Page 149 of Scavenger's Oath

I didn’t even get to hold her hand while she died.

Picking at the flaking rust on the railing, I continue. “When we got to the Ranch, my sister and her husband took us in. No questions. No judgment. Gave us a barn and helped us renovate. But I couldn’t stay there knowing what was happening everywhere else.”

The kind of things that was happening to Ivy—and Zane too. My chest aches thinking about what she must’ve been through.

He studies me for a long moment. “The Ranch sounds perfect... What’s the catch?”

“It’s far,” I warn, pursingmy lips and shaking my head. “And the truck won’t handle the journey without repairs.”

“But it’s safe?”

“Safe as it gets in this world. Acres of wide-open land, hidden by mountains and forest. Not a soul for miles.”

“Then it’s the right call,” he agrees, nodding. “She needs a place where she can be outside without looking over her shoulder. Once she’s settled, we can come back here and hunt those fuckers knowing she’s safe and not alone.”

The way she’d looked at me this morning when she was talking about sunflowers—before I crushed it—that sparkle in her eyes when she smiled. I’ll do anything to restore it.

I nod, looking down at my boots as if they might have an answer for what I’m feeling. My chest still feels like it’s splitting open, but a plan is something I can hold onto.

Zane’s voice is so steady, unshakable. I cling to that steadiness more than I let on.

“We need to start on the trucks repairs,” I say, mind racing through a checklist already.

“I’ll find a new battery today.”

“Good,” I reply, my breaths beginning to even out. “I’ll break it to Myles. He’s not gonna like the change of plans.”

We both fall quiet again, the rustle of trees clearing the air around us.

For the first time in years, I feel certain of one thing: revenge can wait. Ivycomes first.

Chapter 48

Myles

I fucking hate how far away she is.

It’s not even that far—twenty feet down the hall, on the couch wrapped in a blanket—but it feels like a canyon.

My stitches came out yesterday. I’m ready for the headhunt. Hell, I was ready two weeks ago. But instead, we’re stuck here. Everyone’s too busy playing house to remember we’re still in the middle of a fucking war.

Every morning now, she’s out there, gardening with Zane like it’s her lifeline. At first, it made my skin crawl.

I know Phoenix hates it too. Watching her kneel in the dirt, so focused on green shoots pushing out of broken soil, unaware of her surroundings.

Until one morning I watched her, hair falling across her face, lost in her own little world, and I caught myself smiling.

Now I wake up early just to watch. Phoenix even removed the boards from one window so he could watch like a peeping tom.

Sometimes I sit with her out there while Zane cooks breakfast. Ivy rambles with little facts about gardening. I don’t give a fuck about plants, but the way her voice softens when she speaks… it does something to me. I could listen to her talk about anything.

She’s just come inside to eat, Zane is with her, perched at the edge of the couch like a guard dog. He pulls the blanket higher when it slips down her shoulder. Ivy tilts her head when he says something low, and I see it—that soft flicker in her eyes. As if he’s gravity and she can’t help but lean toward him.

It makes my chest fucking burn.

“She’s safe, Myles,” Phoenix’s voice cuts through my thoughts.

I jerk, turning. Phoenix is leaning against the hallway wall like he’s been there the whole damn time. Arms folded, eyes steady, like a soldier at ease.