Page 101 of Master of Lies

I looked up at Ethan. “Did you see Nicole? One of Boer’s staff. Young, slim build, Asian, long dark hair, fights like a demon from hell. Watch out for her.”

“She should have a lot of blood on her face,” Freya added, with satisfaction. “Cat bitch. I got her a good one.”

It looked as if Nicole had gotten in some licks as well. Freya’s face was streaked with blood. Ethan relayed a directive to his team to look out for Nicole.

I tried to pick Freya up, but Ethan knocked me out of his way and grabbed her himself. I limped after him, ineffectually. Up, up, up, endless fucking flights of stairs.

Finally, Darius and Amos materialized and grabbed me under my dislocated shoulders, which made me howl and swear, but in a short time, we were packed into a van. Freya had an IV hooked up. They started in on me with the first aid, but I wasn’t interested. I just wanted to stare down at Freya. Astonished that both of us were actually still alive. I couldn’t fucking believe it.

“Jed,” Darius said. “You’re all messed up. Let me work on you.”

“You guys should be hunting Nicole, not wasting time on me,” I said. “We need her alive. She might know the name of the guy who took Shane.”

“Ethan left a five-man team to sweep the area,” Darius said. “Let them handle it. Come on, man. Let me take a look at you.”

“Let him bleed if he wants to,” Ethan growled.

I was too exhausted to care about Ethan hating my guts. I just stretched out my arm and grabbed Frey’s bloody, sticky hand, holding it like it was a baby bird.

Her eyes opened, met mine. Her lips twitched. God, she was pale.

I just stared down at her, in awe. It blew my mind that she’d come to rescue me. All alone. She had played every card she had. All her brains and courage, put out there, on the line…for me.

I cradled her small, ice-cold hand, wondering if there could ever be any way on earth that I could possibly deserve it.

CHAPTER35

SEVEN WEEKS LATER…

Jed

Ijust sat there, at the outermost gate that led up to Ethan Masters rocky fortress. It was a long and winding drive to the top, where the many-storied building was cantilevered out from sheer rock, overlooking the entire Cascade Mountain range, with views of three snow-covered volcanos. I’d been there a few times over the years. It had been pretty dazzling for a guy who had grown up in a squalid, beat-up single-wide.

It wouldn’t dazzle me now. I had much more important things to be dazzled by.

I sat there, fondling my great-grandmother’s ring as if it were a talisman that could confer courage or luck. I needed both. The hundred-year-old aquamarine was milky and beat up from having been worn constantly for sixty years. My great-grandmother had never taken it off, not even when she was washing dishes or doing housework, and the stone was soft and battered. But I liked the effect. The facets glowed with trapped light. The ring had a personality, history. It was an entity in itself.

At least, I hoped that was how Freya would see it. I hoped a whole lot of things.

I’d been waiting at the gate for an insultingly long time. It’s not like there was any doubt about who I was. There were cameras staring down at me from every angle.

No, Ethan Masters was up there, stroking his chin, wondering if he should let me in at all. If I were him, I would do the same. As far as he was concerned, I had to be punished. Not just for banging his baby sister. More importantly, for not keeping her out of mortal danger. I was lucky to still have balls at all. Ethan Masters was a dangerous man.

I’d hoped to rack up some points out in the field, hunting for that hell-bitch Nicole, but so far, my search had born no fruit. At least I could move around in the world freely now, using my own name. With Boer’s machinations revealed, my name was cleared. Nicole still wanted to kill me, but that was fine. Bring her on.

The gate was grinding open. Either Ethan was letting me in, or Ethan had decided to have me killed, one or the other. Either way, I’d finally have an end to the suspense.

I drove up the thickly forested mountainside, glimpsing cameras at every switchback. When I got to the top, there was another heavily fortified gate. I waited outside that one for several minutes as well. Probably being scanned and X-rayed.

It opened, and I drove inside, into the grounds. I parked the car on a flag-stoned square as a big, burly guy I didn’t recognize came out the door. He glared at me, then turned and jerked his head for me to follow. Usually, Ethan had Unredeemables covering his private compound, but they were out in the field now, looking for Shane and Nicole. Besides, the Unredeemables didn’t want to take sides in this weirdness between me and Ethan, so they kept their distance whenever possible.

I couldn’t be bothered to take note of the obscene luxury of the place. Just a general sensation as I strolled through, of fine finishing, huge picture windows, stunning views, gleaming plank flooring, high-end decorating. Some of the glass-sided corridors were perched over cliffs, others opened onto patios, atriums, landscaped gardens. In one, I spotted an infinity pool and an enormous sunken hot tub. And I seemed to recall a helipad on the very top. Ethan Masters denied himself nothing.

Who cared. I just wanted to see Freya.

The big guy ushered me into a huge library. Floor-to-ceiling windows alternating with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. If you looked hard enough, you could probably see the curve of the earth from those windows.

Ethan Masters was seated at an enormous desk. His back was to me, as he tapped at a laptop. Probably dashing off some sort of genius code he’d dreamed up while taking a dump that morning. That was a Masters for you.

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