33. Ty

Chapter 33

Ty

I moved through the dark house like a shadow, every muscle coiled tight. Camille’s text had set me off like a rocket: He’s here. Hide. That was all it said, but it was enough to make my blood run cold.

There was no way in hell I was letting anything happen to her.

The grip of the knife in my hand felt solid, steady, like an extension of me. My brain was running a mile a minute, trying to figure out how to get Camille out without a fight. The study was the last place I hadn’t checked, and my gut said that’s where she’d be.

Halfway there, I spotted a vase on a shelf. It’d make the perfect distraction. I grabbed it, ready to send it crashing to the floor, when the sound of the doorbell froze me in place.

Silas’s father left the study, his footsteps echoing in the quiet as he went to answer the door.

I pressed myself against the wall, holding my breath. The door creaked open, and then I heard a voice that didn’t belong to the old man. Dante. What the hell was he doing here?

He was talking about some kid—Mick? Silas’s younger brother? I wasn’t sure, but whatever he was saying, it sounded casual. Too casual. Then it clicked. He was running interference, keeping the old man distracted.

I didn’t waste time. I bolted into the study, scanning the room. Nothing. Then my eyes landed on the closet door. It was cracked open.

I pulled it wide, and there she was, closing some hidden compartment in the back.

“Move. Now,” I said, my voice low and sharp.

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t argue. Camille’s hand slid into mine, and I tugged her out of the closet. Even in the middle of this chaos, the feel of her hand in mine sent a jolt through me.

Dante was still buying us time, so I led her down the back staircase and out into the yard. The woods loomed ahead, dark and uninviting, but we didn’t have a choice.

“Here,” I said, locking my hands together. “Climb.”

Camille put her foot in my hands, and I hoisted her over the fence. I followed, landing on the other side with barely a sound.

The woods swallowed us up, but my pulse was still pounding in my ears. I couldn’t shake the thought of how close we’d come to being caught. How close she’d come to being caught.

“Well, that was a waste of time,” I muttered as we finally stopped to catch our breath.

“It wasn’t a waste,” Camille shot back. She held up her phone.

I leaned in to look, my eyes narrowing at the image. Symbols. A banner with trees and weapons.

“Where’d you find this?” I demanded.

“In the study. There was a hidden room in the closet. Filing cabinets too, but they were locked.”

Of course there was a hidden room. I clenched my jaw, piecing things together in my head. “So there is a connection,” I muttered, more to myself than to her.

“You don’t know that,” she argued.

But I did. I could feel it in my gut. This was tied to everything—my dad, the cryptic shit he used to say, the secrets that had followed me here.

Before I could say more, a noise cut through the silence.

Camille stiffened, her hand clutching my arm. My head snapped toward the sound, and I saw movement. A shadow.

I stepped in front of her, knife ready, my instincts taking over. The figure kept coming, and without thinking, I let the blade fly.

“Wait!” Camille shouted, but it was too late.

Camille

Just as the dagger left Ty’s fingers, the threat came into view. My eyes widened in shock—Kage!

The dagger was already traveling toward him, and I parted my lips to cry out—but his arm shot up just in time to stop the dagger from embedding itself in his neck. He stared at the dagger buried in his arm, then at us, in disbelief.

“Jesus Christ,” Kage swore, ripping the dagger out. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Me?” growled Ty, equally pissed. “You were the one sneaking around in the woods. Why are you here?”

“Apparently we’re saving your asses, you little shit.”

“We didn’t need saving,” Ty muttered, but I shot him a look of disbelief. "Once we got out of the house," he amended.

“Is that your fucked-up way of giving me an apology?” Kage growled, his fingers curling into tight fists beside him. Blood ran down his arm from the dagger wound, but he ignored it.

“Okay, both of you calm down,” I said, getting in the middle of them.

"He needs to back off," Ty snarled, shoving his face close to Kage’s.

"You think I’m going to leave you alone with her?" he shot back.

“What are you even doing here?” I asked Kage.

“Dante got worried, so he checked his tracker and saw you were here,” Kage explained.

"I have a new phone! He doesn't have a—" Shit. I closed my eyes. Of course he put another one on, probably the night we'd been hanging out before Kage had shown up at his house.

Ty snorted. “The dude tracks you? What are you, his puppy?”

“Watch it,” I snapped at Ty, my cheeks heating. “Dante is the only reason we got out of there.”

“I had it handled,” argued Ty, a scowl on his face. “I was just about to?—”

“Seriously, guys, quit arguing and let’s get the fuck out of here,” Kage cut in. “I’ll text Dante to meet us by the cars.” Kage handed the dagger back to Ty. Once again, my eyes fell on the deep bloody gash on his arm.

“You’re bleeding,” I whispered, but Kage shrugged me off.

“It’s fine. It’s a tiny cut,” he said dismissively.

“It’s a deep wound and you probably need stitches,” I argued.

“Then you can fix it when we get out of here,” Kage said. He grabbed my hand and started leading me away, Ty right beside me.

We made it back to Ty's car to see Dante leaning against it. He strode toward us and pulled me into a tight hug, pressing me against him. I pulled back. As much as I appreciated his care for me, there were bigger things for us to contend with right now. I didn't even take the time to ask about the tracker he'd put on my phone again.

"You guys, look at this," I said. I showed Dante and Kage the picture of the banner I'd snapped in the hidden room. It glowed ominously on my phone screen, symbols of oak trees, yews, redwoods, maples, and other trees staring back at us along with other symbols: swords, shields, cannons. All the non-tree objects were made of things that would stand the test of time.

