31. Evan

31

EVAN

" T his is Tyler, tell me something good!" The message plays for the tenth time. I hang up before the beep.

"Dammit!" I slam my cell down on the console.

I haven't slept.

Panic and obligation won't let me.

With no answer from Tell, I headed to Gavin's, making sure that Hellena got home safely.

She did. Back to Gavin's.

I sat outside in the dark for hours, worrying that someone would come for her. Staring at the house, I debated whether I should make myself known. I still have her things. Her cell.

Hellena wouldn't want to see me right now, though. Maybe never.

Control and guilt won out and I dragged myself away. Too much to do. The sexy old wolf will have to guard her for tonight. There are plans to put into motion.

I stalled the Matron, telling her I know where Hellena is and that I'll bring her first thing in the morning. Hopefully, that means nobody else is after her, not yet, anyway.

Vice and his goons are on the hunt, no doubt. Fortunately, they'll likely go to ground until they know it's safe to make their move.

They don't know the lay of the land yet. So, it buys me time to find them.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I do.

After a stop at the office, a change of clothes, a bag with cash, my gun, my knife, I head back out to Gavin's to check on Hellena. I need to explain everything to her, and hopefully, Gavin will let me. Maybe he'll keep her calm.

If he doesn't kill me.

I won't bother begging her forgiveness. I don't need her to forgive me.

I just need to explain what happened last night, that things went sideways and how she should move forward. She deserves to know who she is before her aunt gets to her and puts her spin on it.

I realized somewhere in the middle of the night that I do not trust Rachelle. Even if she is the Herald. Especially because she is.

The fact that she seemed to have no idea about Vice or the Mayor's plans seemed convenient. Confusing, if my knowledge of the Sinful is anywhere near accurate. They don't make mistakes like that. I certainly don't.

Either way, I'll let her decide and let Gavin be her guard. If she wants to meet with Rachelle, I won't stop her. She must know what she's getting into first, though.

I gathered every bit of information I could on the Sinful that I've pieced together over the years from my safe. It'll have to be enough for her to prepare for what's to come. Maybe something in those files will give her an idea about how to respond.

Pulling up to Gavin's, I bolt from the car, my hands raised as I hear the clack of a shotgun off to my left.

"I'm only here to talk," I force out through clenched teeth.

"Seems like that's all you know how to do. Besides selling out your friends."

"Please. Allow me to talk to her. There's something she needs to know?—"

"She's not here, dipshit!"

"What?" I wheel on him, ignoring the threat pointed at my head. Her car's not in the driveway. "Why didn't you call me?"

"Didn't have your number."

"Not like you couldn't have found it," I growl.

"Yeah, I was debating whether or not I wanted to. Too tempting to take your fucking gorgeous head off." He smiles, and it's about the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. Something deep inside me awakens to that aggression, that brutal streak I recognize in his gaze.

"I'll let you do whatever you want to me. After we find her."

"Maybe she deserves to get out, be free somewhere no one will ever hurt her. This life, our lives… it's never going to be safe for her."

I close the distance between us in a heartbeat, in his face and slapping the gun away. "Who are you to decide what's good for her? She needs to know—" Gavin swerves with the strike, looping one massive arm under mine and swiping my legs out from under me. His free hand is at my windpipe before I can blink.

"She knows plenty. More than you ever gave her credit for." The flare of excited anger in his expression sends thrills down my aching legs and backside.

"Her stepfather is here, Gavin. He won't stop until he has her." The knife in my right hand pokes up, punctuating my statement right into the back of his hamstring. A little smirk tells me I wouldn't make a scratch before he disarmed me and snapped my neck.

"I know. Which is another reason for her to run, get far away and start over."

"The only way that works is if you help me take care of them." Panic rises in me. I have to track her down, make sure she's safe. Then I will eliminate the threat to her permanently.

"Now that, I can get on board with." He lets me go, helps me to my feet. You'd never know that he was just shot twice a few weeks ago. A roll of his shoulders has me shaking my head. The man is a beast. "You comin', or do I have to drag your sweet ass?"

