Page 62 of Lock Up the Darkness

“Asher told me to dress down, go casual.”

“Hmm.”

I took another drag of my smoke. “What?”

“Just that he’s already got you taking orders. Dressing the way he said, you coming down here at the snap of his fingers.”

“It wasn’t an order, just a suggestion. Whatever he has in mind obviously requires casual clothing.”

“That’s how it starts. With small suggestions here and there. Before you know it, you’re his puppet and he’s your master.”

I scoffed. “That’s never happening.”

He smiled sadly. “That’s what I said in the beginning too.” He pushed away from his bike and stepped toward me. “For the promise of this freedom he believes he can grant us all. He made that promise years ago, Aurora.”

“It’s different now.”

“Yeah, it is. He’s found another person to use.” He reached out, carefully taking hold of my chin. It was a far cry from the aggressive and threatening way he’d touched me before and I wasn’t sure what to do with it as it sent a surge of warmth rolling through me. “When it comes to Asher’s cold war with his father, nothing is off the table, everything and everyone is expendable. Even me and Jonah. You’re getting his good side at the moment, because he needs something from you, that connection to Revenant. But if it comes down to it, if he has to, he won’t hesitate to throw you to the wolves. To them. Our fathers. Carson Monroe, Samuel Carmichael and Reed Keller.”

A chill rolled down my spine as his warnings seeped into me.

Of course I’d actually considered it all myself.

And I knew none of their fathers were good men. In fact, they were all as brutal as each other in their respective ways. Like their sons, they sat at the head of the table of the Infidels. But in their cases, they weren’t just governing a faction, they ruled over the entire thing, spearheaded the entire network behind the scenes of all the smoke and mirrors of their legitimate empire façades. Blackmail, extortion, drug running, underground gambling dens, participating in the flesh trade, torture, and murder… I’d encountered it all through my research on them, a lot of it from my dad’s investigative files that I’d managed to access.

I grasped his hand on me and eased it down. “Did he tell you everything? The whole deal?”

“Yeah. It was the only way he could get us on board—me, specifically. You saw how up in arms I was beforehand.”

“Well, then, you’ll know who my dad really is, what he went up against, and, most of all, what he’s capable of. If things were to take that kind of bleak and brutal turn you just painted a lovely picture of, no one would survive it. Revenant would descend on you all and there wouldn’t even be ashes left for remains.”

The corner of his mouth turned up.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because, little fighter, you just might come out of this alive after all.”

“Why do you care either way?”

There was a struggle taking place all over his face as he looked me over.

His throat worked. “The important thing is that I do. Enough to give you this warning.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “And to risk going against one of your closest friends.”

Something that made it a whole lot suspicious.

“This is a gray area. One he’s worked within and exploited many a time before with Jonah and I.”

Huh.

He stepped back, telling me, “You’d best get inside. He’s waiting.”

“You’re not coming?”

“Nah, I’ve got practice to get to.”

Right, his whole football thing. “Living up to the ace QB image?”

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