Ellery managed to violate both of my havens. He took what I most loved and

left behind a very clear message to prove there was nowhere he couldn’t reach.

Was he playing with me? Wanting me to suffer and feel hunted? If so, he succeeded. But was there more to this than revenge?

He hunted the other team members one by one, torturing each before sucking

down their abilities. Only three of us remained, Tag, Kayden, and I. Ellery killed

Kelsey because she was my Achilles’ heel, but I had two more weak points left,

my partner and my best friend. If Ellery got to either of them, it would be the final straw for me. At least Tag was in Vegas and out of Ellery’s immediate reach.

Rolling the round through my fingers, another question arose. When had he

left this? Before or after he went to the cabin? Was it a taunt or a threat? If the K

was for Kelsey, it meant he left it as he chased her north, leaving it as a way to

ensure his message was received. If it was for Kayden, then we were in deep

shit, because it indicated Ellery knew what we were doing before we did.

With a sinking feeling, I stared at the carefully etched K. Had we been chasing ghosts this whole time? If so, chances were high we were missing something. How many steps ahead of us was he? But there was a way to answer

one of my questions.

“You okay in there?” Kayden’s question startled me. I looked up to find him

standing in the bathroom doorway. My fingers tightened on the casing, catching

his attention. His face darkened. “What is that?”

Instead of answering, I let it roll into my palm, and held it out, so he could

see. The overhead lights caught on the dull gleam of Ellery’s message.

“Where was it?”

“In the gun safe.”

His fingers whitened on the edge of the doorframe. Instead of his expected explosion, he turned and left.

Slipping the bullet into my pocket, I followed, stopping only to retrieve my

Sig from the bed.

Kayden stood in the middle of the living room, clenching, and then

unclenching his hands. There was a cloud of tension surrounding him, one that

simmered on the edge of a storm.

I kept my voice soft, “Kayden?”

His head rose and his eyes were bright with fury. His jaw was clenched so tight the bone pressed against his skin and flexed under his goatee. “We need to

talk to Terrance and get the security footage. I want to know how he got in.”

“We don’t need to review the security cameras,” I said. “We can do one

better.”

His lips thinned. “Actual footage will give us more details.”

I was shaking my head before he finished. “No, you’re not thinking.”

His brow lowered, and he opened his mouth to argue.

I held up my hand, hoping to cut short whatever diatribe trembled on the tip

of his tongue. “The security tapes can only show you the halls, they can’t show

you what he did inside.” My stomach pitched at the reminder of Ellery’s

violation, but I did my best not to show it. I didn’t need it to be the spark that set

Kayden off. “Let’s use what tools we have.”

“What tools—” Comprehension hit him, and he briefly considered it, then he

grimaced. “You heard Delacourt. There’s no way to determine what will happen

if we continue to combine our abilities. I’m not sure it’s smart to keep playing with the unknown.”

“I don’t think combining our talents twice is going to spawn something new

and unique.” It felt strange to be the one urging him to push the rules, especially

after his lack of hesitation the first time around. What changed?

He looked away. “You don’t know that.”

What the hell? “Fine, then let me do it on my own.”

That brought his head up.

I met his glare with my own, refusing to back down. This was too important.