"This could actually be a lot of fun, if things weren't such a fucking mess ," I mutter under my breath.

We're geared up and were in his van a half hour later, rocketing toward Sanctum along the back roads.

"There's something else." I finally circle around the idea, deciding it's easier if he knows.

"Hellena isn't who you think she is. Or rather, it has to do with her father."

"I know exactly who her real father is, Evan. Damon was my best friend."

"There are things about Damon Michaels that you don't know." Compared to my otherwise infinite lack of knowledge about the man.

"Guaranteed. Didn't want to know. It was only a matter of time before his ghost came back to haunt Hellena."

"He's not just haunting her. He's setting her up. Dragging her into deep shit ."

Gavin perks up, eyeing me. "This have to do with the Sinful?"

Shit. No going back now. "Yes."

"Figures. Fucking cult. Guess we really do need to bring her home. Where to first?" He comes off as uncaring, cold. The way he grips the steering wheel tells me otherwise.

"We have to go track down another helping hand."

Tell's slipping out the back of one of his apartments when Gavin steps out in front of him, stopping him with a look. Tyler glances to the side, spotting me waiting to block his other exit route. "How the fuck did you find me?"

"Surprisingly, it wasn't me," I admit, smiling smugly.

"I've been tailing Hellena for weeks. I know everywhere you go." Gavin shrugs like he didn't just openly threaten Tell's entire livelihood. "I won't tell anyone, though."

Tell's eyes go wide as Gavin winks and gives him a half-grin.

"So. You want to help us save Hellena?"

"After what you did? You sold her out to her stepfather, you piece of shit!"

"You're one to talk, misleading her, guiding her to what? What purpose did you have in showing up everywhere she went? What were you trying to pull, Vanderberg?" I nail him to the wall with one finger and his true identity.

"I was making sure she was safe, just like Gavin. And I was following orders ."

"Whose orders?"

"My boss. Also, none of your business." The jackass has the audacity to flick my nose.

Gavin snatches his wrist, flips his hand back painfully. "I think it's time I made it our business."

"Ow! What about you? Who do you work for, Evan? I've always been curious who's pulling your puppet strings," Tell sneers in my face.

"I think you know the answer to that."

"I think you both need to come clean. Now." Gavin is all raw power, commanding.

We stare each other down for a few seconds. It's a risk. One I will gladly take for her.

"I work for the Sinful. Directly."

Tell nods slowly, answers to clues and mysteries falling into place behind his eyes. "Funny. I do, too."

"How does it work?" Gavin looks to both of us in turn.

"Phone call, usually. Vocoded." I nod as Tell explains.

"My own contact works the same way."

"Alright. So you're both lackeys. And you both got orders having to do with Hellena?" Gavin is sharp, picking up on details I missed. No sleep is wreaking havoc on my brain.

"My orders were to keep her oblivious to the Sinful, to misguide her and throw her off the trail. Follow only. That, in the midst of all my other spying ."

"Great job you did there, just following." Gavin snickers. Tell glances at me, and we all laugh suddenly, the tension breaking.

"Fuck. We're all hopeless."

"For her? Yeah," Tell huffs.

My thoughts drift back on track. "I was told to prepare her. Train her. For what, I had no idea. Until last night. I was ordered to put her up for auction. Someone was apparently supposed to buy her on behalf of the Sinful. I was planning to make the buy myself , get her out. Someone else beat me to it. Someone the Sinful didn't plan on making a bid."

"For what?"

"To get her ready to take her place as a new member of the Sinful." I open my hands as I say it, conveying that I have no clue past that.

Tell gapes, speechless.

Gavin scowls, taking in every detail.

I nod toward him, deferring to his tactical prowess. "Assessment?" I find I enjoy having him around, aside from our competitive flirting. He's sharp. No-nonsense. I see why Hellena likes him. Loves him, even.

