It was morning, just before the crack of dawn, and I was sitting with my coffee, just staring out at the window, daring the sun to peak over the horizon. Tray had fallen asleep, he was nestled underneath the covers, looking like my gorgeous protective angel.

I’d fallen in love with him. I had and it didn’t scare me anymore. It didn’t cause my heart to contract or fall to the pit of my stomach.

I loved that boy behind me, looking all delectable and shit.

He’d told me first. He’d told me he’d fallen, but the ‘L’ word hadn’t been included. That was alright. It was there between us and we both knew it.

And me yelling at him, him yelling back, we both knew it was alright. It was the atmosphere around us. It encased us, a protective shell where it was safe for us to disagree and rage and still know we’d be there for each other.

I’d lost Brian and it didn’t cripple me, it didn’t paralyze me. And I might lose Grayley and that didn’t even freeze me in place. Brian had been my anchor through my life in the past. I’d had been fortunate enough that I got to say goodbye.

I’d gotten more than what Tray had been dealt.

His brother beat the shit out of him after threatening him to choose between him and his father.

He’d been a kid, a fucking kid going through puberty. He was supposed to worry about how many girls liked him, not which family member would be walking out of his life.

But Tray had done what so many could never fathom. He’d stood on his own. He’d decided that he wouldn’t bow to either, so he told ‘em both to fuck off.

I loved a man like that.

And he was right. Tray wasn’t a kid. He’d ceased being a kid long ago. He was a man, he may be in high school, but he’s a man nonetheless.

I loved him.

And I loved him even more because he’d be going into that school with me, at my back, ready to handle whatever came at us.

It had been right. Jace had been right. Whatever had been going on, I wouldn’t have stood for it. He just messed up and didn’t make sure my adoption took me clear away from Pedlam.

The time was right. What Tray and I were about to do was right.

So I found myself standing, in the wake of morning, watching the horizon that was still encased in darkness.

And I felt right, for the first fucking time in my life.

I was meant to do this.

I was meant to be here, with this man, and I had my purpose laid out before me.

“Hey,” Tray whispered, moving to stand behind me. He pulled me against his chest as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

I let my head fall against his chest. “Hey,” I said softly, still watching the sun.

He dipped to rest his chin in the crook of my neck and shoulder. “You ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go,” he murmured, before moving to dress.

I turned and dressed in my normal work outfit. The same snug black lycra fabric, complete with everything I needed to break-in. I’d made Tray unearth the PRS-500. The codes were still there and I knew how to override them, but who knew if the same codes were still activated for the warehouse or not. Jace most certainly had them changed, but there was a wireless connection to the PRS-500. So that meant it was possible that only the codes to the school would be changed. All the codes on the device were still active, which meant that the connection was still bridged and working. Bottom line: the codes might’ve been automatically downloaded to the PRS-500, granting us open access.

Let’s hope anyway.

Tray left the room for a minute and I met him in the kitchen.

“So what’s the plan again?” I asked for the third time, still not totally believing his choice of accomplices. You’d think Carter, Bryce, Devon, or any one of his friends, but no, .he chose Gentley.

“Gentley’s going to be watching the parking lot when you go in. I’ll circle around to the river’s opening.”

“And explain again…him?”

Tray just grinned, but spoke, “Gentley runs that school. He knows who belongs and who doesn’t. Plus, he can carry his own. There’s a reason why he runs that school and someone else doesn’t.”

“He’s an ass. It’s the only reason.”

“Then I’d probably have whoever else ran the school to help us. I need someone who can give orders over there and they be followed out. Trust me, he’s not a bud, but he’ll do.”

“He’s an ass. I don’t like working with asses.”

“No,” Tray grinned cockily, “but you’ll screw ‘em.”

Gentley would have to do, I guess. But I didn’t like it.

Tray sighed. “Just trust me, Taryn. This is my part, what I can do. You’ll be doing your job, but I’m telling you that we’ll need a third guy on this. Gentley’s the best choice, but only because it’s his territory.”

“It’s Jace’s territory, not Gentley’s.”

“No, but Gentley’s the acting owner. You know what I mean.”

But I was a shit, so I asked even though I fully knew the answer. “And why are we doing this during the day?”

