shadows twisting around him like they were preparing to carry out the deed regardless of my decision.

‘I don’t want to scare her any more than necessary. She’s going through enough as it is. We can at least afford her the courtesy of not dragging her around in the shadows. I don’t think she would appreciate that very much.’

‘Fine,’ he snapped, though I could see he saw the reason in my approach.

‘However… if you can do that, maybe we’re focusing on the wrong person?’ I mused out loud.

Chance barked out a laugh. ‘Of course. Why didn’t I think of that?’

‘Uh, care to clue in the rest of us?’ Rhodes prompted, an adorably baffled look on his face that made me want to shower him in kisses.

Later, I promised myself.

‘While I’m considerate of Dakota’s wellbeing, I don’t particularly care about Blake's,’ I told him.

‘Ah,’ he chuckled, catching on. ‘I like it.’