Chapter 19 Dredyn
NINETEEN
DREDYN
FLASHBACK – SIX YEARS AGO
The study door was cracked just enough for me to hear. I was sixteen, home from boarding school for a rare weekend, and technically grounded for some bullshit infraction I couldn’t even remember anymore. I’d snuck downstairs for water—or that’s what I told myself—when the voices stopped me cold.
It was my father’s voice, and another man, older, with gravel in his throat.
“... t’s daughter is becoming a problem. She’s too close to Harrington. I won’t allow that, not when he’s prime for this spot.”
“She’s a child. Children are malleable.”
“Not this one. She’s asking questions—digging where she shouldn’t.”
A long pause. Ice clinking.
“Then we give her something else to focus on. Fear works, but leverage works better. And if that fails... we remove the threat,” my father says.
My stomach drops. I know that tone. They aren’t talking in hypotheticals.
The stranger grunts his approval. “Your boy’s got fire. Good. He’ll need it if he’s ever going to sit at the table.”
“He’ll sit, or he won’t sit anywhere,” my father replies.
I press myself against the wall, heart hammering so hard I’m sure they hear it. The conversation shifts—shipments, routes, “assets” that aren’t drugs or guns. Girls—young ones. Names I recognize from missing posters at school.
When the front door finally shuts, I wait until my father’s footsteps fade upstairs before slipping into the study.
The ledger is still open on the desk.
Photos. Ages. Prices.
My hands shake as I close it, placing it exactly as I’d found it.
I didn’t sleep that night.
Or the next.
I told myself I needed more proof. That one overheard conversation and a glimpse of horror weren’t enough to destroy everything I knew.
But I knew.
I’ve always known.
PRESENT DAY – SAFE HOUSE BEDROOM
Mara’s curled between Talon and Jasper, her breathing deep and even, one hand fisted loosely in Talon’s shirt like even in sleep she’s holding on. Jasper’s arm is slung over her waist, possessive and protective, his face buried in her hair.
They’re out cold.
I’m wide awake, though, staring at the dark ceiling like it owes me answers.
Talon’s eyes are open; I can feel them on me, sharp and patient.
He knows something’s off.
He’s always known when I’m carrying weight I shouldn’t.
I drag a slow breath and roll toward Mara, brushing my knuckles down her spine just to feel her warmth. To remind myself why I’m doing this.
Talon speaks up. “You gonna tell me why OCK suddenly got stamped as Mara’s official escort detail? Or do I have to guess?”
I don’t answer right away.
Jasper shifts in his sleep, tightening his hold on her.
I sit up slowly, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. “It was me.”
Talon sits up too. “You asked him.”
Not a question.
“Yeah.” My voice comes out rough. “I planted it. Told him that if Mara was going back to her family events, the only way to guarantee containment was to put us on her detail. Said outsiders would draw too much attention—paparazzi, rumors, leaks. Said OCK already had history with her, so it looked organic, natural. Less suspicious than random Secret Service upgrades.”
“And he bought it.”
“He bought it because it made sense to him—control through proximity. He thinks he’s keeping her on a shorter leash by putting us in charge. Thinks we’re still his loyal little soldiers.”
Jasper stirs then, eyes cracking open. He doesn’t speak, just watches me, reading every line of tension in my body.
Talon leans forward, elbows on his knees. “You tested him.”
“Yeah. I needed to know if he’d pull the string—if he still had the reach. If he was one of the three.”
The room goes dead still.
Jasper sits up slowly, careful not to wake Mara. He signs one sharp word, “And?”
I meet his eyes, then Talon’s.
I lean forward, voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve known for years. Overheard him when I was sixteen, saw the ledger. I didn’t have proof—real proof—until now. Until he moved the pieces exactly like I knew he would.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I didn’t want to believe it,” I say. “And because if I was wrong, I’d have burned everything down for nothing. But I wasn’t wrong.”
“So, what now?” Talon says.
I look back at Mara—our girl, asleep and trusting between us, completely unaware that the war just got personal.
“Now,” I say quietly, “we use the leash he thinks he put on her... and choke him with it.”
I reach back, threading my fingers through hers where they rest on the sheet.
Whatever it costs.
Whatever I have to become.
I’ll end him.
For her.