Page 59 of Secrets and Ruin

“It’s his Talent,” I said so Dirk didn’t have to.

“Driving wedges?” Landon snorted. “That’s just a skill—”

“His ability to smell for the markers that indicate how well someone could survive the Change,” I corrected. I watched Dirk as I spoke, and he didn’t react to Landon finally knowing the truth, not even in fear for Landon’s life. So, I decided to reiterate the stakes.

“If we survive what’s going on here, you have to keep that to yourself. I haven’t even told Heath. Hasan, or any of my many siblings, would kill you for knowing. It’s a viciously guarded secret. I didn’t know for several years,” I explained.

“He…” Landon seemed more surprised than I would have figured but was properly stunned. “Fucking wow. Of all the assholes who get a Talent like that.”

“Did you tell Niko about it yet? That day?” I asked Dirk, knowing there were a lot of things to resolve, and I believed that had to be one of them. Niko needed to know why they didn’t have the relationship both of them had clearly wanted. Not to blame Dirk but to remove the blame from him because it was Dirk who had pulled away. How else was a child supposed to behave when he was told he wasn’t, and would never be, good enough? He was protecting himself and his father.

“No…” Dirk admitted, closing his eyes. “I figured if we were getting past it all, it didn’t matter. No reason to get between Niko and Hasan. It feels like a shitty thing to do.”

“We’ll put a pin in that and come back to it later,” I decided, nodding.

Landon nodded as well, his expression telling me that the conversation wasn’t over, only postponed.

“We don’t have to. We just need to find Niko so he can get out here with us,” Dirk said, pleading for me to hear him on this. “We can’t… I can’t let his brother kill him, Jacky. Niko could probably kill his brother now that I’m not in the way, but he’ll be hurt, and in here, he’ll be a target. The stronger fae here know who he is and how long he’s been in their business. They’ll finally have a chance to get rid of him in a way the rest of the family will never be able to solve.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it, wondering just how I was going to do it all—save Dirk, save Niko, get out of here with all of us alive—all before my family decided they had to get involved and put themselves at risk in this place. We didn’t have enough time to wait on Niko to find us, not before Rainer got to us. If Niko was healing somewhere, he might not even know we were here. He could have been asleep and would find out about Rainer’s game with us too late unless the howl had woken him up.

I looked at Landon, who sighed heavily.

“We’re going to do something I’m not going to like, aren’t we?” he asked softly.

“Your father would be angry with me if he heard what I’m about to say,” I said, feeling tears well up in my eyes at the very prospect. This could very well kill one of us. I could never see Heath again. Or I would limp out of the trees and fly home without his last son.

“Let’s hear it,” Landon muttered, straightening up like a general ready to hear his orders.

“We can’t avoid Rainerandhelp Niko.” Dirk growled at the name, but it was said and done, so I moved on. “It’s impossible. At the end of the day, this fight is between them. We could keep running and try to beat him back to the estate, but that’s unlikely. We’re drained, Landon. We haven’t slept. We’re running on whatever fight-or-flight response we have. We’ll drop from exhaustion before we get home, then we’re dead. Just the idea of avoiding Rainer is impossible at this point.”

“Yes,” Landon confirmed, upset I was forcing him to admit it. He would have tried. I knew he would have. “Say it, Jacky, so I can tell Pa this was your idea, and I didn’t encourage anything.”

A tiny, hopeful part of me wanted to smile.

“We have to be offensive,” I said, swallowing my fear of what that entailed. “We can’t run back and pick a fight, though. We’ll lose that. We have to catch him off guard by setting a trap. If he falls for it, we can get a killing blow. If he dies, the hunt ends. Niko will know and come looking for us. We’ll be on our way back to the estate.” I put my hands together. “If we don’t get the kill, he’ll hopefully still be trapped, and we can keep moving. Niko will find him, kill him, and come to us.”

“Or Niko shows up for the fight or before we trigger the trap.”

“Either of those works as well,” I confirmed, nodding.

“It’s stupid,” he said, shrugging.

Dirk’s jaw dropped, but he stayed silent.

“Do you really think you can’t beat him?” I asked, wondering if Landon didn’t have the confidence in himself I always thought he did. I knew Rainer was stronger than me, but I had believed Landon was now more powerful than him. Heath was a strong enough Alpha to order him, and Landon had manhandled him before in front of me.

“The magic throws out everything I knew about him,” Landon said, beginning to pace. “I don’t know what he’s capable of anymore, and that worries me. Plus, while killing him is something I would very much like to do, saving Dirk is the priority for me. What’s the point of killing him when the guy I love is killed in the process? I can go after him later or just wait for the Hunt to take his soul. If he doesn’t get what he wants, he dies, anyway. Why risk it?”

“Okay.” Crossing my arms, I leaned on the back wall.

“But I like the idea of trapping him. The question is…how?” Landon pulled him back to his side and kissed Dirk’s cheek, who leaned into him at the touch.

“Now I get to tell your father you encouraged this,” I said quickly, making Landon chuckle.

“Damn, caught. I like the idea, though. It’s what I was thinking, but…” Landon shook his head. “I know the chances of success are low. We need a way to trap him. I know a way to weaken him and slow him down enough for a fight, but it’s not really a trap. It’s an ambush.”

“I will take any plan,” I said, pressing Landon to continue.

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