“Less guards and stop playing games.”

It hadn’t taken us long to devise the plan once we’d decided on actually going through with it. Seeing Chance had been enough to light Tray’s fire, but I could tell he was slightly nervous. He’d called Gentley back over and the rest of the night had been spent going over blueprints and coordinating time schedules.

Gentley hadn’t been thrilled, but like I’d noticed before—he respected Tray. Or at least he knew who the top dog was, the Alpha male, or whatever. It was all a bunch of nonsense to me. I just needed to know my part, where I was going, and what to do when I found Grayley.

Gentley figured Grayley would be underneath the gymnasium, since the school alarm was slightly louder in that room than the hallways. It made sense. The added echo probably helped us hear the alarm over Grayley’s cellphone, but it was still nerve-wracking.

Once in the car, I asked, “Why not Trent? Or Geezer? My friends, not the enemy.”

Tray didn’t even answer. It would’ve been the same answer from the first three times I’d asked. Geezer wasn’t reliable—he’d probably be stoned or just unable to handle whatever came up. And Trent would do, but Gentley was better. I hated it, I absolutely hated it, but Tray was right. Gentley was the best man for the job, but I needed to whine some more.

When we arrived at our rendezvous spot, my scowl was firmly in place when I saw Gentley was already waiting for us.

He scowled right back, but neither of us spoke. I was a little relieved because our constant insult-exchange had wasted an entire hour of work. Last night, Tray lit into both of us until we stopped and were reluctantly civil to each other.

“Gentley, are you absolutely certain that you’ll be left alone in the parking lot all day?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, “I’m sure it’s the same at your school, but there’s a few of us that can’t be bothered, you know.”

“Taryn—” Tray had been speaking my name.

“What?”

“Are you ready to go in?”

I noticed Gentley had been checking out my outfit, but it wasn’t from lust. I saw the note of surprise in his eyes.

All professional and shit, I said, “Yeah, I just gotta wind this rope quick.”

“You got everything?” Tray moved to my side.

“I think so.” And I did. I grabbed two small karabiners, a lethal looking knife, my rope, and anything else I could carry on my body that I’d need to break a lock…or if anything came between me and Grayley. He was down there and I was going to get him out. There was no other way around it.

“We go on your count,” Tray murmured, for my ears only. Gentley had moved a few feet away, enough to give us a modicum of privacy.

“Tray,” I murmured.

“Yeah?”

“Are you—” I would be fine. I knew how to handle myself, how to disappear and reappear, but Tray was coming in from the river. That meant a whole lot more open spaces than I’d have. I could hide in the nook and crannies in the school. But Tray’s way was a lot more dangerous, he’d be an easy target for any marksman.

“I’ll be fine,” he whispered, reassuring me for the umpteenth time. And he had, over and over last night, but it wasn’t enough to reassure me.

I really didn’t care that he had two guns on his body. Or that his brother had been a DEA agent, and his father the chief of police. I didn’t care that he’d been trained, at an early age, to handle himself and any gun he’d come across, or that he could probably out maneuver most SWAT teams.

A sniper’s aim was still a sniper’s aim.

He kissed my forehead and whispered again, “I’ll be fine. I’ve done this before, just focus on getting in there and finding your friend, alright?”

I grabbed his chin and kissed him hard on the lips.

When we broke apart, I saw that Gentley was watching and he looked annoyed. “Can we get going?”

Tray threw a walkie to him and asked, “You know what to do?”

“Yeah, yeah. Watch the parking lot and if a new crew shows up, I’m supposed to call you.”

“Channel eleven-twelve. Taryn and I are both on that channel, but the volume will be on vibrate so you’ll have just SOS us or something. Long, short, short, short, long is the code, alright?”

If it had been under any other circumstances, maybe one where we weren’t about to enter into a building without knowing if we’d be walking back out, I would’ve taken Tray down right then and there. The guy was just hot, all authoritarian and lethal. Plus he had a nicely tight body with muscles that contracted even when he breathed. Holy fuck.

“Taryn,” he barked my way.

“Yeah.” I know, I know. Distracting myself with sex wasn’t going to chase away the foreboding feeling that I felt in my stomach. It was the same feeling when we’d driven by that car accident. But holy God, there was no way I’d let that feeling overpower me and keep me from getting inside today.

