Page 43 of Twisted Truths (The Sunburnt Hearts #4)

“Tanner Crawley’s in a coma,” I announce, leaning back against the bench opposite him, watching his reaction.

His eyes widen. “Are you serious?”

I nod. “Cops came by this morning.”

His gaze darts to Hadley, then back to me.

“We’re good,” I assure him. “For now, at least.”

Gabriel doesn’t look convinced, but he lets it go for now. He gestures to the mess in the kitchen. “Do I want to know what happened here?”

Hadley blushes, ducking her head as she stands in front of me, leaning back against my chest.

I rest my hands on her waist, feeling grounded by her presence.

Ignoring his question, I counter with one of my own. “What did you find out?”

He sighs and pushes his food away. “It’s not good.”

“Just tell me.”

“Paul was helping someone pay off their debts.”

I look at him in confusion. “Who?”

“Levi.”

My stomach twists. When are the blows going to stop hurting so bad ?

“From what Grimshaw could find out, Levi was approached by some men involved in a massive betting ring two years ago. Apparently, some kid caught their eye, and they saw him as a cash cow.”

Theo Crawley.

“It started small, a few small bets here and there, but things quickly got out of hand.”

I shake my head. How the hell didn’t I know about this? Why didn’t Mum or Paul say anything? And why did Levi go to Paul instead of Dalton?

“About a year ago, the kid got caught up in a fight at school, resulting in him and three other players being suspended for a week. The team lost a sitter against the bottom of the ladder opposition. Quite a lot of money was lost on that game. The men wanted to collect, and Levi was the scapegoat.”

“So, Paul paid them off?” None of this is making sense to me.

Gabriel nods. “Grimshaw’s source says the men cornered Levi after the game and were about to lay into him when Zara and Crawley interrupted them. They threatened Levi’s wife and family.”

Ziggy, being the bleeding heart she always was, would have taken it upon herself to fix it for him.

But if Crawley found out about Levi using his brother’s talent to net a nice little nest egg, I can’t imagine he’d be too happy about it.

Is that what he and Zig fought about? Did he turn violent towards her because of Levi, and that’s why she walked away?

“Why didn’t this source go to the authorities?” I ask, my head spinning.

Why didn’t my family tell me? Why didn’t Levi?

I could have helped.

Gabriel shrugs. “They probably didn’t want to get involved. ”

I scoff. “Even after my family was murdered?”

“I don’t know what to tell you. It took some digging to get that information.”

Fuck.

All I have is more unanswered questions, and the only people who can answer them are either dead or in a coma.

I’ll have to confront Levi, but I don’t want to do that until the morning.

Until I hear his side of the story, Paige doesn’t need the stress of it all.

I’ll give him one chance to come clean and tell me about Paul and the money, but his actions put my family in danger.

I’m not sure we can move forward from that.

“Did you find any other connections between your parents and Crawley?” I ask, trying to distract myself from my dark thoughts.

Gabriel shakes his head. “Nothing.”

“Do you think they had him put in a coma?” Hadley asks.

He pauses, thinking. “I don’t know. But if his attack was related to the murders, why not finish the job?”

“Maybe they were interrupted,” I muse.

“So, we still think he was involved?” Hadley glances between me and Gabriel. “We still think he was working with them?”

“If it wasn’t him, then we’re back to square one,” I say, rubbing a hand over my face. “Fuck. It’s like we keep going around in circles. One step forward, two steps back.”

“I’m not ruling out my parents’ involvement, but maybe they weren’t working with Crawley.”

Hadley looks up at me, her brow crinkled. “Why would someone put him in a coma?”

“Because he’s an arsehole,” I mutter. “I don’t know. But if he wasn’t working with them, who was?”

I stare at a scuff mark on the laminate kitchen bench as my mind drifts back to the compass still sitting on Ziggy’s desk. Who does it belong to, and where have I seen it before? The memory is like smoke blowing in the wind, twisting just outside my reach.

“Grimshaw is going to do more digging. We’re close to finding something,” Gabriel says with conviction.

“I can feel it. But if we bring my parents down, I’m sure I can convince my dad to give us answers about who was involved with your family’s murders.

He’s a pawn in my mother’s game, not the mastermind.

I promise I’ll get the answers you deserve. ”

I’m not sure I believe him, but we have no other leads, so I nod.

“It’s not the only news I have, though. I took the opportunity to visit my uncle while I was in Sydney. My mum’s youngest brother.”

I lift my eyes, looking at him warily. The dread in his voice sends a ripple down my spine.

“When we lost Ezekial, my uncle was furious at my parents. Accused them of neglect and said they’d lost their damn minds with all of this spiritual nonsense.

I hadn’t seen or spoken to him since we left Sydney, but now that I’m exiled, he finally gave me access to some of my father’s private notes, which his son stole. ”

My brows raise. “His son?”

Gabriel nods. “When I was nineteen, my cousin came to us after he was diagnosed with cancer. We lost my aunt when he was only young, and Jed was convinced it was the devil’s work.

He threw himself into the Circle life, and my father was happy to take him under his wing.

Unfortunately, without the proper treatment, Jed fell ill and deteriorated rapidly. ”

Anger floods my veins. How many people have to suffer before these people are brought to justice?

“According to the letter my uncle received from Jed after his death, he had begged my parents to let him return to Sydney, but they refused, telling him he needed to stay the course, that the sickness was part of his spiritual cleansing. My mother tried to convince him that his suffering meant he was shedding his mortal corruption.”

I mutter a curse under my breath. Seraphina Solomon is a fucking psychopath.

“Knowing he didn’t have long, Jed tried to get closer to my father to discover what their end goal was.

