Page 161 of Lady Killer

The clearing was bigger than I expected, making it far too easy to stick to Lucian’s decree to stay at least fifty feet away, and I used the remaining couple of minutes to explore.

Moving in, I could see that there had been some foot traffic to and from the house. Trails of broken plants showed where people had been. There were at least six different paths weaving around the field, making me wonder who else had been here.

My leggings and shoes were quickly soaked through, and I regretted not wearing something more appropriate for traipsing through a wet field. Ever and the twins had been kitted out in field gear, and I wondered if they might not have considered offering me some.

The phone went off, and I looked over my shoulder.

There was no one to be found.

Keeping my eyes peeled now, I hurried back to stand next to the car before opening the message.

UNKNOWN: If you want your friend to have a chance, it’s going to cost you, Penelope.

UNKNOWN: But first, call out your guard dogs. I know you brought them.

I looked around for any sign that I was being watched but still found nothing, so I thumbed a quick message to Alister.

Twentyseconds later, Everest popped out of the tree line, roughly twenty feet to my left, while Alister and Nixon appeared moments later, farther along the edge of the clearing.

“They know you’re here,” I said, chewing on my lip.

“Of course they do, love. Like I said, no one who knows what they’re doing shows up alone.”

“I thought you said to never trust killers?”

“That too, darling, that too.” Even as he teased me, Everest never stopped surveying the field around us.

As the twins got close, my phone went again off.

“He’s got eyes on us,” Ever snarled, his hostility growing.

“What do they want now?” said Nixon, stomping over to my side while Alister came to a stop in front of me.

“They say I need to complete a task first, and then they’ll tell me where Autumn is.” Pursing my lips, I looked over to my right. “And they said you can help me.”

“All of us?” asked Alister.

“No, they said specifically Nixon.”

“Well, what do they want, love?”

“They haven’t—‍”

BUZZ.

The phone went off again. When I swiped it open, my heart frozein place.

It was a photo.

Grainy and taken from a distance, using a not-so-great camera. Still, there was no mistaking what it showed: a large suburban home set alight against a night sky, surrounded by fir trees.

Nixon and Ever peered over my shoulders.

“Cool, we need to burn this shit down,” the former said casually.

“Whose house is this?” asked Everest.

Alister simply stared at me.

---