Page 39 of Property of Mako
By the time I lay against him, sweat cooling on my skin, the weight in my chest hadn’t disappeared. But it had shifted, softened enough for me to breathe again.
His arm tightened around me, just enough for me to feel it.
Not a promise.
Not safety.
But maybe a truce—just for tonight.
Chapter 16
Two Days
Mako
By the time the sun bled over the horizon, I’d already been up for hours. Sleep wasn’t an option. Not after last night.
Not after her.
I stood in the clubhouse chapel, staring down at the maps in there like I could force the next move out of them. My personal phone buzzed once in my pocket—an encrypted number only three people in the world had. I stepped over to the window to stare out into the early morning mist.
The voice on the other end didn’t waste time.
“They’re there. The girls. Your missing one. All of them.”
My hand tightened around the phone. “You’re sure?”
“Beyond sure. And the auction clock’s running—you’ve got two days. That’s all I’m risking telling you.”
The line went dead.
I didn’t move for a long beat. I’d known in my gut Thane had Lily. But hearing it confirmed… it was different. Sharper.
When I turned, Crypt Keeper, Spook, Killswitch, Boomslang, and Bugsy’s empty chair were waiting. Bugsy was still in Dexter’s care—alive, but just barely. His absence hit harder than I wanted to admit. We intentionally didn’t include anyone but us five because we’d all been set up, leading us to believe in each other at least.
“They’re at the plantation,” I said flatly. “Confirmed.”
Spook’s shadow form shifted restlessly. “The blood moon… so two days until auction?”
“Two days,” I confirmed.
Crypt Keeper leaned forward. “Then we go now.”
Spook shot him a look. “And wander straight into whatever magic bullshit Thane’s wrapped that place in? We don’t even know what we’re walking into yet.”
I knew where this was heading before it even started.
The supernatural council.
“Council won’t move without proof,” Spook continued. “And if they think it’s just a rumor?—”
“They’ll drag their feet until it’s too late,” I finished.
The silence that followed was heavier than usual.
Because none of us said the other part out loud—the council could be compromised.
If the Covenant had ears here in the Kings, they could damn well have them in the highest seats of power. Money and power bought more than tangible things. It also bought silence, complicity, and betrayal.