Dante studied the symbols, his expression darkening. “This is bigger than we thought. It ties everything together. Objects that endure. But endure what? Or endure for what?"

I remembered what Monica from the yarn shop had told me when we were asking about Ava right after she was killed. "Kage, remember what that woman from the yarn shop said? That Ava was seeing someone older? Maybe it was Silas's dad?"

Kage stiffened, his jaw clenching. "It sure seems possible. I say we go back, and fucking find out."

He turned, as if he was about to head over to find Silas's father and beat the truth out of him. I pulled his arm. "Wait!" I hesitated, then blurted out, "Bianca told me that when she went to California, there was a reason other than an internship. She said that kids have gone missing from CU and even though there was always a stated reason, those reasons could never account for why the kids haven't been seen again." I told them about the students Bianca had given me as examples.

The silence that followed was heavy, each of us lost in our own thoughts about the implications of what I'd just shared. The mystery we were tangled up in seemed to grow darker, more dangerous with every new piece of information.

"I asked about Drew Nelson. I got nothing but vague answers."

At Dante’s words, my worry over Drew spiked.

"We need to get out of here," Dante said. "We can't do anything more tonight."

"You're wrong.” Kage interjected in a lethal tone. “Like I said, I can make Silas's dad talk."

"And kill him again before he gives us answers, just like you did Troy?" Ty snapped. "No."

"What do you suggest we do? We don't have any other leads!"

"You're wrong," I said. I lifted my phone with the photo of the banner. "We know what to be on the lookout for now. We'll take a couple of days and see what we can find."

I could tell Kage didn't like it, but after a moment, he took my hand. "Fine. But you're driving back with me, Rebel. I'm not letting you out of my sight given the stunt you two pulled tonight."

"It wasn't Ty's fault. I threatened to follow him."

He pierced me with a glare. "I don't give a fuck. He took you into a dangerous situation. Let's go." When I hesitated, he narrowed his gaze. "I suggest you don't push me.”

I glanced between all three of them, noting how Ty wouldn't meet my gaze. Either he was too distraught by the connection he'd made between his parents and the others, or he was seriously regretting taking me with him. Probably both.

"Fine. But we need to stop to get supplies for your arm," I said.

“It’s barely a scratch,” he muttered.

"It needs to be cleaned, and if you don't humor me on this, I swear I'm not going with you."

Kage clenched his teeth. "Fine."

We got in separate cars, Kage driving the two of us in an unfamiliar-looking car and Ty driving Dante in his.

"This car..."

"It belongs to Dante's friend."

"Oh." I stared at my lap. “Kage... I’m… ”

“Don’t,” he said sharply. “Not now.”

The silence was heavy, but I didn’t push. I kept silent until Kage followed Ty's car into a grocery store parking lot. Kage parked and continued to stare straight ahead. Dante knocked on my window, and I opened the door. "I’ll come in with you," Dante offered.

I took another glance at Kage, but he still wasn't looking at me. I climbed out of the car, guilt sitting like a ton of bricks on my shoulders and walked into the store with Dante. We headed for the pharmacy section to grab supplies, which just happened to have a display of condoms bigger than I'd ever seen.

I picked one of the boxes up, studied it, and for some bizarre reason said, “Have you ever had a threesome?”

He looked taken aback by my question but said nothing.

"Kage has," I said, and I didn't mean to, but it came out like an accusation.

"I've been with more than one woman a couple of times when I was younger."

I nodded, not surprised. "How did you know what to do?"

“Is that a serious question?"

"Yes. I've never been with more than one person. If I ever was going to, how would I know what to do?"

"Believe me, you'll know. Because the guys you're with would guide you through it and make sure the only thing you needed to think about was the pleasure they were giving you."

"Was that all that was involved when you were with other women? You didn't care about yourself?"

Now I really did sound bitter.

Dante sighed. "Let's cut to the chase, okay? If things continue the way they have been, there's a high likelihood that some combination of you, me, Kage, and Ty are going to fuck as more than a pair."

I opened my mouth to protest, I'm not sure why, but closed my mouth when he stared pointedly at me. "We will get pleasure from being with you, have no doubt about that, but the main thing on our minds isn't going to be your technique. It's going to be how many times we can make you come in as many different ways as possible."

I sucked in a breath, staring at him. Finally, I said, "Are you mad at me, too? For going with Ty?"

"I was worried. Just like Kage was worried. He's just having a harder time letting it go. In case you missed it, your boyfriend can be pretty intense."

That shocked a laugh out of me. I nodded. "Yes, I did notice."

Placing a big hand against my back, Dante led me closer to the stuff we needed.

A couple of minutes later, Kage was leaning against the car, his arm outstretched while I played nurse.

Ty handed me the bandages, trying not to look too interested in the process, but I caught him watching out of the corner of his eye.

"Looks like you'll live," I announced, securing the bandage with a final piece of tape.

Kage grunted.

I studied where we were, spotting the coffee shop close by. "I think we should sit down and talk things over before we get back to campus. Come up with a plan."

"We don't need to talk,” Kage said. “There's only one plan, the most important part of which is you leaving town."

I flinched back, then looked at Dante.

"All the students you mentioned, they were Tier Three," he said. "Including Drew."

"I’m not leaving. I'm not hiding!"

"It's not about hiding," Ty said. "It's about protecting you."

"What? Now you're taking their sides?"

"They're right. I fucked up. I never should have brought you with me. This shit is serious, which means only one thing—you need to leave."