Page 87 of Inside the Wicked

“She’s not tied to him out of want. She’ll make it seem like she is because it would expose her chains to admit she had no other choice,” I say. “As part of the deal, we get her out. Kicking and screaming, if need be.”

Silas reaches for one of the two glasses of scotch, pushing it across to me. “We’re off to a mutual start, it seems,” he says, picking up the other and taking a drink.

I reach for Ana’s martini, passing it to her. I don’t pick up the other scotch.

Silas notices, canting his head a fraction as if he’s reassessing his first instinct about me. His presence holds true to what I’ve heard about the Balenheizers from whispers. He’s a masterful observer of people and a manipulator. He can make a person doubt everything they are as if he can see the truths buried behind their eyes.

“I got the drink right—you just won’t take it,” he decides, more to himself.

“I don’t drink.”

“You’re not a recovering alcoholic, so what happened while you were under the influence that you think you could have prevented if you weren’t?”

Ana’s hand caresses my arm as if she can sense my stiffness.

“We’re not here to talk about me.”

“On the contrary, I like to know exactly who I’m getting into business with before we go any further.”

“It goes both ways,” Ana says. “There’s a reason you took such immediate interest in Kenna and not me. It could be that she reminds you of someone, or perhaps you have some savior complex because you think you failed someone in your past.”

My hand flexes on her thigh in warning, and my senses spike at the dark shift in Silas’s eyes.

“You’re right. And also very dangerously wrong.”

“My fiancée was killed the night I proposed four years ago,” I confess. “We had been drinking. I’ll never be relieved of the torment of wondering if I could have stood a chance at fighting them off if I were sober.”

Silas latches onto my story to my relief. “Then you went on to found Xoid?”

“Yes. I wanted to hunt down Alistair Lanshall and tear his empire apart.”

“I have to say part of what you do causes something of an issue for me. I actually admire your efforts to stop trafficking. But I hear that’s not all you’ve been destroying.”

“I’ll stop anything that’s a harm to innocents.”

“Heroic of you. But you see where this alliance could come to an impasse.”

“You don’t condone trafficking, so we’re aligned there,” Ana says. “Anything else ... well, even you said a little threat keeps you sharp.”

Silas reacts with intrigue to the challenge she lays down. “If your little vigilante group managed to intercept just one of the types of deals I make, I’d lose millions.”

Ana shrugs. “You’ll make more.”

“You want me to agree to help a group knowing what it could potentially cost me with their meddling later?”

“You’ll gain more in assets taking over Lanshall and Forthson than we’d ever prevent you from making through drugs or organ trade or whatever else you deal in,” I say. “Besides, mostly, our efforts go to trafficking, and that certainly doesn’t go away with Lanshall and Forthson. There are many smaller networks that need to be eradicated, and call uslittleall you want, but Xoid expands through far more States than just D.C.”

“I’m aware,” Silas says, but I think I’ve surprised him somewhat.

He finishes off his drink and crosses his ankle over his knee as he leans back. His shift in demeanor makes me think we’ve made it past his assessment round. I don’t relax.

“So, you wouldn’t disappoint me by coming here without a plan,” Silas says.

Ana takes a deep breath. “I think Forthson could still believe we’re on his side. He knew I wanted to get Rhett out, and that once he was out, Alistair would know I’d betrayed him. His hope was that I’d convince you to ally with us without a marriage, but Jacob would be in on it with us to take down Alistair and get a share of his assets.”

Silas chuckles. It’s a mocking, dark sound. “Forthson might be the biggest idiot of them all. What does he have that gives him a seat at this table?”

“He’s merely a nepotism kid who’s never lost in his life,” I say bitterly.

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