Chapter Thirty-Six Reed
Chapter Thirty-Six
Reed
I wasn’t sure what to think or believe, and yet, if Julian was saying what I think he was . . .
“But I didn’t inject myself. I wouldn’t know to think that . . .”
“Exactly, which means someone has the book and gave you instructions to do that after they drugged you,” Julian finished for Hollis.
My heart was racing, because while this was horrible, it was also—
“I chose you before.” Hollis spun toward me. “I created that dream myself.” She launched herself into my arms.
Gideon stared at me over her shoulder as I rubbed her back, giving her a moment. I’d expected his silence to press like a threat, but it never did. Instead, he almost looked relieved to see his sister in my arms.
“Why do you seem so bloody worried it was that drug specifically?” Sebastian must have picked up on something I missed; I was too focused on Hollis and the fact she’d created that picture of us married with kids all on her own.
“Because,” Gideon began as Hollis left the comfort of my arms to face him, “it’s irreversible. It was designed to be that way, to protect and safeguard whatever secret was worth drugging oneself in the first place. That’s why we hoped it wasn’t that drug.”
Now their sketchiness about it made sense, but . . . “No.” The word came out like a gutshot reaction. “I refuse to accept that.” I pointed at Julian. “If you two can work together to save the footage that is supposed to be deader than dead, then you can create an antidote for this damn drug.”
“I’m not a scientist, I’m sorry.” Julian covered a hand over his heart as mine tried to break free from my chest. “The only one who took after our great-grandfather was . . .”
“Fucking A,” Ryder cursed. “You’re going to say Tristan, aren’t you?”
Neither Gideon nor Julian confirmed Ryder’s question, but their silence was an answer.
“Diana,” Carter said, stroking his jawline almost absentmindedly. “If anyone can come up with a cure, it’s my wife. But she’ll need the book to see the original math for it.”
Gideon nodded. “The sooner we get to work, the better. Kylo’s family is returning to their home base in England tonight, and they’ll begin searching for him as well.
If Kylo’s not with the Putcheskis, and he’s still out there, we’ll find him.
” He gestured to his brother. “We need the footage from both Rome and ?eské Budějovice to expedite the search.”
Julian turned to Gwen. “Where do you want to set up?” His words were calm and flat, unlike earlier.
Gwen didn’t answer right away. There was a slight shift in the temperature of the room as she quietly stared at him, like she was on the trust fence and uncertain.
“I’m sorry I kept my identity hidden from you,” Julian said in a near grunt, like the words were being ripped from his mouth against his free will. “There. Better?”
“Hardly.” Gwen picked up a key from the table and dropped it into his palm. “We can go to your suite. It’s two doors down from your sister’s.”
Julian curled his fingers around the key. “And do you plan on ripping into me when we’re alone? It’ll fuck with my focus.”
“We wouldn’t want to do that, now, would we?” Gwen shook her head, then looked around the room as if remembering she had eyes on her, then abruptly started for the exit.
Gideon slapped a hand over his brother’s shoulder, stopping his pursuit, whispered something in his ear, and then Julian left.
“You have room on that bird for Alex and me to join you?” Ryder asked, his question clearing some of the tension left behind by Gwen and Julian.
“There is.” Carter glanced at Sebastian. “You go with them, I’ll stay back and call my wife. She’s in Dubai right now. I’ll update her on the situation.” He had his phone in his hand and was already leaving before anyone could respond.
“What about me?” Hollis asked her brother.
Alex tapped my shoulder before he and Ryder left, a quiet good luck in that pat, leaving the three of us in a room full of untouched food with the Alps, a storm rolling through, as a backdrop for this awkward confrontation with Gideon.
“You can work on the Putcheski files to see if I missed something. Fresh set of eyes might be good. I’ll have someone bring my laptop to your suite. Are you two staying together?”
Hollis flicked her French braid to her back like a nervous tell before boldly placing her hand on my chest. “We are. Separate bedrooms, though.”
Gideon’s eyes flicked to me briefly, and I braced for impact. Shockingly, no swing or lecture came.
