Page 73 of Theirs to Rule

Halfway there, I spotted a vase on a shelf. It’d make the perfect distraction. I grabbed it, ready to send it crashing to the floor, when the sound of the doorbell froze me in place.

Silas’s father left the study, his footsteps echoing in the quiet as he went to answer the door.

I pressed myself against the wall, holding my breath. The door creaked open, and then I heard a voice that didn’t belong to the old man. Dante. What the hell was he doing here?

He was talking about some kid—Mick? Silas’s younger brother? I wasn’t sure, but whatever he was saying, it sounded casual. Too casual. Then it clicked. He was running interference, keeping the old man distracted.

I didn’t waste time. I bolted into the study, scanning the room. Nothing. Then my eyes landed on the closet door. It was cracked open.

I pulled it wide, and there she was, closing some hidden compartment in the back.

“Move. Now,” I said, my voice low and sharp.

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t argue. Camille’s hand slid into mine, and I tugged her out of the closet. Even in the middle of this chaos, the feel of her hand in mine sent a jolt through me.

Dante was still buying us time, so I led her down the back staircase and out into the yard. The woods loomed ahead, dark and uninviting, but we didn’t have a choice.

“Here,” I said, locking my hands together. “Climb.”

Camille put her foot in my hands, and I hoisted her over the fence. I followed, landing on the other side with barely a sound.

The woods swallowed us up, but my pulse was still pounding in my ears. I couldn’t shake the thought of how close we’d come to being caught. How closeshe’dcome to being caught.

“Well, that was a waste of time,” I muttered as we finally stopped to catch our breath.

“It wasn’t a waste,” Camille shot back. She held up her phone.

I leaned in to look, my eyes narrowing at the image. Symbols. A banner with trees and weapons.

“Where’d you find this?” I demanded.

“In the study. There was a hidden room in the closet. Filing cabinets too, but they were locked.”

Of course there was a hidden room. I clenched my jaw, piecing things together in my head. “So thereisa connection,” I muttered, more to myself than to her.

“You don’t know that,” she argued.

But I did. I could feel it in my gut. This was tied to everything—my dad, the cryptic shit he used to say, the secrets that had followed me here.

Before I could say more, a noise cut through the silence.

Camille stiffened, her hand clutching my arm. My head snapped toward the sound, and I saw movement. A shadow.

I stepped in front of her, knife ready, my instincts taking over. The figure kept coming, and without thinking, I let the blade fly.

“Wait!” Camille shouted, but it was too late.

Camille

Just as the dagger left Ty’s fingers, the threat came into view. My eyes widened in shock—Kage!

The dagger was already traveling toward him, and I parted my lips to cry out—but his arm shot up just in time to stop the dagger from embedding itself in his neck. He stared at the dagger buried in his arm, then at us, in disbelief.

“Jesus Christ,” Kage swore, ripping the dagger out. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Me?” growled Ty, equally pissed. “You were the one sneaking around in the woods. Why are you here?”

“Apparently we’re saving your asses, you little shit.”

---