Page 94 of Dangerous Deviance

“Tranquilized or knocked unconscious. Iris has been binding them,” Derek said. He turned to me, giving me a curt nod. “Thank you. Bringing Iris and Mercia. All of that.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, though the words sounded funny coming out of my mouth. “I take it, we’re even?” I asked, turning to Axe. He had saved my life as a gift to Wil, and I had helped save them from total destruction.

Correction:we, Billy, Jane, Cassandra, Iris, Mercia, and the others, had helped save their asses.

“Consider us your allies,” Axe said.

Wil beamed and tightened his grip around me. “And our men?”

“Toby and Josh are gone. And Markus might not make it,” Derek said.

“But the doctor is with him?” Wil asked.

Derek nodded. “Working on him now.”

The three of them stood silently for a moment, perhaps processing what it meant to lose more men to the Midnight Miles Corporation. But considering what had happened, they were lucky that it was just those two, maybe three men.

Wewere lucky.

“We need to call Muro,” Derek said. He gestured at the road beyond the campus. “Make sure that he knows that we know.”

“No silence?” Axe asked. “Why not leave him guessing which enemy?”

“We can’t look weak,” Derek said. “He sent a message, and now, it’s our turn. He started a war, and we’ll fucking end it.”

I wasn’t sure what was right, but it didn’t matter what I thought. This was the Adlers’ battle; to an extent, I had finished mine. But I did want to know what Wil wanted.

“No matter what,” Wil said, his voice strained, “Muro needs to be taken down.”

“Agreed,” Axe said. “Gerard will—”

“Gerard knows,” I interrupted. “I spoke to him before coming here.”

The three of them shifted, and for half of a second, Wil loosened his grip on my side, but then he held me even tighter than before.

“He’s at Muro’s headquarters now,” I explained. “On the lookout.”

“With Ethan then,” Derek nodded. “We can take out the rest of his army out quietly.” Derek nodded to Axe. “Your way.”

Axe nodded, though his jaw was tight. He looked up at the sky, then shook his head. “More work for me,” he muttered.

“Hey,” Derek said, turning after his brother. Axe went ahead, going to speak with one of the other men. Derek followed closely behind. “Axe, I—”

We watched them argue as they walked into the woods. I turned to Wil. “What’s their problem?”

Wil shrugged. “Axe would prefer to take out Muro’s men quietly. But with this?” Wil motioned at the campus. “It’ll be hard to be covert. We can’t do it his way.”

I stared at Axe. The scar on his lip. The blood splattered on his shirt. How many people had died by his hands, on this day alone?

“And Muro?” I asked. “Are you going to kill him?”

“Soon,” Wil said. He took his phone out of his pocket.

He dialed Muro’s number, then put the phone on speaker, holding it up so that we could both hear it. It rang once, then Muro picked up, his voice thin.

“I hear your father and brother have been scouting my place for the last few hours. Some of my men say it’s been days,” Muro said. “So tell me, Little Adler. What’s the fucking deal?”

I raised a brow at the nickname, and Wil gave me a look that said,Not now.There were more important things to deal with than a condescending name. We walked towards one of the buildings, where Bates’s remains lay, his eyes blank, looking up to the sky, his skin smooth and creamy, splashed with crimson. But soon, his skin would be blotchy too, his eyes yellow. Just like Julie.