Page 75 of The Devil's Thorn
The engine purrs to life, low and smooth, but no one speaks right away. We’re too busythinking.Or maybe justbreathing.
I sink back into the seat, my arm stinging from the dried blood, my head spinning not from fear—but from the sheerweightof what we just walked out of.
We should’ve died tonight. But instead… we joinedhim.
“So,” Ash mutters finally, “we’re Bratva now.”
Kellan snorts bitterly. “Don’t say it like that.”
Ash turns halfway toward the back seat, shooting me a glance.
“Should we be celebrating? Or throwing up?”
“Neither,” I say quietly. “Not yet.”
“You gave him your name,” he says again. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”
“No,” I murmur, “but plans change when someone puts a gun to your head and a knife to your brother’s throat.”
Ash exhales hard, then slams his fist lightly against the dash.
Kellan drives in silence for a moment, his jaw tight.
“It was smart,” he says eventually, eyes forward. “You gave him just enough to let us live.”
“For now,” Ash mutters.
“Don’t start,” Kellan snaps.
“I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.”
“That we’re in over our heads?” I cut in.
They both go silent.
Because we are. But we’re alsoexactlywhere we need to be.
“We wanted in,” I remind them. “Now we are.”
Ash glances at me again. “You think he believed the lie?”
I pause. Then I nod once. “Enough to let us stay close.”
Kellan finally speaks again, voice lower. “Then we play it carefully. No mistakes. No unnecessary moves. Until we get what we came for.”
I lean my head back, watching the glow of the city blur past the window.
“We’re not leaving until I know the truth,” I whisper.
Neither of them argues. Because they already knew that.
We ride in silence for a while. The city thinning out as we pass into quieter streets, winding further from the gleamof downtown. My eyes blur against the passing streetlights. Rafael’s voice still echoes in the back of my mind—Isabella.The way he said it. Like he was tucking it away for later. Like he’dearnedit.
He hasn’t. But that doesn’t mean he won’t try.
“We’re not going back to your place tonight,” Kellan says, glancing at me in the rearview. “Too close. Too obvious.”
I nod.
