Chapter 26 Cade
CADE
All around me, I can hear my brothers arguing.
Harley and Matthias are on my side. Matthias is trying to reason with Wylder that Ansel betraying us isn’t possible, while Harley is threatening violence if they don’t look at alternative explanations.
Samson is yelling just as loudly, while Wylder is continuing to slander my butterfly.
Only Dalton is silent. He’s dropped to the floor beside me, his shoulder pressed to mine.
It’s too much. My brain doesn’t know what to process first. If my chest would stop hurting for just one fucking second, maybe I could make sense of this.
Then Wylder says something that has me surging to my feet. “It’s obvious that Ansel was leading Cade on. It was a setup. His plan was to get close to him so that he could get information on us.”
I grab Wylder’s shirt, twisting it in my fist, and snarling in his face. “No.”
He blinks in confusion. “No, what?”
“No, he wasn’t leading me on,” I say through gritted teeth. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but what we had was real.”
“Cade—”
“No,” I repeat forcefully. “What Ansel and I shared was real. I don’t give a fuck what you think happened, I know.”
Wylder sighs. “Cade, I don’t like it either. I know what Ansel means to you. But the fact is that it would take a talented hacker to break into those files. A hacker who lives at Ansel’s address. All the evidence is pointing toward him.”
A vaguely familiar voice, filled with utter disdain, speaks from the doorway. “Or you’re a fucking dickbag who can’t see beyond the end of his own nose.”
We all turn as one, various weapons being drawn. Neo is glaring at us all. We don’t bother asking how he got past our security.
Not when he has the guard, Neil, from the outer gate in front of him. Neo’s holding a long, jagged butcher knife to his throat.
What the fuck?
Before any of us can say anything, Neo releases him. “You can go, boo. Thanks for getting me past the other guards. Sorry for scaring you.”
As soon as he’s free, Neil reaches for his gun.
“No!” I shout. I’m not the only one, Wylder’s yell echoing over mine.
My eldest brother marches over to the door, grabbing Neo’s arm and shoving him behind him. My brows shoot up along with every one of my brothers’. Since when does Wylder ever give a fuck about someone else like this? He wouldn’t do this for Candace, I’m sure.
Wylder gives Neil a death stare. “Leave. We’ve got this from here.”
Neil glances around at us, his cheeks flushed red, his brows meeting, before he retreats silently. Poor guy is probably embarrassed. He’s a full foot taller than Neo. I wonder how Neo was able to incapacitate him.
As soon as the door is closed, Wylder spins to face Neo. “I thought you didn’t like guns.”
Neo waves the blade around sloppily. “Wow, you really are a dickbag. This is a knife, fuckface.”
I step forward, desperate to know what Neo does. “What did you mean by that?”
“About Wylder being a fucking dickbag? Thought he’d know that just by looking in the mirror this morning.”
I can almost see flames flickering in Wylder’s eyes, his cheeks turning pink. “Look here—”
Neo doesn’t give him a chance to finish speaking, just taps the knife against Wylder’s suit jacket. “Fine, I’ll spell it out for you. God, you’re all pathetic. Ansel isn’t the only hacker talented enough to reach those files, and definitely not the only at that address.”
“See!” I say triumphantly. Neither of them acknowledges me, too busy squaring up to each other to notice I’ve spoken. In any other situation, it’d be funny to see someone as tiny as Neo trying to intimidate my stoic eldest brother.
Wylder’s nostrils flare. “Okay, so it wasn’t Ansel. But if you tell me you weren’t acting on his orders, then I’m going to call you a liar.”
“Oh, I was acting on his orders, all right,” Neo says in a dangerously low tone.
“Ansel asked me to add extra layers of security around those files. To put so many protections in place that even someone as talented as either of us couldn’t hack in.
So what I think you mean to say is, thank you, Neo and Ansel, for protecting our secret society bullshit. ”
The silence that follows this is almost deafening. I don’t feel any triumph, just a bone-deep confusion.
Why is Ansel going to such lengths to shield us? And why did he ask Neo to do it instead of doing it himself?
An answer is flickering in my mind, but it’s as though my brain knows it’s going to be too painful. It’s keeping it just out of reach, trying to keep me in the dark as long as possible.
I’m tired of living there. I need to be back in the light. I need my butterfly to make my life bright again.
“Neo—” I step toward him, my voice cracking. “—please. If you know something about what’s going on, tell us. Is Ansel okay?”
Neo’s gaze softens as he looks at me. “Shit, you look even worse than him, which is saying something.”
I try and swallow, but the lump in my throat is too big. “How is he?”
