Page 26 of Between Imminent Fates

“Can you hold out for another week?”

Needing to lighten her load, he adopted his most debonair smirk. “Absolutely. I have your word he’ll live?”

The solemn look gave way to a smile. “Yes. You’re a moral compass, Jax. Always pointing straight north. That’s one of the things I appreciate most about you.”

Just as quickly, Key sobered. Something behind the way she suddenly pulled away from him made him realize there was more under the surface. The emotion that pulled her eyebrows together wasn’t sorrow or anger, it wasguilt.

“What is it?”

The silence stretched between them. Jax could feel the racing heartbeat, her fingers clutched tightly in his. A barely visible shiver worked its way through her, but just before he opened his mouth to apologize, she spoke.

“I’ve had to do things, Jax,” she murmured, “things that most people would find morally wrong. If I hadn’t, the future wouldn’t have played out in the way it needed to, but that’s no excuse. The sins that stain my hands—they’ll never wash off.”

The words were charged with guilt so deep Jax could barely fathom it. He tugged her against him, shielding her from the world, as she trembled. Though he longed to sweep it under the rug, he knew she’d brought it up for a reason.

“Key, if you want to tell me what those things are, I’m here to listen,” he said. “And if you don’t, that’s okay.”

She was quiet for a few moments. Neither watched the movie that played in the background, the actors’ laughter at odds with their current situation. Gently strumming his hand across her back, Jax made up his mind: he wouldn’t judge her for the sins she’d been forced to commit.

“A decade ago,” she began, “I gave Torrin Scayde a photograph of a man named Lucius. On the back, it said that he was a vampire, and that Torrin could find him at the address of a building in New York City.”

Jax remained silent but urged her to continue with a nod.

“That one single photograph doomed Lucius to a week where he suffered the worst kinds of torture. He was abducted, beaten, and blinded, and it was all because of me.” Key’s voice wavered as she grappled with her tears. “I’m the reason Lucius was taken. He’s a good man, Jax, and I threw him to our enemies.”

Jax held her close. Wrestling with what she’d revealed, he said, “Was there any good that came from it?”

“He met his mate,” she sniffed. “She rescued him from theCitizensand nursed him back to health. And from there, so many people found their soul mates. It set off a chain reaction that allowed everything to fall into place.”

“Sometimes, bad things have to happen to make way for the good.”

Key clutched at his shirt, sobbing through it all. He hated that he couldn’t alleviate this pain for her, but he could be present with her while she battled it. Guilt could rip a person apart, and talking through it would be one way to help her sort through those dark feelings.

Night gradually fell outside. They fell asleep snuggled together on the couch as they had so many times before. When he woke up near midnight, she was gone.

***

Jax couldn’t help but be impressed. The sheer volume of material Key had organized with relation to his mission was astounding. An architectural layout of Torrin’s apartment, complete with 3D room renderings, was printed and laid in front of him. In addition to that, a rough timeline and Torrin’s one-page biography was alongside them.

The handwritten document contained every werewolf kennel location currently in existence. Over the years, Key had found all of them—except two. Though Jax had done some digging on his end, he’d come up short.

Key had explained that the list would only be available during a short timeframe. After the housekeeper left, they had approximately two minutes before Torrin returned home.

For the last two hours, they’d been pouring over their plan of attack. Jax had set his watch to a timer—he would only have a minute after the heat kicked on before he had to get on the elevator. If Torrin caught him, it was game over.

Fortunately, Jax always functioned better under pressure.

It was nearing seven when he found himself on the sidewalk outside of a towering Manhattan apartment building. Key hovered beside him, her hand locked in his. Time and time again, having a cool and level head on missions had been in his favor. That sentiment prevailed even now, when he would use his training to enter Torrin’s apartment.

“Remember: when you’re in there, all you need to do is find his laptop bag. Grab the list, and we’re in the clear.”

“On it.”

She handed him a matte black card with ‘P42’ stamped on one side. The card would get him into the penthouse, and then the real game would begin. “Please, just be careful. If you’re not out in five, I’ll be forced to come in after you.”

He glared at her. “Absolutely not. You said it was dangerous for a Raeth to enter that apartment. Promise me you won’t.”

Though she looked taken aback by his sudden decree, she nodded.

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