Page 111 of Claiming Pretty

I nodded, my thoughts already racing ahead. “And if it doesn’t?”

“We keep digging,” Ciaran said, stabbing at his meal. “There has to be a paper trail somewhere.”

Ty twirled his spaghetti into a perfect loop on his fork using his spoon. “Or we refocus on the missing girls. Someone in their lives knows something.”

“Or,” I said, “we use me as bait.”

Ciaran’s fork clattered to his plate. At the same time, Ty stopped chewing.

I took a sip of water. “What?”

Ciaran shot out of his chair, his hands braced on the edge of the table as he glared at me. “Are you out of your mind?”

I tried to keep my voice steady, but my heart hammered in my chest. “Think about it. If we let them take me this time, they’ll lead us straight to the High Lord.”

“What the fuck, Ava?” Ciaran looked about ready to smash the table in two.

I glanced at Ty for his support. “You and Ciaran can use my tracker implant to find me.”

“Your fuckingwhat?” Ciaran yelled.

But I ignored him, imploring Ty with my eyes.

Ty set his fork down slowly, his movements deliberate, but the tension radiating from him was palpable.

“Absolutely not,” he said, his voice cold and clipped. “We’re not handing you over to them.”

I glared at Ty. “You let me make the choice with the vial—”

“That was different.”

“—but you’re taking his side onthisnow?”

“It’s not about sides, Ava,” Ciaran said, throwing my words back at me. “It’s about younotbeing abused and murdered by a society of evil pedophilic bastards.”

Ty’s voice was icy. “Do you haveanyidea what they’d do to you?”

“It’s not your decision to make,” I snapped, the frustration bubbling over. “This is my life. My fight. They’re coming afterme. They tookmyfriend. I have to dosomething.”

Ciaran slammed his palm down on the table, making the plates rattle. “You’re not using yourself as bait, Ava! If I have to tie you to your fucking bed so help me God …”

His words hit me hard, sending a shudder down my spine at the memory of how he tied me down.

But I held my ground. “If we don’t stop them, they’ll just keep going. They’ll never stop. The blood and shattered innocence of more girls will be on your hands.”

Ty’s jaw clenched, his icy exterior cracking as raw emotion bled into his voice. “There has to be another way. We’ll find it. But using you as bait isnotit.”

“You’re both so afraid of losing me,” I said, my voice trembling with equal parts anger and heartbreak, “that you’re not even willing to try. But we’re running out of options. We need something to draw them out, and I’m the only thing we have.”

“No,” Ciaran said finally, his voice a quiet but unyielding promise. “Notthis.”

“Notyou,” Ty said.

Great.Thisthey were agreeing on.

The silence that followed was heavy, oppressive. Ty stared at me, his lips pressed into a thin line, while Ciaran looked like he was barely restraining himself from tearing the room apart.

From the corner of the living room, Ciaran’s computer pinged.

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