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No one argues with the last part like I expect them to, which is a relief.

Then Avery looks up at all of us, including Benji who’s standing several feet away watching the whole show. “He’s right. There’ll be plenty of time for that later. To be honest, I’m surprised you guys took the time to become acquainted with each other instead of getting out of this place. I went to your cell block, but none of you were there. I imagined the worst.”

“We handled the situation,” Damon says, still eyeing Avery.

Avery nods at him and stands. “I see that. Guess I didn’t need to spend this time collecting an army after all.”

“An army?” I frown. “Eugene said you ran away.”

He scoffs. “You didn’t really think I would up and leave you, did you?” His pale blue eyes narrow. “Eugene said I did exactly that, didn’t he?”

I nod.

He shakes his head. “Please. As if I would run away like a coward from that sorry excuse for a man. I’m ready to end this mess.”

“How so?” Cole asks.

Avery’s blue eyes darken with something menacing. “Starting with Eugene.”

There’s silence, then Damon laughs. The sound is light, dark, and almost satisfied in a way.

Avery arches a brow. “Care to let me in on the joke?”

Cole answers instead. “You’re a little late for that.”

Avery pauses, intrigued. His gaze sweeps over the room. His smirk lingers, but his posture shifts. “Oh? What exactly did you do to him?”

I point to where Eugene’s lifeless body is…was, sprawled on the ground minutes ago. “What the…” I run over with Cole and the others hot on my heels. A thick pool of blood stains the stone where he’d fallen, but the body itself is missing. I stumble back. The room spins. No. This isn’t possible. “Where’d he go?”

Damon is the first to speak. The lines of his face harden from scanning the room. “No one touched him. No one came in here but Avery, and all he did was walk up to Zoey, which only happened because Benji and I had to deal with the rotter dreg. Then he held me back from throwing Avery through a wall, so I guess our attention was a little distracted.”

I glance at Benji, who hasn’t spoken a word this entire time. He watches me back with a blank expression. There’s so much I want to say to him, but we no longer have the time.

My throat goes dry. My arms wrap around my middle as though I’m holding all my pieces together.

“Are there any other bodies missing?” Avery asks.

Cole shakes his head. “No. The rest are accounted for.” Then he spots me falling apart and is by my side in an instant. His arms wind around my shoulders, and his warmth presses against me like a shield.

I don’t think. I turn into him and rest my head against my chest, breathing him in. He tightens his hold on me. My voice comes out as a croak. “He’s still alive.”

33

DAMON

Avery stands before us with his arms crossed over his chest, looking every bit the confident bastard he always is. He’s assembled a dozen men, all dregs who claim to be loyal to him rather than to Eugene. It’s not much, but it’s something. More than we already had, anyway, which is nothing.

“We need to end this once and for all. Eugene slipped through your fingers once. I won’t let that happen again.” Avery is as arrogant as ever. Still, he sacrificed himself to protect Zoey, so that’s enough for me to stand by his side rather than grabbing his throat.

Benji stiffens beside me, and his voice cuts through the room for the first time since we started talking. “Yeah? Care to share your plan with the group?”

Avery grins, like he’s about to unveil some grand master plan. “Find him. Kill him.”

Oh, brilliant. I could never have come up with that myself.

“Unfortunately, one of these men betrayed me. He stole the rotter I was going to throw at Eugene, and set it loose on Zoey instead. I don’t know who it is, but when I find out, I’llkill him.” Avery’s eyes turn to ice when he glares at each of his men, and that earns another piece of my respect. He’s officially the first dreg to ever accomplish that. Though, maybe he’s not a dreg after all.

Zoey shifts on the other side of me, crossing her armstightly around her once again. The movement draws Avery’s attention, and his expression softens when he looks at her. “You’re not coming.”