Page 61 of From the Ashes

“We’re going to split up. Kaos is already moving through the cemetery, according to his last text.”

“Don’t you think they’ll be anticipating that? This is Caleb we’re talking about, he knows all our tricks.”

“It’s our only option.”

“Should we call for backup?”

“Not until we know what we’re walking into.”

It’s a risk, but one we’re going to have to take because I’m not willing to get our people killed walking into something we haven’t felt out first.

Bishop nods, and before he can say anything else, I take off into the trees that surround the cemetery.

I clutch my gun tightly as I move around the edge of the gravestones, keeping my eyes and ears open as I move. Bishop was right about one thing: Caleb will be expecting this.

Divide and conquer, as we used to call it.

Going into an unknown situation as a group may seem like a better idea on paper, but in execution, it means if one of you is captured, you’re all captured. If one of you is killed, you’re all killed. At least this way, there’s more of a chance of the mission being successful with as few casualties as possible.

A voice carries over the hill in front of me, and I pause in place, but I can’t make out what they’re saying.

How many men does he have working for him? And where did they come from?

Some would be Davenport’s guys, but I don’t think he’d be willing to risk too many of his men when there are already rumblings about his leadership after he failed to marry Camilla and take the De Marco territory as he promised he would.

A branch snaps behind me, and I duck behind a mausoleum, flattening myself against the cold stone at my back.

The footsteps grow closer, and I hold my breath, holding my gun in the direction of the person approaching, but before they can step around the corner, the barrel of a gun presses to my temple.

“Drop the gun,” Caleb says as he steps up in front of me, his dark eyes exactly as I remember them.

I thought I’d be prepared the first time I saw him. That knowing he was alive would be enough to cut through the shock of the brother I buried standing in front of me. But I was wrong.

For a moment, I consider shooting him and facing the inevitable bullet to my brain, but this is about more than just me, and I need to keep us all safe, even if that means doing it unarmed.

“Long time, no see, little brother.” He smirks as I drop the gun to the damp grass, and the guy behind me pulls both extra firearms from the back of my pants.

“Whose fault is that?” I snap.

“Well, that depends on who you ask, I suppose.” He chuckles and looks over my shoulder. “Take him to the others.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

KAOS

The cemetery is too fucking quiet, seeing as I just watched four vehicles drive to the center.

There’s no part of me that doesn’t know this is a trap, but what choice do I have but to carefully move toward the hill they seem to have converged on the other side of?

I swallow heavily as I dodge headstones, all the while keeping an eye on my surroundings because I refuse to be blindsided.

A car door slams somewhere in the distance, and I pause for a moment, listening for any other sounds, but quickly continue through the graves.

The sound of my boots squelching in the wet glass combined with animals rustling around the trees that line the edge of the cemetery makes it hard to differentiate a threat from the normal sounds of the cemetery.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, but I don’t pause to pull it out. I need to keep my eyes and ears on my surroundings, even if I ache to make sure Camilla is safe.

I see what Crew was worried about for all those years before we found her. He always said letting a woman get too close would mean having a vulnerability, something people can extort, and after what happened with Bianca, or rather, what we were made to believe happened, I was more concerned about the threat they could pose to us.

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