Page 19 of Inside the Wicked

“Find Rhett Kaiser.”

Both his brows shoot up then as he sets his cup down. Jacob leans back in his chair skeptically.

“Where did you hear that he’s even alive after all this time?”

“That doesn’t matter. Can you do it?”

“If you’re asking if I know every possible location my enemy owns, then yes. You could say it’s a particular hobby of mine to store meticulous intel so our networks don’t cross territories.”

Hope sparks in my chest. “We’ve tried many of his estates and locations, but we can’t have them all.”

“Ahh, and by ‘we,’ you mean Kaiser’s adorable vigilante group effort.”

The mockery and belittlement of Xoid makes my teeth clench. “Can you find him or not?” I grind out.

“Perhaps.” He shrugs as if it means little to him as he looks out over the city. “But you forget he owes me a lot of money, darling. It’s brave of you to tell me he’s out there. What’s stopping me from finding him myself and having my vengeance?”

“Me,” I say. Confidence squares my shoulders as I grab his attention.

“I have you,” he counters.

“Do you know Silas Belenheizer is in town?”

“Of course. I’m guessing Lanshall is making a move now if he’s told you.”

“He wants to use me to gain full allegiance with Damien.”

A muscle in his jaw shifts. I’d like to think I’ve become observant of his tells after all our meetings. He’s calculating as he always likes to figure things out for himself.

“Marriage,” he concludes.

My lips press together, and Jacob smiles at his own brilliance. “If you find Rhett, I’ll follow Alistair’s plan, but it’ll be you I’ll tell Silas and Damien I want to ally with.”

Jacob chuckles. “I’m not a fool, Anastasia. If I find Kaiser and you and the savior crew somehow manage to get him out with your lives, Kaiser will never let you go. I would have to kill him.”

“He’ll let me go if I say that’s what I want.”

“Again, I don’t know what you take me for, but I don’t believe that for a second. Then I would have to kill you too for the lie, and what a pretty waste that would be.”

“What if I can get Damian and Silas to ally with you without the marriage?”

“That would be your ideal situation, which often makes it the hardest to achieve.”

“Would we have a deal?”

Jacob’s eyes flare with intrigue. “If you can arrange for Silas Balenheizer to meet with me and convince me of an alliance, I’ll get you Rhett Kaiser’s precise location.”

It’s a dangerous game I’m playing, but Rhett is worth it. I feel triumph in my strides toward getting him back, and I can only hope it won’t take much time. I don’t know how I’m going to pull it off with Silas. Truthfully, it’s the most frightening prospect I’ve faced so far, but Ihaveto make this work.

I turn cold suddenly at the thought of Silas telling Alistair about my proposal with Jacob. It would all be over. Alistair might even reveal Rhett to me just to make me watch as he puts a bullet in his head for the betrayal.

“Backing out already?” Jacob muses as if he can hear my every haunting thought.

I take a deep breath to compose myself and have a drink of my tea to make sure I can speak. “No. I’m just planning out my strategy.”

Jacob knows it’s a lie, but he doesn’t call it out. “You think you’re ready to play in the lion’s den?”

“I’m already here, and I’m not the prey this time.”

---