Page 94 of Reign By Wrath

“Yeah, that’s right. After she fucking murdered someone at the last slumber party. She’s throwing another one that she says will be even bigger and better. She’s laughing at us, Sinclair. She’s laughing at you. Are you really going to lie there and take it?”

I clenched my jaw. I wasn’t sure who I was angrier at in that moment. “When do you do something, Saylor? I handed you the T.O.D. Club on a platter. What happened with that?”

“I was blocked from the site that night. I’ve got the information to make them break from Everleigh, but I can’t use it. For some reason, every email or text I send to a Royal is blocked or bounces back unopened.” Her grip tightened on the fork. “I can’t go up to every one of them in person and say I’ve got dirt on them that’ll spill if they don’t ditch Everleigh.

“That’s how you get punched in the face.”

“It’s Wolfgang,” I spat. “Fucking hell, that man is smart.”

“Now you see why you need to load that mess in the shower and help me figure out a new plan.” She gestured to all of me. I was “that mess.”

“I can’t help you, Saylor.” I flipped over, giving her my back. “She beat me, okay? Everleigh’s too good. She’s been planning this too long. Every time I think I’ve one-upped her, she destroys my life in a new way. I can’t do it anymore.”

“Wow.”

A hard, vicious pain cracked my skull. “Ow!”

“Shut up, or I’ll throw something else! What is wrong with you, Sinclair? I thought you loved those freaks!”

“I do!”

“Then why are you giving up on them? You know they wouldn’t give up on you.”

My lips trembled. I squeezed my eyes shut. “Of course they wouldn’t. They’d never stop fighting to get me back, and they’d win. My guys are smart, Saylor. They’re twisted, resourceful, clever, and always a step ahead. The reason they’ve failed... is because of me.

“I hung the stupid flag, lured Everleigh out, and got myself trapped in a burning building. I’m the reason they found the weapons stash. It was my blundering around on the T.O.D. site that turned Wolfgang’s attention on us.

“I didn’t burn that bitch alive the first chance I got, and she was able to strike back hard—getting Victor taken and my father killed. Me, me, me!” There was a clang behind me. I guessed my scream made her drop the fork. “I’m no badass. I played at being one, and the result got everyone I love hurt.

“If I go after Everleigh again and fail, it’ll be my guys that she kills next. I can’t go through that again. I won’t.”

“I, I, I. Me, me, me.” Her mocking tone grated on my ears. “You talk a lot of selfish, pitying bullshit, Sinclair. Okay, fine. Everleigh’s smart. She fooled you. But the only way she’ll truly win is if you and I give up.

“The Rogues and Victor didn’t become twisted and cunning overnight. They learned to start thinking like their enemies,” she said. “They mastered the art of turning the tables. You have too, Luna.”

I turned my bleary gaze on her. “I did?”

“Yes. That whole thing with selling my texts. I hate to say it, but it was genius. Dozens upon dozens of people have tried to take me down, humiliate me, or dent the Burkhardt name. And you did it so simply and easily. I’ll always hate you deep down inside for it.

“If you can do that to me, you can do it to Everleigh. She’s half the target I am.” Saylor handed me my plate. The last pancake—for me. “You’re smart enough to win, Luna.

“Better than that, you’re strong.”

Gently, I took the plate, looking back at the smiley face Mom made out of chocolate chips.

It was true. Every plan I made against Everleigh failed. She was off celebrating her nine-year-long victory while I mourned the loss of almost everyone I loved in a stale room.

I flicked to the laptop that lay on the carpet. Giving it to me didn’t make my life easier. I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure that there was now a huge target on my back. Plus, knowing where the Rogues lived didn’t give me crap.

It wasn’t like I was about to show up on an assassin’s doorstep and say,you work for me now. Why in the hell would experienced, dangerous criminals fall in line behind a teenage girl? Even one who could expose them and what they do.

Alistair trusted me with this, but I didn’t have a clue what to do next, with the laptop or with the information Astoria gave me. I could hop out of bed right then, plaster on some determination, then set off to provoke Everleigh into killing me for good. A lot of help I’d be to my guys then.

“You really think I can do this?” I whispered.

“I think you don’t have a choice. So go do it.”

I was quiet for a long time. So long, Saylor had time to snoop through my room, use the bathroom, go downstairs for more pancakes, then eat them in front of me while my single one went cold.

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