Page 26 of Twisted Empire

Maddie pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Do you want to talk about the worst thing or just forget about it?”

“I don’t think I can forget.” I heaved a breath. “I already hated that someone died while I got my second chance. And now it turns out it was probably at the expense of someone who didn’t evenwantto donate their liver. Someone who was forced into it or maybe even killed so their organs could be taken and sold to save my life.”

Maddie gazed up at me, her dark blue eyes full of perfect certainty. “But none of that is your fault. You didn’t have any choice in it. Nothing you did then or now could have stopped it from happening. You know that, right?”

“I do,” I said, but my shoulders sagged again. “It still feels like shit.”

And as wrapped up as I was in Doom’s Seed’s crimes, the stolen organ inside me wasn’t even much use as evidence after how well the bastard had covered his tracks.

How the hell were we going to bring him down?

CHAPTERELEVEN

Madelyn

Summer shook her head dismissively before her smile shone from my phone’s screen, lifting my spirits. “It’s not like it matters where he got it from. I realize I’ve been hard on Logan, but evenIknow that no one could blame him for what his mom and that creepy crime boss did.”

I sighed and leaned back in the chair across from the side table where I’d propped up my phone for our video chat. “But it matters to him anyway. Someone could have been killed for him to get that liver, so I get why it’s hard for him to accept the situation. The really scary thing, though, is how far this reaches. We’ve found a few dozen recipients just in this city and the nearby areas. We think Doom’s Seed has been running the business farther abroad than that.”

“We’re talking all over the state?” Summer asked, balling a couple of socks together. I’d caught her in the middle of a laundry session.

“Possibly the entire country—or even outside it.”

My bestie paused in her laundry folding to gape at me. “Okay, that’s just crazy. How can you guys think you’ll take on this asshole on your own? No offense, but you’re not equipped for this, Madds. I don’t want to see any of you getting hurt—or even killed. And that includes even Logan.”

I wrinkled my nose at the fact that she’d added him as an aside. “I know,” I said. “But we aren’t on our own now. Beckett and his people are doing a lot of the legwork, and they’re on the same level as Doom’s Seed. They know what they’re doing.”

“If you say so.” Summer’s gaze slid from my face to what she could see of the room beyond me. “He definitely has nice digs. I guess I could see hooking up with a criminal overlord if it comes with perks like that.”

I mock-glowered at her. “I’m not with him for the perks. He’s honestly got one of the strongest moral codes out of anyone I know. It’s just… a little different from what we’re used to. And you can believe he’s doing whatever he can to protect me, even when I’d rather he didless.”

“Well, I approve of that side of him, anyway.” Summer winked at me. Then her smile faltered. “You’re sure you’re not taking on too much?”

“I think I’m safer getting to the bottom of this mess and making sure the people behind itcan’thurt us anymore than I am sticking my head in the sand and pretending it isn’t happening.”

“You might have a point there.” Summer grimaced. “Which is why I still haven’t told your parents what’s up, no matter how pissed off they are with me. Your mom and Logan’s dad pretty much hate me now, just so you know.”

“I’m sure they don’t hate you,” I said. “They’re just… frustrated. Which I get.”

“And so do I. But they have to accept that I’m sticking with you, and if I trust you, they should too.”

A weary smile crossed my face. Summer really was the best. A jab of guilt ran through my gut at the thought that I’d ever doubted her ability to handle the dangerous turn my life had taken.

“Has everything seemed normal on your end?” I had to ask.

My best friend nodded. “I’ve been keeping an eye out around school, but so far I haven’t noticed anything or anyone sketchy. No sign that the boogie man is coming after me.”

I restrained myself from rolling my eyes at her blasé tone. “And you’ve been taking extra precautions to keep safe?”

“Yeah, yeah. I never walk anywhere alone. I’ve got my mace, and I wear my whistle like a good girl.”

“I’m not just being paranoid. They did go after my mom. It’s not like it’s a secret that you’re my best friend.”

Summer held up her hands. “I’m not complaining. It just feels a little weird, acting like I’m a target when nothing remotely abnormal has happened in this neck of the woods. How have you been handlingyourcourses since you’ve been hiding away at your boyfriend’s house?”

I rubbed my forehead, remembering the reading I’d been doing right before this call. “The guys and I all told our professors that we had family emergencies we had to go home for the week to deal with. I’ve been working through my assignments whenever I get the chance while I’m here.”

“And if you need to be in hiding for more than a week?”

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