Page 154 of Inside the Wicked

“No.”

“You’re no use to her locked up.” Adam’s is the harshest voice addressing me.

I take a deep breath and tip my head back against the wall.

“I’m not going anywhere.” I promised her that, and I’ll be damned if I break my promise.

Allie slips her arm through mine and leans her head on my shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Allie,” I say.

“Nothing is your fault. So don’t waste your time.”

Everything is my fault. I don’t know what I did to deserve people who will try to cover up that fact just so I can sleep easier.

“You were in trouble. I let them take you ...” I trail off.

“You were eight hours away. It can’t be your fault, because I found out whoboughtme like some slab of meat,” she says irritably.

Allie is so fucking incredible, and I hope Liam damn well knows it if there’s something going on between them.

“I hear they’re grieving his murder, but I’m ready to make it an annual celebration. Birthdays are old-school. It’s cheers to the death of sick, twisted assholes from now on.”

I want to chuckle, but grimness weighs it down.

Alistair is dead.

The last shot I fired into his skull repeats over and over, as if I’m convinced there’s still a chance he could resurrect like he has done all throughout my fucking life.

“Where’s Silas?” I ask darkly, glancing up at Rix. “He has Kenna.”

“I think he’s on our side. Honestly, I’m fucking confused. The guy just shows up and we’re all like,shit, another motherfucker,ready to warn you, but he’s like a ninja. Had he been on Alistair’s side, we wouldn’t have stood a chance. His guys took out all of Alistair’s in minutes—guys we’d had pinned for hours. Then he told us about his brothers setting up explosives in the basement. The plan was to get you guys out and then blow the place to shit as Silas’s first message that he’s in charge now, basically. Then the fire happened, and, well ...”

I take a moment to gather, repeat, and make sense of it all.

“He sold us out,” I say.

“A ruse to buy time. He said he needed the help of his brothers, who were in Miami, to establish his claim on two very high-profile and intricate networks before they scrambled to chaos without a leader.”

“So he did it. Silas owns everything of Lanshall and Forthson’s?”

“He has control of it all for now, it seems. Which is better than a loose bunch of criminals with a whole load of illegal shit they can run wild with. No one will try to challenge Balenheizer.”

“And Kenna?”

“Haven’t heard anything. I’m sorry, man. But for what it’s worth, he looked really fucking concerned for her and left immediately to get her medical care like we did.”

“He’s not here?” This is the closest hospital.

“Nope. I doubt he’d risk it, and he probably has private medical connections.”

I have to see Kenna. Talk to her for real. I don’t know how I’ll ever apologize enough for getting it so wrong that she suffered by Alistair’s side for more than a decade.

I failed Sarah.

I failed Kenna.

I failed Allie.

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