Suddenly I was overfilled with urgency and adrenalin. I needed to get inside that building. I needed to take that fucker down. Now.

“I’m going in,” I announced and was already off, sprinting over the ditches and through the football field.

We’d decided the night before we’d hit the school early, really early, and we’d move in when they probably wouldn’t expect it.

I was coming in from the school’s backyard. Past the football field, the tennis courts, the swimming pool, the outside volleyball and the basketball courts. Behind the courts, there was a back door that the janitor’s used for their own entrance. They usually came and went at their own freedom, so the chances were pretty unlikely that Jace would monitor that door closely. I pulled out the PRS-500 and coded in Geezer’s decoder. Thumbing through the various locales and buildings, I found the janitor’s door and the security code came up: six, two, three, four.

Entering it on the keypad, the light switched to green and I slipped in.

From a burglar’s point of view, it was somewhat of a let-down, but I still had plenty of doors to get through yet.

I knew the camera surveillance had been upped since my last break-in, so the first vent I found, I hoisted myself up and through it. From there it was cake. Kind of, except for the fact that I ran into two small cameras placed in the venting shafts. What moron would want to watch fucking wind blow in a vent? That’s right, a psychopath who I used to care about and one time thought I had loved.

Fuck him.

Each camera I came across, I merely bent my head and moved past it. The venting shafts were completely black. I was dressed in black, so only the whites of my eyes could give me away. Problem solved—I didn’t look up and kept my nose to the metal as I inched forward.

At one point, the venting shaft inclined so suddenly I had to pull out some grippers to help me crawl up. I hated applying those and the space wasn’t the most comfortable, but it was done with the minimal amount of movement. I tentatively moved forward, testing the first gripper to see if they still worked. When the suction cup caught and held, I pulled myself up.

Remembering the blueprints from memory, I counted the distance I’d gone so far from the pedometer I’d slipped on my wrist and saw I should be just above the security room.

This was the tricky part.

We all knew there were security guards. And we all knew they were there twenty-four/seven, so the chances of getting in and out without them knowing would be impossible. So it was my job to handle these guards. Tray would take care of the ones from his end, but it was still unnerving.

I had my taser, but we were hoping to do it a different way.

I pressed the code in my walkie and a second later, the power was shut off.

From below, I could hear the curses from each guard. That’s when I made my move and slipped through the vent. They didn’t know I was there, but the crackle of my taser was distinct.

“What the fuck?” one guy asked, but I circled around him and then tasered him.

The other two were already heading for the door.

I chased after them and caught one at the door before I was backhanded off the fourth.

Landing with a grunt on the floor, I twisted and aimed for his feet. I didn’t have time to get up and make another attempt. He was ready and in a defensive position, so I got him in the leg.

The fucker jumped, but he landed hard.

I quickly grabbed their walkies and taped the button down, neatly tying up their only other method for communication. I knew for damn sure that they hadn’t exchanged cell numbers so with the power out and the walkies down, they were alone and for the most part—vulnerable.

Well, I was still invisible, but everyone was now on alert. That’d been expected and put into the plan. Plus, we were hoping the power outage would extend all the way to the river’s opening. It’d help Tray and that’s what I’d really been thinking of when I passed my vote for this part of the plan.

Now we just needed to be on edge and see if Gentley would pass along his code. Hopefully not. We didn’t need any extra crew showing up.

Instead of crawling through the vents, I full-out sprinted to the side door and yanked it open. From there, I ran down every flight of stairs that I found until I found myself approaching the last one. If the blueprints were right, the stairs that I was on should connect to the storage unit underneath.

And in that second, I realized that my priorities had changed. Before, I would’ve been excited to see whatever was inside. I would’ve wanted to see other bracelets like the one Brian had stolen for me. I would’ve wanted to see the vast expanse of drugs, piled up and to the ceiling. But now, I just wanted Grayley, Tray and myself out, safely. That’s all I wanted.

I’d lost the edge.

And I didn’t even care.

I heard footsteps from the opposite side, so I hoisted myself up and held myself taut against some of the railings above. Two guards exited just below me and climbed the stairs upwards.