"Classic soldiering. Use her problems to drive her into a corner. Recruit her. Give her a mission, but keep her ignorant to what you don't want her to know. Throw her off the deep end. Take away everything. Again. Now they're yours to mold. Shape."

"Brainwash, you mean. You think someone wanted to manipulate her into a figurehead. A tool."

"Bingo."

Tyler runs fingers through his hair. "Fuck. Fuck. I need to make some calls. We need to find Hellena. Now."

"No Shit?" We're already piling in the van. "We just have no clue how to find her."

"You don't know where she is? I was just heading over to Ora Clive's to ask if she'd seen or heard from her. No dice." Tyler is fidgeting, flinching repeatedly.

"She left town this morning."

"Shit!" Tell exclaims.

"It gets worse."

"How?"

"Aside from the fact that our bosses are playing us against each other, her aunt is another player, a member of the Sinful. So far, she seems as misguided as Tell and me. So we need to catch Hellena before she does. Just in case."

Gavin blanches, going white. "What? I told… FUCK."

"Talk, giant man!" Tell shouts, bouncing in the back of the van as we zip across town.

"Rachelle called me. To check on things. I told her Lena left town." Gavin's rumble sends a shiver down my spine.

"There's no way she could know any better than us which way she's going," I mutter, trying to calculate which way she may have gone. Clues. Anything.

"Unless she had some way of tracking Hellena's car. She's lived with Rachelle for years. And it turns out Rachelle had a reason to keep tabs on her!" Tell hits it on the head.

"Cool. So where does that leave us? No creek. No paddle. No fucking boat. Just a steaming pile of FUBAR."

"There are six ways she might have taken out of town. We simply need to narrow it down."

"And figure out where Marco and his rabble are holed up," Gavin reminds me.

"Oh, I know that," Tell chimes in. "My father has them staying at the old retreat my family owns up on Grayson Ridge."

"And what are they doing?"

"Right now, they're hiding. Plotting. I think Vice is planning on heading back to L.A. for a bit before he makes a move on Sanctum."

"How do you know all of that?" Rorshak raises an eyebrow.

"Man of many faces." Tell grins. He is the master of secrets. Well, except where I'm concerned, but we are in adjacent fields.

"You must be joking. You already infiltrated his crew?" I know he has, yet I can't help asking.

"Oh, yeah. As soon as I realized who he was, I slipped out and went in to gather intel." He shrugs.

"Impressive."

"Not that impressive. His family owns the property they're staying on." I love raining on Tyler's parade.

"Hey! It still took a lot of guts and skill to sneak in unnoticed."

"So we've got SITREP on the enemy. How do we find our renegade queen?"

"Easy." Tell slides his laptop out of his bag. "I track Rachelle's phone."

"And if she's not with her?"

"Then it eliminates her as a suspect, at least for the time being." Too many moving parts. Too many loose ends. It's a start, though.

"Got her, heading North up Ridgeline, toward the pass."

We all look at each other, a silent vote.

"Do it." I nod to Gavin. He punches it, gunning the van out along the bypass, leading us North.

All three of us are lost in thought, processing. Anxious.

An hour slips by before Tell hums softly. "So, Hella's next in line for leadership?"

"Apparently."

"Like… to be our boss?"

"As far as I know. The Herald, Rachelle, let it slip last night that there are seven heads of the Sinful. Seven bloodlines that inherit the seats."

"Wait…" Gavin muses. "My dead best friend is giving orders?"

"Yes. Or he was at some point. Maybe his seat is vacant."

"Or he's as sneaky as he's always been," Gavin mumbles, pulling off the road.

We're almost to the location on Tyler's map. Rachelle has been parked in the spot for a while, waiting.

I see Hellena's car before the others, leaning forward, trying to spot her. Tyler is all but hanging out the side door, ready to run for her. Each of us holds our breath, the tightness in my chest releasing slightly as I see her long hair, her jeans and shirt accenting her every curve.

Gavin slams on the brakes as we hear it, a deafening crack, echoing through the canyon.

A gunshot.