“I don’t know,” Neo admits, rocking back and forth. “That’s why I’m here.”
“If I wanted to disappear and never be found, I could.”
Ansel’s statement comes to the forefront of my mind, and I feel my world start to spin.
“Explain.” Wylder’s eyes narrow as he grabs Neo’s arm again.
“Fuck off,” Neo mutters, shaking him off. “You’re an asshole. You know that, right?”
Unshed tears fill my vision as I fight to breathe. “Neo, please.”
I hate the pity in his eyes, but not as much as the fear. It’s the fear that has my blood running cold. “Ansel’s gone.”
My pulse quickens. “Gone? Where? When?”
From the corner of my eye, I see my brothers leap into action. Wylder’s putting a phone to his ear while Harley is opening a laptop, Dalton grabbing a seat beside him.
Matthias and Samson come to my sides, each gripping one of my shoulders.
Neo’s lips thin. “I don’t know where, and it can’t have been too long ago. I’d only been asleep for less than an hour when I woke up. As soon as I read the letter, I came straight here.”
“What letter?”
Neo mutely holds out a folded sheet. It vibrates as I unfold it, my nerves traveling from my hands to the paper.
I have to blink a couple of times before I can make out the words. It hits me then that I’ve never seen my butterfly’s handwriting before.
There’s so much I need to learn about him still.
Fuck, I hope I get the chance.
My eyes finally focus, and I immediately wish they hadn’t.
Neo,
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry that I haven’t explained anything. I’m sorry that I’m sneaking out without saying a real goodbye.
Most of all, I’m sorry to be leaving you.
I can’t tell you where I’m going or why. It’s not safe. All I can say is that everything I’ve done has been to protect everyone else. You, Cade, The Firm. I might’ve fucked up, but I’m not letting any of you pay the price for my mistakes.
You’re the brother I never had. I’m so sorry that it has to end like this.
Ansel
I look straight at Wylder. “The guards?”
There’s fury and sadness on his face as he shakes his head. “He gave them the slip a few moments ago. I’m trying to find out more.”
If it weren’t for Samson and Matthias holding me up, I don’t think I’d still be standing.
“He went where?” Wylder wheels around suddenly, snapping his fingers at Harley. “The drop site feeds. Now.”
The ice that filled me earlier is turning to fire now. It’s threatening to consume me. Burn me alive. I fight it back. I’m not giving in until there’s no hope left. Until all the questions have been answered.
Starting with why Ansel went to the church associated with The Firm instead of just calling me.
Harley’s fingers are moving fast, his lips set in a tight line. When he’s located what he’s looking for, he spins the laptop to face us.
There, on the screen, is my butterfly. Ansel looks exhausted but determined as he approaches the drop site.
I grab the screen and lean in, instinctively trying to get closer to him. I brush my thumbs over his face as though I can smooth away the dark circles under his eyes. He looks crushed, like some fucker has plucked off his wings and left him to die.
When I find them, I’ll remove each of their limbs in return.
Ansel counts the bricks. Once. Twice. Three times. Then he pulls out the one we’re all so familiar with and pulls a thick packet from his bag. An envelope follows, finished off with a tiny scrap of paper.
I zoom in to try and read the words, but the image is too grainy. “When was this?”
“Less than five minutes ago,” Harley says.
Someone moves up close behind me.
Wylder.
“I’ve got the guards scouring for him, Cade. He left his car, so he couldn’t have gone far on foot.”
“We need to get down there.” I drop the laptop on the table. “We need to see what he left.”
“It’s on its way,” Wylder says calmly. He’s always been the best of us in an emergency. “I got the guard to retrieve it before Harley finished pulling up the feed.”
My jaw drops. No one is supposed to retrieve drops. Our staff have an inkling about what we are, but letting them approach the drop site is breaking a cardinal rule. “But…but we never let them do that.”
Wylder’s mouth is grim. “Time is of the essence. I won’t risk Ansel.”
Neo pipes up at that. “Funny, you were ready to condemn him when I came in.”
My brother dismisses him with a wave. “I can admit when I’ve made a mistake. It’s what grown-ups do.”
Neo’s chest puffs out, and I know he’s about to launch into an argument. I can’t wait for that. “Do you know anything, Neo? Where he might have gone or why?”
He deflates, shaking his head sadly. “No. He refused to tell me anything. He’s been living at his computer, hacking into something. Printing lots of shit too. If I had to guess, though…I’d assume it’s the fuckers he got tangled up with last time.”
My gut says the same. “Do you know who they are?”
Neo’s face drops. “No. I was hoping you did.”
Fuck. Why did Ansel keep us both in the dark?