Page 77 of The Eagle's Vault

Declan wasn’t right about Isaac. He wasn’t keeping me down to build himself up. He wasn’t riding my coattails. And he definitely wasn’t working with Fenix.

“You’re right.” I forced a smile. “I’ll get Jayce.”

“Good idea. Jayce could eat a horse.” Isaac laughed, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes before he stopped. He put a hand on my upper arm. “Are you okay?”

Yes. My throat grew tighter the more that words formed in my brain, which grew progressively more truthful.No. Not even close. Miserable.

“You’ve been crying.”

“I’m fine.” With those words, the tears spilled free with full force, tumbling down my cheeks. “It’s just been a really intense trip.”

Before I could respond, Isaac pulled me into a hug, his grip stronger than usual. Isaac wasn’t one for hugs, but I leaned into it, letting my big brother absorb all the unspoken shit I was dealing with.

Stop crying. Declan’s going to hear you.Why did I care? What was he going to do, even if he did hear me?

I sniffled and inched back. “Sorry about that.”

Isaac kept hold of my upper arms. “Do you want to talk?”

I spluttered a laugh and sniffled away the rest of the tears. That wasn’t the type of relationship we had. But the offer had been nice. “Not really.”

“This isn’t about Declan, is it? You have your books back, so you must have seen him tonight. Did he…” Isaac leaned in to look at me directly. “I noticed how he looks at you. Did he try something?”

Something? Declan had done so much more to me than that.

He frowned. “We should have brought Finn with us.”

I rolled my head forward so he couldn’t see my eyes bugging out of my head. “We broke up, Isaac. Two weeks ago.”

“How about this…” He let go of me and pulled out his phone, once again ignoring my news about Finn. “I was supposed to be heading out for drinks with one of our prospects.”

“At this hour?”

Isaac had already been to countless meetings in the past few days. The shadows under his eyes had deepened, telling the tale of sleepless nights. He shrugged. “Says the woman who was going out for food.”

“Fair.” I dragged the back of my hand across my eyes.

“It’s not even midnight yet.” He held up his phone. “Let me call them and cancel. I’ll take you for something to eat and you can talk if you want to, or we can just hang out.”

Declan was wrong about Isaac. He didn’t know the whole story. All he had was a glimpse into our lives, without our other brothers, my dad, or my stepmother. Declan was nothing more than a liar and a manipulator. A safe cracker. He was the type of person I devoted my life to stopping.

“Can I drop my books off in your room?”

Isaac nodded and took the books, slipping into his room to make the phone call, then joining me in the hallway. “Everything’s arranged.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate it.” I walked with him down the hall, his presence a comfort. “This won’t screw up the plans with them, will it?”

“No need to worry. I’ll touch base with them in the morning.” He ushered me down the stairs and out into the warm evening. “They recommended a better place than the one next door, though.”

I wasn’t actually hungry. The churning inside my stomach would have spit anything back out, but maybe the fresh air would help. Or sitting to chat with Isaac. Even if he wanted to talk about everything I didn’t care about, at least it would keep my mind off Declan.

Isaac and I passed the café next door, with people filling its outdoor tables, passed closed-up shops, and wove our way between a throng of late-night partygoers.

We turned down a small side street, into one of the many mazes that made up Rome.

“How’s your head feeling?” asked Isaac.

Slight headache from the fight with Declan, but I wasn’t about to tell Isaac that, either. “All good.”

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