“Lyra’s worried about you.” He handed Hollis a new phone. “Call her later, will ya? I programmed our numbers. Just don’t mention Tristan this time when you chat.”
Based on Hollis’s reaction, she was as confused as I was. “Okay, um, thank you.”
Gideon gave her a tight nod, a look that suggested he was tolerating me—at least for now—and then started for the exit.
“Wait,” Hollis called, spinning toward the door in one fast motion.
“I think I need to go with you.” She rested her hand against her stomach as he turned around.
“If our grandfather trusted me about the book, and I spent a lot of time learning from him . . . maybe I can muscle-memory my way through his estate and find something that’ll help? ”
He quietly held her eyes before stealing a quick look out the window, as if unsure, given the storm, whether she should fly. But then he surprised me by nodding. “Yeah, okay.”
I had to keep in mind he knew his sister was the kind of woman who faced danger like it was her job on a regular basis (and it was), so he wasn’t about to treat her with kid gloves.
“Now that we know the book is part of this, I’ll have Julian check if you paid our grandfather’s place a visit in recent months. I assume you went there at some point.” Gideon looked at me next. “You joining, too, I assume?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll have Alex and Ryder stay behind and give them my laptop instead. They can come up with an infil plan if we need to drop into Putcheski’s estate.” He checked his watch. “Meet me at the helo pad in five?”
“Yeah, okay. Thank you,” she answered for both of us, and once he left, she set aside the phone and looped her arms over my shoulders, linking her wrists behind my neck. “The world is spinning.”
“I think it’s supposed to.”
She smiled, and it was nice to see after what she’d just endured.
“Kylo. Tristan. My grandfather. Benjamin Putcheski. The book. It’s a lot.
And I couldn’t get through any of this without you.
Thank you for putting up with me for so long, back then and now.
For being someone I felt safe with even when we fake-hated each other. ”
I brought my hands between us and cupped her cheeks, catching a few tears with my thumbs. “You imagined having kids with me.” I was going out on a limb here, but I’d already mentally bought that fifth chair. “You really think I could be a good dad even after I had such a bad example of one?”
“We can either follow in our parents’ footsteps or learn how to walk on our own and do the opposite. And from where I’m standing, it looks like you’ve already been walking your own path for quite some time.”
I closed my eyes and dropped my forehead to hers.
“You’re upset with your father, and with more than good reason, but I also know that hasn’t stopped you from trying to help him. So maybe after all of this, Carter’s wife can somehow use the antidote on him, too?”
I lifted my head and exhaled, my heart both heavy and also full at the same time.
“Don’t you dare feel bad if I was looking for that book to help him, either.” She pushed up on her toes and kissed me. “I clearly can’t help but be a stubborn pain in the ass, and my decisions are mine to own. Okay?”
I wasn’t ready to say yes when it came to her helping my father; guilt still hit me brick by brick over the fact she was potentially in this mess because of her pursuit for a cure. So, for now, all I could do was nod and let her interpret that however she wanted.
“And if someone in my family is a traitor,” she continued, her voice breaking, “it was bound to come out at some point. I did what I had to.”
“A high price to pay for—”
“I’d do anything for the people I love. That’s one of those innate feelings, but it’s true.” Her long lashes fluttered. “I’d sacrifice myself for the greater good. For truth. For what I believe in.”
A tear slid down her cheek, and I held her gaze, knowing damn well those weren’t just words. That mindset and feelings came from her soul, and who was I to try to change her?
The thought of her throwing herself into the fire, though—of losing her the way I’d buried brothers draped in flags—had my chest caving in.
I drew her tighter against me as my throat burned. “I know,” I admitted, the words scraping out raw on my tongue. “You’ll always join the fight for what’s right.”
I could feel her heartbeat drumming against mine, beat for beat. Outside, thunder rolled low across the Alps like an ominous reminder that this was far from over. There’d always be a cause, a mission, a something, that would place her in harm’s way, and I had to accept that.
“But anyone who tries to take you from me will have to go through me first, and I won’t fall easily.”