Page 57 of Property of Mako
“She’s my mate,” I bit out. “I know when she’s holding something back. And this isn’t small, Dex. It’s big enough to make her voice crack when she tried to say it.”
Dexter gave a low whistle, finally meeting my eyes. “So what are you gonna do?”
I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I pulled out my phone, thumb hovering over Crypt Keeper’s number. “What I do best. Get the truth—whether she gives it to me or not.”
By the time Crypt answered, my voice was all steel.
“I need you to dig into Lyra’s family.”
“What are you thinkin’?” Crypt’s gravelly tone came back.
“I’m thinkin’ her family’s neck-deep in something, and it’s about to bleed into mine.”
When I hung up, Dexter was watching me, arms crossed.
“Careful, brother,” he warned. “If you go digging, you better be ready for what you unearth. Mates don’t just hide secrets—they bury landmines.”
I clenched my jaw. Too late. I was already stepping onto the minefield.
Crypt Keeper rolled in late, smelling like smoke and whiskey, his shaggy dark hair damp from the rain. He had that wolf’s patience about him—slower to act than me, but when he moved, he didn’t miss. Exactly why I trusted him to dig where others couldn’t.
“You got somethin’ for me to start with?” he asked, sliding onto a stool next to me at the bar.
I tossed back what was left of my bourbon, the glass clinking hard against the bar top. “Lyra’s hiding something. Big.”
His brows rose. “Bigger than her being able to wear that glamour like a custom-made cloak the other night?”
No one had addressed that yet, and it set my teeth on edge to know that I wasn’t the only one who noticed. I gave him a look sharp enough to cut steel. “Don’t fuck with me, Crypt. I can feel it. It’s more than just my natural instincts. The bond’s got her heart beating in my chest, and I know when she lies. Question is, why? And how the hell it ties into Lily.”
Crypt leaned forward, forearms braced on his knees. “You think this lie has got teeth? Something that could bite us in the ass later?”
“Worse,” I growled. “I think it’s something that could put a target on both of them that’s bigger than Thane’s goddamn auction. He can deny that he’s part of it all he wants, but I know better. And if I’m right about my gut feeling with Lyra, the Covenant won’t be our only problem.”
He let out a long whistle, rubbing his jaw. “All right. What do you need?”
“Dig up everything you can on the Callahans. Parents. Land. Old records, history, secrets they buried. Start with her old man. I don’t give a shit how deep you gotta go—if there’s blood on their name, I want it.”
Keeper’s lips twisted into a feral grin. “You know that means ruffling some feathers in town. Old money like that? They don’t like skeletons being dragged out of closets. I can already tell you that the plantation she lives on used to be hers and her sister’s after the parents died. She sold it off and put most of the money in a trust for her sister. The rest she uses at that horse rescue she runs.”
I smirked without humor. “Then it’s a good thing I like rattling bones.”
He stood, rolling his shoulders, the wolf in him already itching for the hunt. “If she’s sittin’ on something that could compromise us, better we find it before the enemy does.”
“That’s exactly why I called you.” I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling fan as it spun lazy circles above us. “Because if her secret has even a whisper of a trail, I need it unearthed. Now. The last thing I’ll allow is another blindside—another fucking sis—person taken from under my nose.”
Keeper’s eyes softened just a fraction. He knew what I meant. We’d talked long into the night once about the day I buried the last piece of my family. Besides Boomslang, he was the only one I’d confided in.
“I’ll find it,” he promised.
“Good,” I replied, hating that my voice sounded like broken glass. “Because if Lyra’s secret endangers her… or Lily…” My fangs slid long, the vicious beast in me barely contained. “…I’ll raze the world to keep them safe.”
Crypt Keeper’s lupine eyes held on me a moment too long. He knew there was more to this than I was saying, but to his credit, he didn’t push.
“One more thing,” I added, my voice low, the kind of quiet that came before a storm. “This stays between you and me. I don’t want it bleeding through the ranks. Especially without knowing who we can trust.”
He tilted his head. “Not even Boom?”
“Not even Boom.” My jaw locked. “If Lyra’s hiding something, I’ll deal with it before the club ever has to.”
