Page 74 of Theirs to Rule

“We didn’t need saving,” Ty muttered, but I shot him a look of disbelief. "Once we got out of the house," he amended.

“Is that your fucked-up way of giving me an apology?” Kage growled, his fingers curling into tight fists beside him. Blood ran down his arm from the dagger wound, but he ignored it.

“Okay, both of you calm down,” I said, getting in the middle of them.

"He needs to back off," Ty snarled, shoving his face close to Kage’s.

"You think I’m going to leave you alone with her?" he shot back.

“What are you even doing here?” I asked Kage.

“Dante got worried, so he checked his tracker and saw you were here,” Kage explained.

"I have a new phone! He doesn't have a—" Shit. I closed my eyes. Of course he put another one on, probably the night we'd been hanging out before Kage had shown up at his house.

Ty snorted. “The dude tracks you? What are you, his puppy?”

“Watch it,” I snapped at Ty, my cheeks heating. “Dante is the only reason we got out of there.”

“I had it handled,” argued Ty, a scowl on his face. “I was just about to?—”

“Seriously, guys, quit arguing and let’s get the fuck out of here,” Kage cut in. “I’ll text Dante to meet us by the cars.” Kage handed the dagger back to Ty. Once again, my eyes fell on the deep bloody gash on his arm.

“You’re bleeding,” I whispered, but Kage shrugged me off.

“It’s fine. It’s a tiny cut,” he said dismissively.

“It’s a deep wound and you probably need stitches,” I argued.

“Then you can fix it when we get out of here,” Kage said. He grabbed my hand and started leading me away, Ty right beside me.

We made it back to Ty's car to see Dante leaning against it. He strode toward us and pulled me into a tight hug, pressing me against him. I pulled back. As much as I appreciated his care for me, there were bigger things for us to contend with right now. I didn't even take the time to ask about the tracker he'd put on my phone again.

"You guys, look at this," I said. I showed Dante and Kage the picture of the banner I'd snapped in the hidden room. It glowed ominously on my phone screen, symbols of oak trees, yews, redwoods, maples, and other trees staring back at us along with other symbols: swords, shields, cannons. All the non-tree objects were made of things that would stand the test of time.

Dante studied the symbols, his expression darkening. “This is bigger than we thought. It ties everything together. Objects that endure. But endure what? Or endure for what?"

I remembered what Monica from the yarn shop had told me when we were asking about Ava right after she was killed. "Kage, remember what that woman from the yarn shop said? That Ava was seeing someone older? Maybe it was Silas's dad?"

Kage stiffened, his jaw clenching. "It sure seems possible. I say we go back, and fucking find out."

He turned, as if he was about to head over to find Silas's father and beat the truth out of him. I pulled his arm. "Wait!" I hesitated, then blurted out, "Bianca told me that when she went to California, there was a reason other than an internship. She said that kids have gone missing from CU and even though there was always a stated reason, those reasons could never account for why the kids haven't been seen again." I told them about the students Bianca had given me as examples.

The silence that followed was heavy, each of us lost in our own thoughts about the implications of what I'd just shared. The mystery we were tangled up in seemed to grow darker, more dangerous with every new piece of information.

"I asked about Drew Nelson. I got nothing but vague answers."

At Dante’s words, my worry over Drew spiked.

"We need to get out of here," Dante said. "We can't do anything more tonight."

"You're wrong.” Kage interjected in a lethal tone. “Like I said, I can make Silas's dad talk."

"And kill him again before he gives us answers, just like you did Troy?" Ty snapped. "No."

"What do you suggest we do? We don't have any other leads!"

"You're wrong," I said. I lifted my phone with the photo of the banner. "We know what to be on the lookout for now. We'll take a couple of days and see what we can find."

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