Page 53 of Reign By Wrath

“We’ll meet up at Toussaint’s after. They’re open till late, and after the week I’ve had, I need three orders of their baklava cheesecake.”

“We’re not splitting up,” Wilder said. “You won’t hold back if you’re the one to find her, and Cato’s not going to stop you.” His eyes narrowed. “Bet that’s why you want to go with him. You’ll say let’s go fuck her up, and he’ll already have the lighter out and flinging himself through the window like a flaming wrecking ball.”

I giggled at the image. Cato would, one hundred percent. “You shouldn’t be so suspicious of the love of your life. This isn’t a trick to get to Everleigh alone. I learned my lesson from last night. I also learned that I’m not built for tromping through the woods till five in the morning. I want to get this over with quickly,” I said. “If I do find Everleigh, I’ll get out of there and text you guys right away.

“The last thing I’m going to do is fight her on her own turf. When I come at her for the last time, it’ll be in a situation that I control. No more surprises.”

The suspicion softened. “Okay,” Wilder said. “We’ll all go together.”

I heaved a sigh. “I will not charge in like a flaming wrecking ball again. I promise. Please, I just want to get through this night, then spend time with my guys. We’ll get takeout, then bring it back here and enjoy it, just us.”

“All right,” Rafael said. “We trust you, gorgeous. Mostly because you’ve yelled your last ‘surprise, bitch’ for a lifetime.”

I rolled my eyes as they burst out laughing. I told them all what happened, and after kissing me and making sure I was okay, they lost their shit. We’d laugh about this night for a long time. I only hoped that we’d do it with Alistair after Everleigh was gone and I made up for the terrible things I said to him.

A glance out the window told me the sun finished its daily retreat across the sky. “Let’s get going. We’re splitting up, yes?”

The guys exchanged a look. It impressed me how they did that. Communicated with each other without words. They were a tight-knit unit long before I came along. Four young men given a destiny and then cast out to fulfill it on their own. What kind of fate was it that the daughter of the Rogue king fell in love with them?

Lucien tossed me his keys. “You and Cato take my car. I can walk to my cabin.”

I linked my hand through Cato’s. “I just hope it is one of these three and that the cabin wasn’t sold and bulldozed years ago.”

“Katie told you that she avoids her home like it’s a plague hospital. She’s going somewhere that she doesn’t want her parents and friends to know about. The former home of her fugitive father is just as good a guess as any.”

All I had was that hope, so I held on to it. “Remember. The cabin will be one story and outrageously grand.”

With that, we headed out and went our separate ways.

Cato dropped his backpack in the back seat. The guys lost almost everything in the fire, but somehow my muzzled love held on to a pack full of lighters, torches, and jewelry he maintained wasn’t stolen.

The ride to East Regalia felt longer than the forty minutes it took. I kept a stranglehold on the steering wheel, Alistair’s face playing on a loop in my mind. I would do everything possible to end the war with Everleigh quickly and make it up to him. Those last few days—talking about our childhood, comparing our uncannily similar likes and dislikes, and telling him all the things I could never say to a normal father. I loved it.

I wanted to get to know this man who already knew me so well. One Starling stole eighteen years from us. The next Starling would not get any more.

My part of town fell away before East Regalia. I didn’t spend much time in this part of Regalia, though not for the same reason the Royals didn’t. Every part of Regalia was a wealthy town for wealthy people, but not all money was the same money. Or something stupid like that.

Old money like the Wilsons and the Burkhardts claimed West Regalia. That left East Regalia to the new-money families like Dean’s. Having new money still made you a Dreg because, like I said, this town is stupid.

I weaved through eclectic neighborhoods with modern homes, game board cafés, clubs, and the infamous Hometown Country Fried. This part of town had less beach and more woods. Likely why the old-money Regalians claimed the west for themselves. They went to bed every night watching the sunset on the ocean while they sipped chamomile tea on the balcony. East Regalians watched crows shit on their lawn.

“I’ll take the car in as close as I can,” I said, ending the quiet. “Then we’ll go the rest of the way on foot.”

Cato nodded. “Yes.”

I eyed him out of the corner of my eye. “You know that, in all likelihood, this is the correct cabin, right? If I was a two-bit piece of trash in hiding while I tried to kill my former best friend, I’d pick a hideout that wasn’t in his backyard.”

“Yes.”

My voice hardened. “And if I’m right and Everleigh is in this cabin, we’re not waiting around for the other guys to get here.”

“Yes.”

“Flaming wrecking ball?”

Cato turned to me, smirk curling his lips. I didn’t notice until then his favorite skull lighter flipped between his fingers. “Yes.”

“I love you so much right now.”

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