Page 77 of Entangled

I tug my lower lip between my teeth. Sam is undoubtedly going back to Cyanide, and from his speech the night Jorge died, I know he doesn’t plan to stay there. He and the Sinners want more of everything—territory, food, women. He’s not going to stop.

Sam is a threat.

And not only to us, either. My stomach churns when I think of all the women and children he’s keeping there for his bone-chilling purposes. They must be desperate and frightened, and they haveno onefighting for them.

Except Alastair.

Alastair might be a villain, but he’s a villain of a different sort—and he can’t free anyone while he’s tied to a tree.

Alastair’s pale eyes creak open, and I’m about to start asking him my own questions when his gaze shifts to something behind me.

I whirl around, heart pounding, only to find Dom leaning against a tree, his arms crossed over his chest.

Watching me.

I press a hand to my chest. “Would you please make some noise if you’re going to do that?”

Dom cocks a brow. “Pay more attention to your surroundings.”

My heart rate slowly returns to a normal rhythm. “I was just...”

That brow lifts higher.

I huff, then look back down at the two men. Alastair’s eyes are closed again, but I don’t trust one whit that he’s truly unconscious. Small hairs lift along my arms, and I’m not sure if it’s the cool night or my own uneasiness.

“Did you really have to hurt them?” I ask softly. “Couldn’t you just ask for whatever information you need?”

Dom snorts. “Justask. Why didn’t I think of that?”

My cheeks flush, and he kicks off the tree and takes my elbow, leading me a short distance away. The dry leaves crackle under our feet until we find a still-green spot littered with boulders. The air feels damper here and rich, loamy soil has a soft give under my boots. It’s a smaller space... and an intimate one.

“We asked. They gave us bare details but nothing of use.” Dom’s hand lingers on my elbow for a touch too long before he releases it. “They say that Sam and his right-hand man are the only ones with the codes to enter the hospital—no one can get in without one of them authorizing it.”

Surprise, then unexpected pleasure bursts in my chest. Dom is actually sharing information.Withoutbeing asked.

Beating down on my delight, I try to focus on his words. Something about them niggles at my memory.

“I think that must be true,” I say slowly. “When they first brought me to the camp, Sam implied that no one could hurt him—that they needed him. He said that he could throw Alastair and Mateo out.”

Dom nods once, and I can’t help but notice the strong lines of his jaw. The pretty, healthy glow of his skin under his five-o’clock shadow. He’s had a chance to clean up... and clean suits him as well as being dirty does.

“I believe it,” he says in a grim tone. “But if they can’t get in or out without him, and if they can’t be leveraged as hostages?—”

I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Sam doesn’t care about them. They cause him some trouble, I think.”

And a lot more of it, if Alastair can get back to the Den.

“Right. So they’re useless to us.”

I glance up, and the press of his lips is terribly ominous. The intimate night suddenly seems bleak and threatening, and the earthy scent of decaying leaves reminds me too much of death.

“You’re planning to... to kill them?”

The gold in his eyes isn’t liquid and warm now. It’s cooled metal extinguished in a forge.

“We can’t afford to keep them, Eden.” He looks away from me, leaning against a rock. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he lookedconflicted. “I’m not making the same mistake with them as I did with Sam. I’m not letting them go free only to have them turn around and bite us on the ass down the line. They killed Thomas, they attacked Bristlebrook—they earned their deaths.”

I tilt my head, frustration rising. “Are you trying to convince yourself or me?”

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