Whether he felt vindicated by Jed showing an interest in their plans, or he knew my cousin didn’t have long left, my father opened up about everything.

Jed wrote it all down. I’m still not sure how he got the letter and his notebook posted to my uncle, but I’ve read over some of it, and—” he pauses, shaking his head. “It’s not good.”

“What was it?” I choke out when Gabriel’s expression turns pained. I’m not sure I want to know the details.

Tension thrums through Hadley’s body, and I tighten my grip around her waist.

Gabriel exhales. “In order to fulfill the Divine Light prophecy, they need to complete the Ritual of Illumination.”

I blink, dumbfounded. “What the hell does that mean?”

“The ritual uses the energy of an eclipse. Since Franklin was born under the annular eclipse, they consider him even more powerful than what they initially believed. At midnight on the eve of his third month Earthside, he will undertake a blood rite and cleansing fire. They will mark him with the divine rune.”

The words sink into my gut like a stone. My throat goes dry. “He’s almost eleven weeks old.”

Gabriel nods grimly. “Which means we have less than a week, at best. But they’re going to have Franklin carefully guarded after my exile.

Regardless of his actual parentage, they know I’ll never let them put him in danger.

” He meets my eyes, his tortured expression terrifying.

“This ritual is what makes me believe my parents were involved in your family’s murders.

It requires the blood of the Divine Light’s ancestors, and since it’s possible they know Franklin’s not mine, they would have needed Zara’s blood. ”

A guttural sound breaks through the silence of the kitchen, and I realise it came from me. Hadley’s fingers brush the backs of my hands, and I curl mine around hers, holding on for dear life.

“We have to get him out,” she implores.

“We will,” Gabriel assures her. “But we need to be smart about this. They’ll be on high alert. We will only have one chance at this, and once we get him out, you need to leave.”

I shake my head, realisation dawning. “I need time to get a passport sorted for him. Does he even have a birth certificate?”

Hadley’s body tenses, and she slowly releases herself from my hold, stepping away from me.

Silence stretches between us, thick with something I know I’m not going to like. She doesn’t look at me, moving over to stare out the window, wrapping her arms around herself like she’s trying to hold in whatever’s breaking apart inside her.

“Hadley—”

“I can’t go with you,” she interrupts, her voice soft, guarded.

“What?” The words come out sharper than I intend, but I can’t hide the panic curling hot around my chest.

She releases a shaky exhale. “I don’t have a passport.

Or a birth certificate. It was all lost when Madeline and I went into the system.

No one ever filed anything official.” Her voice cracks as she finally looks at me, tears shining in her green eyes.

“Without the original documents, I can’t leave the country. I can’t come with you.”

The weight of it slams into me, the sudden, brutal realisation that she’s trapped. She’s already been written out of this story, her life in ruins, like so many other lives the Circle has destroyed.

“No,” I say, stepping towards her. “That is not an option. I’m not leaving you behind.”

“Nash—”

“I’m not leaving without you,” I snap. “You and Franklin are the only reasons I’m still breathing. I don’t care if I have to forge documents, buy identities, or drag the Prime Minister into a back alley and force him to sign the bloody papers himself. I’m getting you both out.”

She opens her mouth to argue, but I don’t let her.

“We’re in this together. Zara asked you to keep Franklin safe for a reason ,” I say, my voice steady as I close the distance she created between us.

“You healed my shredded heart.” Reaching for her hand, I place it on my chest, above my racing organ.

I’m not losing her. “You’ve given my life purpose again, Hadley.

I can’t do this without you. It’s not an option. ”

A beat of silence follows my declaration, thick with emotion. Her glassy eyes study my face as if she’s looking for doubt in my words, but she won’t find it. I mean every word.

I was devastated by the loss of my family, and while that pain hasn’t lessened, her presence makes it bearable.

Hadley gives me hope that this world is not the desolate place it feels like right now.

If there’s even the slightest chance of keeping her and getting Franklin out of the Circle safely, I’ll do whatever it takes.

Gabriel clears his throat behind us. “I’m glad you feel that way,” he says.

We both turn towards him.

“I knew there was a chance Hadley wouldn’t have documentation, so I handled it.”

My chest tightens. “What do you mean, you handled it?”

Gabriel sets a thick, sealed envelope on the bench.

“Birth Certificates and passports for both Hadley and Franklin. The kind that will hold up under any spotlight. There are also plane tickets for the three of you back to Boston next week.” He smiles sadly.

“I’m not blind. I could see the way you two looked at each other.

I was hoping you’d work everything out in my absence. ”

I stare at him. “You did this?”

He nods. “Madeline meant the world to me, and I want to see Hadley get the life she deserves. She won’t get that here. You look at her the way I used to look at her sister. I know you’ll protect her.”

Hadley sniffs, her body trembling as she leans into me again. “What about you?”

Gabriel gives her a sad smile. “I’ll be fine.”

“Come with us,” I suggest, shocking the shit out of everyone in the room, no one more so than myself. I’ve spent a third of my life hating Gabriel, but I can’t deny I feel sorry for him. He never asked for any of this, and he’s lost just as much as I have.

He pauses for a beat, then shakes his head. “Thanks, but you guys need a fresh start. I have my brothers, and they’re going to need some help after we shut everything down.”

I nod, respecting his decision.

For a moment, none of us speak. The weight of what lies ahead presses in around us.

“Now we just have to figure out how to save Franklin,” Hadley says, breaking the silence.

We do, but I also need to bury the rest of my demons in this town so I can truly leave it behind. Because once Hadley, Franklin, and I leave next week, I don’t plan on ever returning to Barrenridge.