Rack & Ruin (THIRDS 3)

“I know you’re awake. I can tell by your breathing.”

Fucking Therians.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep playing dead.”

Dex did as he was told. He listened to all the sounds around him, but it was nearly impossible to tell where he was. It was cool and had an outdoorsy smell, but they were definitely indoors. There were the sounds of several footsteps from at least three others and the opening and closing of heavy doors. A door shrieked somewhere and slammed. Metal. Dex could tell the place was dimly lit. Although the bandana around his eyes was black, there was a little light coming in from underneath. A door close by opened and then closed, and Dex felt a breeze against his face and heard the distant sound of busy traffic and blaring car horns. They were outside. Then Dex was dropped on a seat. Ash’s truck. The ropes binding his ankles and wrists were sliced off and the gag removed.

“Keep the blindfold on until I say so.”

The door slammed to his right, and Dex sat unmoving, his temper simmering under the surface. He heard the engine of Ash’s monster pickup truck roar to life, and a seatbelt was roughly pulled across Dex’s chest. It clicked into place, and then the truck was moving. A few minutes later, the blindfold was yanked off, taking some of Dex’s hair along with it.

“Fucking shit.” Dex was seething, especially since Ash was sitting there looking so goddamn calm. “How long have you been a traitor?”

“Don’t be such a fucking drama queen.”

“Are you kidding me?” He didn’t even know where to start with how pissed off he was. If he didn’t think punching Ash across the jaw might get them killed, he’d have done it by now. “You son of a bitch! How could you do this? To Sloane? To Cael?”

“I don’t need Sloane’s permission. And Cael—Cael’s just a kid. He’s a teammate. That’s all.”

“Bullshit. I don’t believe that. You care about him. Everything you said about him back there was bullshit.” That much Dex believed. “And I know it. You want to know why?”

“Not particularly.”

“Well you’re going to hear it anyway. Because there was no way you were pretending back in the hospital when Cael was there. I saw you. From the moment I joined the team, I’ve seen how you are with him.”

“Ever heard that expression, mind your own damn business?”

“How is this not my business? My teammate, my boyfriend’s best friend, the guy my brother’s totally crazy about is a traitor. How—”

“Cael’s crazy about me?”

Dex opened his mouth, then closed it. “Seriously? Some asshole knocked me out and kidnapped me, wanted to off me, and you’re working with the Coalition, but you want to talk about your love life?”

“Did Cael say he was crazy about me?”

It was like talking to a fucking brick wall. But Ash’s grave expression told Dex he was serious about this. Fine. As long as he had Ash’s attention, he’d go with it. “I don’t know how you did it, or why the hell you deserve it, but yeah, he’s got it bad for you. I thought you knew. You told that asshole as much.”

“I figured as much, but it’s different hearing it confirmed by you.” Ash’s stern expression never wavered.

Dex shook his head, feeling a lump form in his throat. “Doesn’t matter though. Whatever you do, you’re going to end up breaking his heart.” The verdict on Ash’s sexuality was still out, though the whole straight image was swiftly crumbling. Even if Ash did feel something for Cael, he had bigger problems right now than relationship issues.

“What the fuck do you know about me?”

“Clearly not as much as I thought,” Dex snapped. “I might not have liked you, but at least I had some goddamn respect for you.” The truck came to a skidding halt, and Ash lunged across the seat. He grabbed Dex by the collar with both hands and jerked him close. His amber eyes were glowing and dilated, his fangs elongating.

“Now you listen to me. This isn’t one of your stupid karaoke nights. These guys don’t fuck around. Right now I’m the only thing keeping them from putting a bullet in you. You want to keep our team safe? You shut the fuck up. And keep Cael away from me.”

Before Dex could utter a word, Ash unfastened Dex’s seatbelt, opened the door behind Dex, and shoved him out. Dex flailed and turned, landing painfully on the sidewalk with a groan. He heard a door slam and the sound of screeching tires. Ash was gone.

Dex sat up and rubbed his arm where he’d landed. He stared down the street, watching Ash’s taillights get farther and farther away. For the longest time, he sat there in a daze. It took him a while to realize he was on his street. Ash had dropped him off at his house.

Not caring who saw him, Dex drew his knees up and let his elbows rest on them. He dropped his head into his hands and tried to figure out his next move. For the first time in his life, he was at a loss. When his ex-partner had killed that young Therian, Dex had known what the right thing to do was, despite knowing what it would do to his career. Now here he was again, facing the betrayal of someone close to him. Someone who he’d trusted with his life. He might not have gotten along with Ash, but he was big enough to admit he admired certain aspects of the fierce agent. The right thing to do would be to step forward and tell the truth.

But what if Ash was telling the truth about their team being in danger? Had it been an idle threat to get Dex off his back? To scare him? He’d never seen that side of Ash. He’d all but gone feral inside the truck. Dex had almost been… intimidated. Dex pulled out his phone, scrolled through his contacts until he reached his dad’s number. His finger hovered over the “Call” button. What made Ash any different from Walsh? What if Ash had hunted alongside his fellow Coalition members and joined in on beating the shit out of the Order’s followers?

“Fuck me,” Dex groaned. Why was this shit always happening to him? Why couldn’t someone else have discovered Ash’s little secret? “Fuck this. Fuck that. Fuck everything. Fuck!” He fell onto his back, glowering at the tree branches above him. It was a nice night. A little orange-and-brown bird chirped and hopped down a branch, coming to stop over Dex’s head. “If you shit on me, I will shoot

you.” The little bird chirped and Dex sighed. “I won’t shoot you, but I will definitely get pissed.” Well wasn’t this just awesome. He heard an indignant scoff and tilted his head back.