Chapter 13
LEX
The Obsidian
About to lose my shit if I hear the words ‘I’m sorry’ one more time.
It’s almost two-thirty in the morning by the time we get back home. Ellie spots us the second we step foot inside The Obsidian. She gasps so loud it echoes across the entire room.
“Cade?!”
He barely turns his head before she’s sprinting toward him in a flash of blonde curls and pink silk. She slams into his chest at full force. He catches her, both arms wrapping around her waist as he stumbles back a step.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpers. “I’m so sorry.”
He shakes his head. “El. It was—”
“I know,” she cuts him off. “Caleb called and told us what happened.”
That’s when Haley reaches me and slides her arms around my waist. “Lex,” she breathes, her cheek pressed firmly against my chest. “Are you ok?”
“No.” I exhale a breath that’s been lodged in my ribs since we left that damn rainforest. “Not even close, Hales.”
Rez walks up and rests a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, cousin. Whatever you need, I’m here,” he says, his deep voice icy-calm after everything. Not that I’d expect anything else.
We may joke about Mom being the stone cold Ice Queen—or as Ellie calls her, the Ice Bitch Witch of Moscow—but she’s got nothing on Rez’s dad. And Uncle Miro taught my cousin well.
I nod.
Ellie pulls away from Cade and turns to Briggs, hugging him just as tight. “You okay?” she asks softly.
“Yeah, darlin’,” he says, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Just perimeter duty. I’m more worried about y’all.”
“I’m fine by the way,” Laing announces from the doorway. He’s dragging his duffel toward one of the booths and drops it with a thud. “In case anyone was wondering.”
“We weren’t,” Knox deadpans as he walks over with a laptop slung under his arm. He lays it on the table and glances up at me. “I dug into Jack while you were gone.”
“And?”
“Not much to find. He married Claire Donnelly. They lived in a house in Brooklyn until she died a few years back. Rez and I went over to that house and—”
“Yeah,” Rez scoffs. “That old couple was super thrilled about two random dudes showing up and asking if they could dig through their basement for buried secrets.”
I snort. “Bet they loved that.”
“They didn’t.” Knox shrugs. “But we didn’t find shit. The place was clean. If Jack ever had anything stashed there, it’s long gone.”
Tex steps in from the shadows. “Did you check his apartment?”
“Same story. Clean,” Knox says. “Not a damn thing that links him to Luca. From the looks of it, Jack was just… a guy.”
“What about the NYPD?” Roman asks, plopping down into a booth. He rolls his shoulder, wincing slightly at the movement. “Did you find anything on Luca there?”
“That’s the thing,” Knox says, sitting down and opening up the laptop.
He swipes his way through some screens. “The NYPD has no record of a Detective Luca. None. Just a Detective Jack Donnelly. And I pulled everything. I’m talkin’ birth certificates, medical records, employment docs, all of it. That’s where shit gets a little weird.”
“Weird how?” I ask, my stomach already knotting.
Knox clicks a few keys and turns the screen toward me.
“Jack’s birth certificate looks legit, right?
Father unknown, that’s not completely uncommon.
Especially since his mother was so young.
” He points to a name on the screen. “But the mother listed, this Carolyn Donnelly… bitch doesn’t exist. Not in any database.
No birth or death certificate, school records, census, nothing. Not even a parking ticket.”
“That’s because his real name is Luca Cassinelli,” Roman grits, rubbing a hand over his chest. “Not this Jack Donnelly you all keep talking about.”
“I know.” Knox nods slowly. “Which means somewhere along the way, Luca split off and created Jack. Jack’s just… a shell. A squeaky clean record with a whole-ass life built from scratch and I can’t figure out for the life of me when it started.”
He exhales hard, rubbing his temples. “And every time I try to dig into Luca directly, I get blocked. Shut out of every system I touch.”
“Did you try Cassinelli?” Roman asks.
