Page 22 of The Merciless

“Two birds with one stone.” She murmured and Angel crossed his arms, pursuing his lips as she avoided his gaze and continued,

“And when you came after me, it was the perfect opportunity to make the alliance official. After that, it was just a matter of pushing a block to begin the domino effect.”

And it clicked.

Il Senza Nome.

Holy shit.

“But then the event digressed,” Sorin added tightly, and Angel turned to him, not speaking out loud just yet, “June’s death, the ambush, it all came from nowhere.”

Even Ray looked deep in thought at his words, “It didn’t harm our plans, but it was an unwanted surprise.” She spoke. Angel suddenly recalled June Kincaid, the way her lifeless body was sprawled on the ground. Ray’s show, Maya’srage. But he didn’t offer his condolences. Not after she’d trusted him to keep her connection to their family a secret.

Ray turned to him then, matching his gaze to show a flicker of gratitude.

“I knew the Ravens would do everything in their power to secure the alliance after Martin acted like an idiot,” she said and Angel sighed, defeated by her words. She shot him a sympathetic smile, “So I planted Sorin. You could blame him and gain a higher favor with the Lions, making my job all the more easier.” A glance at Sorin, who shrugged, “I just had to make sure the moment was perfect for you to spill it.”

“And you got that moment after the ambush at the hotel.” Angel murmured and Ray’s shoulders bunched up,

“That’s the thing,” she said, “That ambush wasn’t planned byme.”

His brow arched, “Really? And here I thought getting hurt was your way of proving yourundyingloyalty to the Larsens.”

She shot him an unamused look,

“June’s death, hell hercomingthere, the ambush, none of it was planned by me.” She said, and her gaze flickered to Ira, who straightened beside him, “It worked in our favor, but then Ira told me about them being the Nameless group, and–” she inhaled sharply and shook her head. Angel watched her, the pieces of the puzzle not fitting together in his mind.

“So, they’re still out there. The vigilante group who’s trying to tear everyone down?” Jack said, thoroughly confused as Ray shared an amused glance with Myra, “And ifyouwere the one who was behind the attack last year–”

Angel saw Mia shoot Jack a withering glance,

“Theyarethe Nameless, you moron.”

And confirmed.Angel blinked calmly as Jack’s head whipped to face them and Mia grumbled from beside Christina, “How’d you make it till now?”

“So, the people who were behind June’s death, the ones who hired Ira,” Jack turned to look at her. The younger girl had her mouth open in surprise, her chips forgotten as she stared at Ray’s face, “They’re not you?”

Ray opened her mouth to reply when Ira shot forward and started hastily in Italian, “You were…are you–” were the only words he seemed to understand as she streamlined and rambled.

Angel blinked his surprise, unable to understand the incoherent string of her Italian words. He shook his head when Ray shot her a rueful smile and she continued rambling quickly,

“Wait, wait,” he began, making Ira pause beside him as he turned to her, “Slow down. You’re going to give me a whiplash.”

Ira’s face dropped into a deadpan. She pointed at Ray, “Il Senza Nome,” she said as if she were talking to a child and pointed at herself,

“Surprised.”

Angel narrowed his gaze, “I don’t like your attitude right now, kid,”

She clicked her tongue but turned away from him with a flick of her hair. Angel scoffed and crossed his arms, shifting away from her. Ray grinned a bit from up ahead, the action lighting up her face as she replied to Ira,

“Imagine my surprise when I got to know that someone was using our name to killme,”she scoffed and turned to Neera, who sat with her shoulder tensed, staring steely at Luke, “A part of me thought one of my friends had gone rogue.”

Friends, Angel noted,not people. Not gang. Friends.

He breathed out. This friendship, these people, had all known each other for far too long, had been planning this for too long. Just as he had been. They’d just been stealthier. Better.

“So, what wastheirjob?” Luke asked, pointing at the rest of them, “While you were cushioning up to Lions, what were they meant to do?”

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