Page 106 of Callum

She has a point. There aren’t a ton of upstanding citizens in the Underworld. I don’t like the set of Dodge’s shoulders when he turns to face her, so I quickly bring his attention back to me. “How is he a snake, Dodge? What lies have you been feeding the Father about him?”

“They aren’t lies,” Dodge growls, rounding on me again. I need to get him angry enough that he lunges at me again.

“How do you know they aren’t lies?”

“Because I have a reliable source.”

He looks so smug.

I can’t wait to ruin this for him.

“Who?”

“I’m not an idiot, Red.” That’s debatable. “I’m not going to tell everyone the name of my man on the inside.”

This is what people mean when they say something is easy as taking candy from a baby. Except, I think a baby would be harder to manipulate than Dodge. “You could just tell me.”

Dark eyebrows pinch between Dodge’s eyes as if some part of him knows a trap is being laid before him. “Just…you?”

“I won’t tell anyone,” I assure him, dropping my voice as he steps closer to me. “It can be our secret.”

“Why?” His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t stop moving toward me.

I pretend to think about it for a moment, allowing his steps to carry him that much closer. “Because you’ve been working so hard, and someone should be able to appreciate it fully.”

Dodge stops a mere foot from me, not bothering to stay out of arm’s reach when he thinks my hands are still tied behind my back. Leaning forward, he looks directly into my eyes. “If you’re asking for this information because you think you’ll be able to relay it back to the MacAlisters, I can assure you that you won’t be given the chance.”

I’m not sure if that means he intends to kill me or if I’ll simply be locked away somewhere no one will ever find me. My guess is the latter.

“I know that I’m never going to see Callum again.” The words burn in my chest, ringing far too true for my liking. The odds of us both making it out of this alive are slim to none. “I belong to you now, and I want to show you I know what that means. Let me share this secret with you.”

Dodge smiles, the sharp edges of his lips lifting ever so slightly. He leans in, his lips brushing against my ear as he whispers, “It was a stroke of genius on my part. I went outside the MacAlister Family.”

“Who did you find?”

“Rallo Hansley,” Dodge breathes hot against my ear. It takes a moment for the name to register in my mind. The image of a young man with a serious face flits behind my eyes, and I finally place him. He’s Maddock’s foreman at MacAlister Construction.

“Thank you for trusting me, Dodge.” I shift away from him, just far enough to let the ropes fall from my wrists. “I’m so glad we could have this final moment together.”

“Final?”

The word is still sitting in his mouth when I lunge forward. My shoulder connects with his waist, and he’s forced backward. Dodge loses his footing, crashing to the ground with a hard thump. I land on top of him as all Hell breaks out around us.

The sound of gunshots comes from every direction, but I can’t focus on that now. Dodge flips us, his large body landing on top of mine. I fight against him, kicking at his legs and punching him in the face. He grabs my wrist and tries to pin it to the ground, but I lean with him, wrapping my leg around his hips and forcing us to roll again.

“You little bitch!” He growls against my forearm, where it’s pressing into his windpipe. I reach for the knife hidden in a sheath between my shoulder blades, but my arm is ripped away with a hard tug. Dodge wraps his hand around the rope still attached to my wrist, pulling my arm further from my body. “I always thought you needed a leash.”

“Funny,” I spit, moving my arm from his throat to elbow him hard in the jaw. My hand slips behind his head, and I grab a fistful of his hair. “I always thought you needed to die.”

He opens his mouth, most likely to say something about only one of us getting what we want, but I don’t let him speak. Throwing my body weight backward, I lift Dodge’s head off the ground just high enough to flip the rope around his massive skull.

I can see the moment he realizes what’s happening, his eyes going wide as the rope slips around his throat. Pulling my hand toward my chest tightens the loop, forcing Dodge to let go of the end in his hand or risk cutting off his oxygen. The moment the rope is loose, I reach between my shoulders to pull the blade from its sheath.

An explosion to my right knocks me off balance before I can get a good grip on the knife. Dodge uses the distraction to roll us again, forcing the air from my lungs when we hit the ground. A large hand presses against my cheek, pinning my head to the side as Dodge wrestles the blade from my grip.

The move turns my eyes toward the clearing behind the shitty Crown Vic. I see a large number of people fighting one another, including two familiar silhouettes standing side by side a few feet away.

Ginetta slices a man’s throat at the same time Kyler breaks another’s leg, his knee caving in sideways as he screams. I don’t recognize either of the men, but I spot the tattoo on the first man’s arm when he uselessly claws at his throat. I only see it for a moment before he falls to the ground, but it’s clear as day. He’s a Roman soldier.

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