Knox nods. “Tried Luca Cassinelli and Donnelly. Hell, I even tried Jack Cassinelli just for shits and grins.”
He glances at Nate, then over at Tex. “I think it’s Zeke. I think he’s built some kind of firewall to stop any of us from ever getting close to Luca.”
“Fucking figures,” I say through gritted teeth.
“From what you guys just saw and what I’ve hit on my end,” Knox sighs. “I hate to even say it, but Lex might be right about him.”
“We don’t know that for sure yet,” Tex says, more to himself than anyone else.
“All I know is someone has booby-trapped every system to kick me out the second I get close to anything Luca-related. Just like it did whenever we searched for answers on Zeke after Chicago.”
The room goes quiet.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Knox says.
Sorry. That fucking word again.
“I’ve got nothing. I’m no closer to finding out where she is.”
“Damn it,” I mutter.
“Cade? Lex?” Savannah rushes into the room, wrapped in a pale-green silk robe. Her eyes are already shining with tears. She throws her arms around Cade and clings to him like she plans on never letting go.
“God, I’m so glad you’re safe.” Her voice breaks as she pulls back to look at him. “I’m so, so sorry honey.”
There it is again.
Clay follows behind her, running a hand through his chestnut hair, streaked with a hint of silver. “We just heard,” he says, looking between Cade and me. “I can’t imagine what you just went through.” He sighs and shakes his head. “I’m sorry, boys.”
I swear to God if one more person says I’m sorry, I’m gonna lose my shit.
“Thanks,” I manage, my voice more bitter than I mean to.
I glance sideways at Cade. He’s still holding onto his mom, but his eyes are gone—exhausted, glazed over, and hollow.
I scrub a hand down my face. “Look, I’m sorry everyone.”
Fuck me, now I’m saying it.
“It’s been a long forty-eight hours and I think Cade and I just need a minute.”
The room falls into a respectful silence. Savannah kisses Cade’s cheek and lets him go. Clay squeezes my shoulder and gives a tight nod.
“He’s right,” Knox says, closing his laptop. “Everyone needs some rest.”
The crowd thins.
I jerk my head toward the stairs. “Go on, babe. I’ll be right up. I need to do one thing real quick.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I”ll be right there.”
He gives me a faint, tired smile and turns to head upstairs. One hand dragging along the railing with each exhausted step.
I scan the room and spot Khoza about to slip out.
“Wait up,” I call after him.
He pauses and turns to face me. “Lex.”
I walk over, suddenly feeling like a damn idiot. “Look, uh… I know Nate said that he’s giving your Black Books back once we get Bella back.”
He watches me silently, his arms crossed.
“I just…” I glance at the floor and then back up at him. Jesus Christ why do I always feel like a five foot tall little girl when I stand next to this dude? “I was kinda sorta hoping you’d help me with something else first.”
“What do you need?”
I hesitate for half a second. “Cade.”
His brow lifts. “Cade?”
“Yeah. I need you to train him.”
“To do what?”
“To fight. Shoot. Survive. I don’t know… all of it.”
Khoza tilts his head. “And you can’t do that?”
“I could,” I mutter. “But I won’t. Not the way he needs.”
“Explain.”
“Look, if I’m the one doing it, I’m gonna hold back. I’ll pull punches because I won’t want to hurt him. I’ll go easy on him without meaning to and he’ll see it.”
He nods.
“And you won’t. You’ll do what needs to be done.”
“You want him ready to face Luca?” he asks, his low voice vibrating through my ribs.
I look him in the eye. “Yeah. I do.”
“Sure you can handle that?”
“Probably not.” I shake my head. “But I’d rather Cade break in training than break on one of these damn trials.”
For a long beat, Khoza just stands there staring at me with his dark eyes like he’s reading my soul.
Did he learn that shit from Sabine? It’s terrifying.
“So?” I ask, trying to break the tension.
He nods once. “I’ll take care of him.”