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“An aura?” Randall snorted.

“A charisma. A charm. There’s a reason this asshole got to where he is. He didn’t come from money. And it sure as shit wasn’t good looks.”

He went on to describe the man I hated more than anything in the world. A man I’d met as a child, once, when my father introduced me to his highly-secretive employer. I could remember his patting my head, a little too roughly. I could remember the flash of his golden-toothed smile…

“That’s it?” Holden said when he was finished. “Dark hair and barrel-chested? And on the shorter side?” He swore and shook his head.

“He’s hairy too,” said Marcus. “

Very hairy.”

“Sounds like half the people down here,” Randall chipped in.

“He has gold incisors also,” I added. “Two of them.”

Holden laughed. “Should I whistle at him before I squeeze the shot off? Maybe get him to smile?”

“Like I said,” Marcus reiterated coldly, “you’ll know him when you see him.” The others looked back at him, causing his shoulders to slump. “Please,” he relented a little. “Just… trust me.”

By now it was nearly dark. We headed down, and the climb was easier. The footing though, was still treacherous. Randall and I picked our way down the path together, while the other two forged ahead. Way ahead.

“You think this is gonna work?” I asked him.

The SEAL managed a shrug. “Depends on whose taking the shot.”

“And?”

“If I had to give it to one of us?” he said. “I’d put it on Marcus. The way he handles that rifle… he’s definitely familiar with it.”

Randall stopped walking, just as we reached the bottom. I could make out the shadow of the house, up ahead in the distance.

“Listen, we’ve been moving pretty fast,” he said. “Dragging you along with us, in a way. We just wanted to make sure you’re okay with… well, with everything.”

“We?”

“Yeah. All three of us.”

I paused. “So you’ve been talking behind my back?”

Randall looked back at me skeptically, unsure of where I was going with any of this. I let him dangle for a few moments, then took a long draw of the crisp night air and smiled.

“That’s kinda cute,” I said. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re getting sweet on me.”

“Could be,” he said with a relieved chuckle. He took my hand. “Let’s not get a big head about it though.”

“No, no,” I rolled my eyes. “Of course not.”

Still clasping my hand, he pulled me forward. The house looked different at night — all darkness and shadows. Darkness and shadows and tiny lights glimpsed through the windows… flickering from within.

Lots of flickering lights.

What the—

We reached the front door, and Randall swung it wide for me. With one hand on the small of my back, he guided me in. A split-second later, my breath caught in my throat.

And then I saw.

Thirty-Seven