Page 76 of The Devil We Know

“That you’re a fucking Ferro.”

I tilt my head at him, saying nothing because I know there’s nothing to say. It’s not like I want to be a Ferro.

After a moment, I look at Dare and reply, “Better the devil you know, right?”

He smiles, opening his mouth to reply, but Tony interjects, “Look alive, boys.”

I immediately turn so my back is against the wall, Dare and Tony shifting around so we’re in a more defensive position.

A wall of people inch toward us on both sides, a few more coming up over the staging, and as they press in closer, Tonysays, “What do you think? Take down maybe half of them before they get us?”

I can’t help but laugh, but I’m sure it comes out a bit nervous, and then Dare snorts and replies almost flippantly, “Only one way to find out.”

Tony grins, and even with the new face, the mania is clear in his eyes. He faces off with the front row of men closing in on us, flipping the blades in each hand as he says calmly, “Fuck around time.”

33

Preliminary Planning

Jessica

It feels like we’vebeen waiting for days rather than hours.

Antoinette keeps fidgeting with some tracker she has since apparently having tabs on Darius is the norm.

I’m about to get my sixth or seventh espresso when a ruckus at the door draws my attention.

Lilith strides in, looking as disgruntled as ever as she says, “I found this asshole skulking around outside.”

She steps to the side, revealing a disheveled and bloody Kaian, and I jump up, running toward him as I exclaim, “What the fuck, Kaian? Are you okay?’

He waves his hand dismissively as he replies, “I’m fine. It looks worse than it is.”

Marieka appears at my side, concern on her face as she asks, “What happened? How did you get here?”

“Where’s Matt?” I interject hurriedly.

Kaian shakes his head. “They got him and the others. Matt made me promise that I would bail when things started going to shit. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t have it. So here I am, fucking pissed.”

Antoinette joins us. “Sounds like Matt. Did he say why?”

“He wanted me to be with you guys, so you’d have one more person who knew the ins and outs of the organization.”

Lilith pipes up, “That makes sense. We all know quite a bit, but you can never know too much.”

Camilla appears on the other side of Marieka, and she says, “How are their disguises holding up?”

Kaian looks over at her and then does a double-take, his eyes narrowing as he looks between Marieka and Camilla in horror. Then he looks back at Camilla and asks, “Why do you still look like my sister?”

Camilla laughs, and I smile. Marieka grins, eying Camilla proudly as she says, “Isn’t it amazing?”

Kaian shakes his head and sighs. “The last thing I need is two of you.”

Marieka punches him in the arm, narrowing her eyes. “You could only be so lucky.”

We all twitter with laughter, and after a moment, Lilith interrupts, “I don’t want to be the buzzkill here, but we probably should focus on what appears to be another Darius kidnapping.”

Antoinette’s eyes widen, and then she laughs again as she says, “You’re right.”

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