Page 82 of Siege of Blood and Betrayal

I hang up, my stomach churning. It takes everything in me not to crush the phone in my hand and throw it across the room. I turn to Scottie instead. “The rat is on his way.”

Zane cracks his knuckles, his eyes still blazing red. “I am going to rip his throat out and paint the world with his blood.”

Scottie shakes her head. “First, we get him to talk. Then, when we’ve got verified intel on Daeva and her army, you can set your inner artist free and Jackson Pollock the world.”

Zane dips his chin. “Done deal.”

When he rushes out of the living room to take a call from Tripp, I make eye contact with Tucker and tilt my head toward the door. The guy might be a brute, but he’s got impeccable manners.

He steps away and leaves me alone with Scottie.

I draw a breath, but my lungs feel like lead. Where did all the oxygen in the room go? Damn, it’s been years since she twisted me up like this.

She must sense my hesitation because she looks up from zipping her hoodie and meets my gaze. “What?”

“I owe you an apology.”

Her brow arches. “Just one? Is this about you accusing me of conspiring to steal your destiny, or you lying to score my virginity and then ghosting me, or something else?”

I hush her and look around, ensuring our conversation is still private. “For fuck’s sake, Scottie. Don’t bring that up. Zane doesn’t know and he doesn’t need to. He’s broken up enough about that night without twisting the knife.”

She rolls her eyes. “No. You’re a fucking coward and you don’t want your bestie to know you’re a liar who didn’t skip a heartbeat to coerce me into giving you my body when he turned me down.”

I frown. “Is that what you tell yourself? Because the way I remember it, I came to check on you and offer you a shoulder to cry on and you shoved your tongue in my mouth and your hand in my pants.”

“I was heartbroken, and you took advantage.”

“I was fucking in love with you and thought you finally realized that the moon didn’t rise and set on Zane.”

“You were what?”

Fucking hell. Did I just say that? Any chance I can reverse time and go back two minutes to erase that conversation?

“Huntley, look at me.”

I lock away my emotions and meet her gaze with a blank stare. “We arenotgetting into this now. I was apologizing to you for being an asshole about the squire powers and my place as Zane’s Sacred Squire. You proved, once again, that no matterwhat I say, I’ll always be the dog shit you’re scuffing off the bottom of your shoe.”

I wait for her to say something, her mouth bobbing open and closed like a dazed fish. “If you were in love with me, why did you leave in the middle of the night and refuse to talk to me the next day? You wouldn’t even look at me.”

I throw up my hands. “Stop talking about this. We have more important things going on. And don’t worry. Whatever I saw in you, I don’t see it now. That is so seven years ago.”

Tucker

I catch the tail end of a conversation as I come back to the living room—Huntley and Scottie, voices low but tight. Whatever they’re discussing, it’s got past drama written all over it. I hang back for a second, listening to the final few words exchanged before Huntley stalks off, and I hear Scottie take a deep breath like she’s steadying herself.

That’s my cue.

I step into the living room, my boots quiet on the hardwood. Scottie’s standing near the window, arms crossed over her chest, her brow furrowed in thought.

She looks up as I approach, her eyes softening when they land on me, but there’s still that weight she’s carrying.

I hate seeing her like this.

“Hey, beautiful.” I keep my voice light as I close the distance between us. “You okay?”

She exhales slowly, then shrugs, giving me a half-smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “I’m fine. Remember the part where Iwarned you my life is a dumpster fire right now? Well, another Molotov cocktail just burst into flame.”

I leave it at that. If she wants to talk about the pains of the past, I’m here. Otherwise, I’ll happily be her safe haven in the present. “Anything I can do?”

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