Page 126 of A Warrior's Fate

The laugh that followed was stilted.

“How bad is it?”

In response to Davina’s question, the other three wolves rehashed everything Isla had already known. About the rogues traveling up the banks, their vehicles, the road to the hall, their taking to the city squares.

Isla began dressing.

“They shouldn’t have even been able to get through Abalys,” Ameera said. “I’m telling you, Kai. Something’s off.”

“I know,” Kai breathed. Isla nearly didn’t hear it. “The hall was a distraction.”

Her eyebrows shot up.

“A distraction?” Davina invoked Isla’s thoughts.

Rhydian spoke up before his mate could formally ask for elaboration. “The ones in the city weren’t going around killing and wreaking havoc for the hell of it.”

“They were looking for something,” Ameera concluded.

“Like what?”

“Yet another thing for me to figure out,” Kai grumbled. Behind her door, even if he couldn’t see, Isla shook her head. What else could go wrong? “The ones we took into custody are being interrogated now, but I doubt they’ll break.”

“We wanted to check on you guys,” Rhydian said, and Isla could hear as he placed a kiss on her cheek.

“What about the ones from the hall?” Davina inquired.

“Dead from what I’ve heard,” Kai said, and Isla stiffened. “I went after the ones that tried to get away, and then into the lower part of the city. I trusted Isla and Ezekiel to handle them however they saw fit.”

What?

Kai had trusted her to take over—and she’d gone on and slaughtered everyone she found.

“Which is completely against warrior protocol, by the way,” Ameera said. “Given they haven’t been sanctioned for action yet in Abalys, forget about Mavec in the Pack Hall filled with our most important pack members. You know you’ve set yourself up for a massive headache with the almighty asshole—and that’s referring to the Imperial Alpha, not my father. Though he’ll be a pain in your ass, too.”

From her spot, Isla’s eyes averted to the grate by the sink. She traced them over the metal. If one looked close enough, they’d realize the screws were loose. Sebastian would never be in her room in Deimos to give her a hard time for using the same hiding spot again. If they reached inside the vent, they’d find the book and marker, stained with Lukas’s blood.

She was reminded of her and Kai’s conversation from before the rogues attacked. How he thought Io was responsible for the deaths of his brother and father. How he thought someone of her pack, maybe someone she’d known, had wanted her dead.

Why—he’d never gotten to tell her.

But these things…

She knew the marker, the book, and the message from the killer tied together somehow.

And whether they connected to Io, whether they proved or disproved Kai’s theories, they meant something. She needed to know why.

“Did you forget you’re a warrior too?” Rhydian said.

“You know why I am,” Ameera countered, voice the softest it had been. “But regardless, that also doesn’t mean I can’t think for myself and see what’s really going on…as much as I hate to agree with my father. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of this was—”

“Not here,” Kai cut her off harshly, and it was followed by more quiet and whispers so delicate, Isla couldn’t glean them for the life of her.

Pathetically, she pressed her ear to the door, curious what else they’d tried to discuss when she wasn’t in their immediate presence.

“We should go,” Kai said, a little louder. “I need to be at the hall.”

Silence.

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