65. Spencer
SPENCER
Apparently, The Oracle didn’t take kindly to walk-ins, and it wasn’t like we could just search up their address in the phonebook. But as Dom paced around her upstairs office, I knew she would be damned if she got off that phone without an appointment.
At least her stubbornness is working in our favor, this time.
It had been a day or two since we’d broken into Gabe’s house, and thankfully, the cops had yet to come knocking, if Gabe had bothered calling them at all.
Even with what we found, I was sure there was plenty of heinous shit in the apartment that he didn’t want them finding.
Still, the lack of noise was a good indication that our hideout was still a secret from Zeus, and the way things had been going lately, I’d count that as a blessing.
Poor Kiera was pretty shaken by the whole ordeal. Knowing what Gabe was capable of was enough to make me ill, and I’d never cared about the sick fuck. But Kiera… she’d spent years of her life by his side, completely unaware.
And especially knowing now what his father had tried to do to her… I just hoped she knew that none of it was her fault.
But apparently, her depressed mood was enough to catch even Dom’s attention.
So we’d cut a deal. If she kept a low profile, Leo and I could take her to the animal shelter to see if anyone had brought in her rottie.
In exchange, Kiera would be ‘out of Dom’s hair’ long enough to arrange something with The Oracle.
Remembering Dom's phrasing made me roll my eyes with disgust. I hated the way she acted like Kiera was such a burden. That girl was the best fucking thing to happen to this house in years — probably ever — and Dom fucking knew it.
But god forbid Dom quit her moping.
At least her incessant calls to The Oracle would keep Dom out of my hair. I was still fuming over her lies and her fucking blood money. In all these weeks, she hadn’t offered a single genuine apology, and I was getting sick of making exceptions for her shitty behavior.
Before all of this, Dom had been like family to me. She’d seen me through some of the hardest points of my life, she’d had my back no matter where The Oracle sent us — except of course for her off the books mission. Just another betrayal on her cake of lies.
Fuck, she’d met Abi and Caleb, gotten close enough to be an aunt to them.
How was I supposed to explain to them that their so-called aunt was working for the company that ruined their grandmother’s life, and their mother’s in turn? How could I look Abi in the eyes knowing that Zeus was peddling countless kids her age through a building with Dom’s last name on it?
As far as I was concerned, Dom could fuck right off, living off the wealth that company had brought her family. Even sleeping in this mansion made my skin crawl. She should have forfeit her salary, she should have called the cops and tanked the whole fucking company.
Because the cops would do so much? The thought rose before my ire could crush it back down. Isaac had probably already bought them off.
The truth was, those monsters deserved a fate much worse than what the police would have in store for them. They needed to be hunted by someone who wouldn’t relent until every last one of them paid their Justice.
They needed to face The Oracle, and to do their work, The Oracle needed Dom at the helm.
I knew that was the harsh truth here — Dom had made a sacrifice that even I couldn’t stomach. But it didn’t make forgiving her any easier.
“Earth to Moore?” Leo clapped me on the shoulder, shaking me from my thoughts. “You ready to go?”
I blinked, seeing Kiera and Leo already bundled and booted up by the door.
“Yeah, sorry…” I murmured, grabbing my worn leather jacket from the coat rack.
But before I could slip it on, a door slammed upstairs, followed by an exhausted sigh.
I rammed my arm through the sleeve, hopping on one foot to slip on my boots before Leo could hear Dom’s approach. But it was too late. Her thundering steps were unmissable as she descended the stone steps.
“Girlfriend still dodging your calls?” Leo teased, leaning against the front doorframe.
“Not quite.” Dom scrubbed a palm over her face, and all I wanted to do was smack the frown off of her. “They’re granting us a meeting, but not for a few more weeks.”
“How many weeks?” Kiera tilted her head.
“A few,” Dom rolled her eyes, parroting The Oracle’s typical opaque answers.
Clearly, she was pissed. But I had enough rage of my own, and not enough space to deal with hers.
“Alright, well you tried your best,” I clapped my hands together before turning toward the door. “Shall we?”
Unimpressed, Leo shot me a glare before returning her gaze to Dom. “Why don’t you come with us to the shelter?”
“What?” My jaw dropped. But before I could voice my protest, Dom kicked up her own.
“Why would I want to spend time at a stupid dog pound?”
“Might help you get your mind off The Oracle,” Leo shrugged.
“Might help you develop some empathy,” Kiera needled.
Dom crossed her arms over her chest with a childish pout. “Not interested in getting fleas.”
“Come on,” Leo tried again. “You’ve been talking about getting a guard dog for weeks.”
“Yeah,” Dom scoffed. “A certified one. Not some shelter mutt.”
Kiera’s expression crumpled at that. “That’s such stupid, elitist bullshit. The dogs at the shelter are perfect. Just ‘cause you don’t have to pay some asshole for a fancy piece of paper doesn’t make them any less qualified.”
“It literally does.” Dom narrowed her eyes. “The shelter dogs have zero qualifications.”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Kiera rolled her eyes. “Just come with us. Who knows, might make it a little easier to forgive you.”
Watching Kiera bat her eyes at Dom made my stomach turn, even when she was doing it facetiously. Of all people, I couldn’t believe that Kiera was okay with Dom right now — okay enough to invite her with us, at least.
Leo was an emotional cinderblock: I knew that she would try to go back to normal as quickly as possible. That was no surprise. But seeing Kiera play along? It made me feel completely alone in my rage.
“Fine,” Dom rolled her eyes. “But we’re taking the Camaro.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could, the other two were following her to the garage, leaving me in their dust. Seeing no other choice, I shuffled along behind them, dreading every moment of what was supposed to be a fun trip.
I hated that she had the power to ruin this for me just by being there. I hated that she didn’t even have to try. But most of all, I hated that the sight of one of my best fucking friends stoked so much ire in me.
Even I wasn’t sure what it was going to take for me to forgive her. She’d fucked-up badly. And I still didn’t have any real clue what happened to my mom. The details were fuzzy and I hadn’t been able to bring myself to read the paperwork. It would all be too much.
But I knew it wasn’t happening today. And it certainly wasn’t even a consideration until I got a real apology from her.