TRISTAN
“We aren’t going to another safe house?” Kenna asked from the back seat.
“It’s time to go on the offensive,” Scar answered for me. “We’ve been hiding for too long—I’ve been hiding for too long. I’m tired of running from those assholes. And now that my father is dead, I think we have a better shot of…” She trailed off, trying to find the word she was looking for.
“Killing them all?” Sebastian asked, his voice scratchy from the pain meds.
“Winning?” I asked her, cutting Seb off before he could promise any more violence.
“Making it right,” she finally said. Seb huffed from the back seat, and Scarlet turned around to face him. “I’ll let you kill everyone that hurt me, okay, love?”
I looked into the rearview mirror and watched his eyes light up with the promise. He nodded, and she laughed, turning back around.
“But I still don’t think we should jump to any conclusions about Motshan. My gut is telling me there’s more to that story. Anyway,” she continued quickly, making sure neither Seb nor I could chime in and tell her how stupid we think her plan is, “we’re going to the loft in the city.”
“I thought it was destroyed…” Kenna’s voice trailed off.
“It was,” Finn told her, his voice just as rough as Seb’s. “But we got it cleaned up and refurbished.”
“Melody loved that place,” I said, sifting through the memories I had with Mel in that apartment. All of the dinners and laughs we all had together. “She would’ve wanted us to fix it up, live in it, be happy in it. Even if it was without her.”
It still choked me up to think about her, to think about how terrified she had to be in those final moments. I hated myself every day for not saving her. I swallowed against the lump in my throat, and Scarlet reached over to grab my hand.
“It isn’t your fault,” she whispered as the others talked amongst themselves in the back seat. “You have to let yourself believe that.”
“I’m trying,” I said quietly, squeezing her hand and taking some of the comfort she offered.
“When are you going home?” I heard Finn ask Kenna behind me.
“She isn’t,” Scarlet said, whipping her head around to face them both. “She isn’t going home until this shit is over. It isn’t safe. She stays with us.”
“Yes, thank you, momma bear,” Kenna laughed.
“You’re welcome as long as you want to stay, Kenna,” I told her, meeting her eyes in the mirror. She smiled shyly and nodded before laying her head on Finn’s shoulder. Scarlet told me she had a talk with him, making sure he had her best interests at heart.
I trusted Finn, but I also understood where she was coming from. Kenna hadn’t been handed the same life we all had. She wasn’t used to living in a constant state of readiness for the worst and barely hoping for the best.
We pulled into the parking garage underneath the building, and I navigated us over to the private parking we had for our cars and motorcycles. Kenna and I helped Finn out of the car, and Scarlet went to Seb’s side. By the time we were all out of the car and walking towards the elevator, Elliot had pulled in.
“I’m going to help him get all of our stuff, okay?” I told Scarlet. “You guys get these two upstairs, and I’ll be right up. Simon is already up there waiting for us, so it’s clear and safe.” I leaned in and gave Scarlet a kiss before jogging off.
“There’s some gossip going around,” Elliot said as I approached him around the back of the SUV.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, throwing a bag over my shoulder. “What kind of gossip?”
“Word on the street is that Motshan may be planning something…something that would work in our favor.”
I hummed and closed the door after we got the last of the bags.
“So, we’re saying that there may be a possibility that Scarlet is right? That we could possibly trust him to be on our side?”
“At least hers,” he answered.
My phone dinged as we stepped onto the elevator, and I fished it out with effort to see an unknown number pop up on my screen.
“Speak of the devil,” I said, prompting Elliot to look at the screen.
“And he shall appear.”