Page 63 of Silk and Sirens

“Why would I have a bat?” she all but growled at me, her anger simmering beneath frigid control. “You’re not supposed to be here. You’ll mess the day up. We’ve already lost powder thanks to⁠—”

“T,” I interrupted, shooting her a look as I continued searching the office. “You’ll make the loss back once our powder moves.” My searching caused some of her papers to fall from her desk, and she let out a sound of frustration, immediately dropping to her knees to pick up them back up.

“Our powder?” she snapped, flustered. “It’s my powder. Remind me, who has the Master’s in chemistry, and who just enjoys mixing things together to see what explodes?”

Yes, she had the Master’s, but I created the original formula. She just … refined it.

“Stop touching things!” she hissed, hovering over my shoulder when I checked one of the wooden stools. Ignoring her, I turned it over then kicked out one of the legs.

Perfect.

Nodding my thanks, I made my way back to the storage room.

Mr No-Name groaned once he saw what was in my hand, and to make sure he understood, I swung it straight at his shoulder. He screamed as the bone shattered.

“So, are we going to try this again?”

Instead of replying, he spat blood at me.

“You know what I think?” I said calmly. “I think you’re either very brave … or very fucking stupid.”

A weak laugh rattled out of him. “You’re dead anyway.”

“Interesting answer.” My expression didn’t shift as I weighed the length of wood in my hand. “So here are your options. You give me a name …” I tapped the edge lightly against his forehead. “Or I keep driving this into your skull until one of us gets bored. What do you think?”

His breathing turned uneven, some of the fight finally bleeding out of him.

Good.

Tightening my grip, I drew my arm back anyway.

“Wait!” he screeched, swinging violently in the chains from the sudden panic. “Wait, we knew the facility was somewhere in this area, but we didn’t have the exact coordinates. I was told to search the grounds.”

“We?”

He swallowed hard, trying to nod despite the position he was hanging in. “Y … yeah.”

“Who told you?”

His eyes darted away, which was a mistake. I slammed the wood into his ribs hard enough for a crack to echo through the room.

“Names,” I said coldly as he screamed. “I’m rapidly losing patience.”

“Blackwater!” he gasped, twisting against the chains.

My pulse slowed instead of spiking. If the information came from Selene Blackwater, then Aeris had fucking shared it.

Chapter 28

Caden

A roar rippled through the crowd, excitement catching like a fever.

It was fight night at Thorns, which meant the club’s usual exclusivity loosened for those with deep enough pockets and a taste for unsanctioned violence. The arena was more compact than the main club, echoing the same refined design. Except the centre where carpet met concrete, a ring emerged surrounded in lights.

I scanned the room, searching for a flash of familiar red amongst the sea of bodies. I already knew she wasn’t home, having every door, window, and possible entrance to her home alarmed. Each time someone entered or exited I’d get a notification, pull up the camera feed we’d discreetly installed to make sure she was alone.

She thought she was cute changing the locks, but I would always get in.