Page 21 of The World Undone

Bishop’s hand moved below the table, and I knew with a deep certainty that he’d wrapped it around the blade at his thigh—eyes locked onto Darius.

Charlie rubbed his shoulder, and he loosened up at her touch, just slightly.

“If this is true,” Haley leaned back in her chair, brow arched, “getting this stone will be more difficult than anticipated. They’ll be hard to kill.”

Max smirked. “So am I.”

5

MAX

“Do we have any idea how many council members there are?” Wade asked. “Even with Tarren as a father, I learned surprisingly little about how they work. I couldn’t even name one of them to be honest.”

Wade didn’t even flinch when he mentioned his father’s name—his eyes were cold, expressionless.

He hadn’t said much after I told him that Atlas killed their father. I left the gruesome details out, waiting to see if he wanted specifics.

Other than a resounding “Good, if he didn’t kill the fucker, I would have,” he’d been oddly silent on the topic.

Still, I knew from experience that grief was a gnarly little dickhole that snuck up on you, often when you least expected.

Tarren was an asshole. And he was an absolute prick to Wade especially.

But he was still his father—and the only one he’d ever get.

Evelyn nodded. “That’s by design. But as of now, from what I can tell, there are seven.” Her lips twisted into a satisfied grin. “And I know where we can find three of them.” She shrugged, her lips wavering slightly. “It’s not much, but it’s a start.”

Eli glanced at her briefly before his focus landed firmly on the wall behind her.

He didn’t seem able to look at her for very long, but he kept sneaking glances every few minutes, whether consciously or not, I wasn’t sure.

I rubbed my chest, like I could feel his anxiety trapped there, dying for release.

Dealing with his mother and brother both in the same hour was no easy feat.

“Isn’t your double agency shot now though?” he asked, his voice quiet. “I imagine they’ll change all of their whereabouts if they think you’ve turned on them.”

Her lips curved into a tentative smile as she glanced at him, probably pleased that he was addressing her with less venom in his voice this time.

I couldn’t help but ache at the way she looked at him—so much longing, so much pain. I knew very little about her, outside of the few details Eli had shared what felt like a lifetime ago. She’d broken her bond to Seamus and left him and Eli behind—apparently to live with Levi and her second family.

She’d hurt him. Badly enough that he lived most of his life refusing to let anyone get close enough to carve another crater deep into his chest—a similar, festering wound of abandonment.

But something about the way her eyes softened with regret whenever they landed on him told me that there was more to their story than I realized. Maybe even more than Eli himself knew. It wasn’t the sort of look I imagined a woman giving a son she didn’t love.

She’d abandoned him, yes, but there was true affection—love—in her eyes. Even when his only broadcasted anger and hate back at her.

She cleared her throat and sat up straighter, pride sharpening her posture. “Not if they think I’m dead.”

“You faked your death?” I asked. It was a smart move, and I couldn’t help but be mildly impressed by the woman in front of me, as much as I hated her for hurting Eli.

Like most women in The Guild, she had an iron strength. It was impossible not to respect that.

“Borrowed the idea from a friend.” She glanced at Bishop, and I noticed that her smirk mirrored Eli’s almost identically.

Bishop grunted.

“Well, that’s good news at least,” Declan said. I noticed she’d scooted herself closer to Eli too, and kept glancing at him from the corner of her eye, like she was getting ready to throw herself between him and his mother if it came down to it, to protect him from the pain that was lining every tense muscle in his body. “If they think you’re dead, they won’t invoke any kind of protocol to revoke your access. So now it’s just a matter of using whatever intel you have to find the stone. We can start by going after the three council members you have access to.”

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