Page 27 of Run, Little Rabbit

“Do we know it was the Volkovs?” Rory asks, his pale blue eyes holding mine fiercely.

“I believe so. Maxim and Nikita had left just moments before.” I choose to leave out the bit about finding fresh blood. I can’t be sure it’s hers, and I don’t want to add fuel to the fire. Rory looks like he’s one step away from shooting me point-blank.

“It’s my fault,” Kai says, and everyone in the room turns to look at him.

Jace hits him with a cold stare. “What?”

“She’d gone to find a quiet spot to talk to me. Verity had posted a picture of them in the club, and I was asking her what she was doing there.” Kai’s face has lost all its colour, and he looks like he’s going to be sick.

“And how’d that go for you?” Cillian asks, a smirk curling his mouth.

“Oh, she ripped me a new one,” Kai replies with a breathy chuckle.

“Good,” Conor says as Cillian whispers something in his ear before they both turn their attention towards me.

Those terror twins are fucking creepy. Doing shit in unison like some weird dolls out of a horror film. They could be, with their pale skin, perfectly groomed strawberry-blonde hair and matching black three-piece suits. There’s no doubt they make a striking pair. Beautiful, but seriously fucking deadly.

“Why weren’t you with her?” Conor asks as Cillian leans across the table.

“That’s a very good question,” Rory adds as he strokes those long fingers over his beard. I can’t help but watch his hand, hypnotised by the slow, steady way it moves across his face.

“She was dancing with Verity, so I went on a perimeter check outside.”

“And left her out of your sight.” Cillian tuts, and I have to hold myself back from stabbing him. Is being frustratingly annoying in the Quinn DNA?

“My intention was to be back inside within five minutes.” I lean closer towards them. “And besides, we both know how capable she is of looking after herself.”

Their eyes narrow, no doubt recalling the numerous times Echo has beaten them in hand-to-hand combat.

“Enough!” Rory barks. “The fact still remains that Echo is missing. Where would they take her? Anyone?”

They start dissolving into squabbles and shouting matches, but I tune it out. It’s not until my phone buzzes in my pocket that the noise filters back in.

Sphinx:

Need Echo. Have news.

Great. As if things couldn’t get worse, the guy cracking into the most notorious phone on the planet has fucking news.

I cough loudly to get Rory’s attention. The guy looks one second away from having a stroke.

“What? Is there more incompetency I need to witness?”

His words cut deep. I already feel like a failure for not protecting Echo when she needed it the most, and now my boss is calling me out on it.

The twins snigger, and again, I have to resist the urge not to skewer them.

“I’m going to speak to someone, see if I can do a deep dive on the Volkovs and their property portfolio.”

“Can you trust them?” he asks, and for the first time I sense a hint of fear lurking in his eyes.

I give him a solemn nod. “With Echo, yes.”

There’s no doubt in my mind that Sphinx would do anything for Echo. He might grumble about it, but he’d do it for her.

“Then go.” Rory jerks his head towards the door, and I don’t wait around for him to change his mind. My ass is out of that room faster than a snow cone melting in hell.

I text Sphinx as I head to my car.