Page 42

WREN

I stared at the man known by many as simply The Archer, a man who made his way in the world as an assassin. It shouldn’t have surprised me that Ender would have nothing but apathy about killing another living being. But the fact that he’d sent the man’s heart to my father was plain stupid.

“You what?” I snapped.

Ender’s jaw worked back and forth. “I wrapped up the drug-drenched organ and sent it by courier to the last place we know your father stayed. Two towns over.”

Nausea slid through me. “You know where he is?”

King stepped forward and shook his head. “Not currently. But we were able to track certain movements. Bastian and some of his men stayed at a small hotel in Ridgewater. We’re guessing that if a package is delivered to him there, they’ll call him to pick it up.”

“And you’ll what? Pop out of the trees and take him out?” I asked incredulously.

“We know he won’t be the one to get it,” Puck assured me. “He’s too chickenshit for that. He hides behind his enforcers and doesn’t care if they die because of him.”

At least they understood how Bastian operated. But it still begged the question… “Then, why? What’s the point? Other than to piss him the hell off?”

“It sends a message,” Brix ground out, still struggling to deal with his fury.

“Who cares about a damn message?” I snapped. The whole idea was reckless. It would only make my father angrier and more determined to take us all out.

“To throw him off his game,” Puck said quietly. “He won’t expect us to know where he was, and dispatching someone who answered his reward call this quickly will have him thinking twice, as well.”

Acid churned in my stomach. “Reward call?” I knew there’d been a reward for my capture and return to Red River, but this sounded different.

The guys shared a look as Locke moved in behind me, lending me his strength. “Tell her,” Locke said, his voice low. “She can handle it.”

Kingston met my gaze, his eyes alarmingly vacant. “Your father put out a ten-million-dollar reward for your capture and return. He said he wants to breed you and then kill you publicly as a warning to those who think to cross him.”

My mouth went dry. It shouldn’t have been a shock. I already knew the breeding part, and I could’ve guessed the killing piece. But my mind got stuck on the ten million dollars.

Bastian was the greediest, most tight-fisted person I knew. He spent money on himself, buying more lavish homes and cars, and rewarded his inner circle to keep them loyal. But that was it. The past reward for my capture was a hundred grand.

Ten million dollars.

“I didn’t know how much he hated me,” I croaked. Ten million pieces of hatred. Ten million reasons for anyone to betray me.

Pressure built behind my eyes as a burn lit in my throat. It was too much. I hadn’t asked him for anything. Not one thing. My mother hadn’t either. We’d just wanted to live.

He’d stolen her life. Now, he wanted to take mine, too.

“Birdie.” Puck strode across the room, pulling me into his arms. “He’s not going to get you.”

“No, he’s fucking not,” Brix snarled.

“I put out a different sort of call,” King said, his voice carrying coldness. “I let it be known far and wide that you are under The Diablos’ protection. That you are mated to The Diablos. And if anyone so much as tries to harm a hair on your head, they will be hunted into eternity.”

I pulled out of Puck’s hold but stayed close to him and Locke.

My gaze was only for Kingston, though. Because I knew what this cost him.

King didn’t want to be known for his cruelty or brutality.

The Diablos were a reputation and name bestowed on him and the others by evil men. But King was nothing but goodness.

Taking a deep breath, I crossed to him, standing so close our shoes almost touched.

“Thank you,” I whispered. Then I closed the tiny distance and let the scents of pine and mint swirl around me.

I swept my lips across King’s in the barest touch before stepping back and meeting his eyes. “Thank you.”

Kingston let out a shuddering breath, color and life bleeding back into his face. “I’d do anything for you, Little Warrior. Anything .”

I knew it, too. And it had warmth flooding back into me. Something else, as well. Hope.

My hands fisted as I fought back nerves. “Do you think…could we all stay together tonight?”

The room went silent around me, and I couldn’t force my gaze to meet any of theirs. I was too anxious about the possible responses. A hand slid through mine, and I instantly recognized Puck’s scent.

“Come on. We want to show you something,” he said, tugging me up the stairs.

I’d ventured to the second level a handful of times. That was where Brix, Ender, and Locke had bedrooms. But Puck didn’t stop on the second floor; he kept right on going.

“I thought the third floor was just attic space,” I said.

“It was,” Puck confirmed. “But we’ve been changing it into something else every moment you’ve been at work or the gym.”

He pushed open a door and flipped on the lights. I couldn’t help the gasp that fled my lips at the sight in front of me. The room was massive and absolutely stunning. A blend of modern and rustic, it carried elements of us all.

On a far wall was a painting of an archer done in an impressionist style but with colors that blended perfectly with the rest of the room—blues, grays, and the occasional pop of maroon to bring color.

There was a dresser below the painting with an antique cocktail set on top that instantly made me think of Puck.

On the opposite side of the space, a corner had been turned into a library of sorts—shelves with books, a rustic leather couch, and overstuffed chairs.

There were rusted, oversized locks used as bookends, and an antique dagger representing Locke and Brix.

And then there was the fighter art. An abstract recreation of the ring and two fighters within.

Pieces of each of my guys. My nose stung as I blinked back tears. “It’s perfect.”

“What about the bed?” Puck asked, waggling his eyebrows as King smacked him.

I choked on a laugh as I took in the bed that looked large enough to fit an entire football team. “That’s perfect, too.”

Locke moved in behind me, wrapped his arms around my chest, and pulled me back against him. “You really like it?”

“It’s everything,” I whispered. Because it was all of us becoming one. And I couldn’t have asked for anything more.