They weren’t panicked. They weren’t loud, but were calm and quiet.

Good.

If they knew they’d been invaded, they’d have been running and cursing.

This was good news.

I dropped back down and moved through the still open door. As I moved down the hallway, in complete darkness, I pressed a code on my walkie. I was asking Tray if he was alright, and he answered back a second later. And he’d added an expletive at the end. It brought a grin to my face.

Some things didn’t change, no matter how dangerous and hair-raising the circumstances.

The time had come, I knew it in my bones. The door to the main room now stood before me, but it wasn’t the one where we guessed Grayley may be in. We really didn’t know what we’d find inside, the blueprints hadn’t included the bottom layer. But if they had Grayley, he’d be kept in a small room, off to the end. That meant at the far end of the action. Tray had explained why the significant percentage showed that this is where Grayley would be, but I hadn’t cared. I just wanted to know where he’d be and I listened for that location. The rest was just…it was information that Tray speculated on because he had the ability to get inside their heads.

I just hoped he was right.

I moved forward. I pushed back the old, dying, thirst that had once been inside of me for the forbidden discovery and I moved to the last door.

It was bittersweet, but I didn’t have time to sit and think about it.

I reached for the doorknob and opened it.

What I saw inside almost made me weep.

Grayley was inside, tied to a bed.

I couldn’t speak, but I ran to his side and quickly cut through his bindings.

“What?” he mumbled, sitting up and squinting at me.

“It’s me,” I whispered.

“Taryn?”

“Yeah. Can you walk?”

“What? What are you doing here?” He was so fucking groggy.

“You gotta wake up and you gotta be okay to run. Not walk, but run. We have to get out of here.”

“We can’t. I don’t know where we are.”

“I do,” I snapped, the fucking drugs were working miracles on him. “What’d they give you?”

“Nothing. I’m just…Taryn, what are you doing here?”

Oh my God. I yanked him upwards and dragged him to the door.

Grayley dropped to the ground.

“Get up,” I snapped again, and this time I slapped him. The fucker needed to get up if he wanted to live.

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears again. I hated that sound. It was so deafening.

I had Grayley. He was alive. It was as if I’d been numb until that second. But now that I had him, I was near panic—Tray was out there.

“We have to go. Now!” I insisted, trying for anything short of shouting.

“Taryn, where are we? Where’s Brian?”

He didn’t know. My heart stopped for a second. I didn’t want to be the one to tell him about Brian.

“We’re going. Now!” I don’t know if it was the adrenalin, I don’t know if Brian was there with us, but suddenly Grayley stood and I had him on my back. I was almost carrying him out the door and down the hallway.

Tray said to meet him halfway. He’d come in from his end and there was supposedly a tunnel that wound up, right underneath the football field. That was our exit. It was an old tunnel on the original blueprints, but the most recent blueprints hadn’t shown it. Gentley insisted it was there. There hadn’t been any changes around the football field, so it meant the tunnel was there and possibly ignored by Jace. That meant a safe exit for us.

We were almost to the meeting point, I was swiftly counting each step under my breath. Twenty more to go.

Grayley stumbled a few times, but I always managed to lift him back up and keep him going.

Again, I have no idea how it was even possible.

The adrenalin was starting to wear off, but I needed enough to get to Tray. That’s all I was focused on right then and there.

Pop!

Gunshot. My heart stopped. Everything went silent. Grayley fell to the ground and I stood. Still.

Pop! Pop!

Two more gunshots. I heard running from up ahead and another burst of gunfire followed.

You know the feeling when you know your fate is sealed. Like when you walk out of a lover’s apartment and you stop, mid-hallway, because you know right then and there that the relationship is over? You can’t explain it. You don’t even understand it, but you feel it. And you know in that split second that everything had changed somehow and you were helpless, but it already happened.

That was how I was feeling. Right then and there that spread through my body. So all I could do was wait, wait for the fucking footsteps to closer to me. I needed to know who it was. And if it wasn’t Tray…I grabbed for the gun he’d made me take. I strapped it to my back, wanting to forget I even had it, but he made me take it.

Tray. I let go of the gun and left it there. Still nestled in the small of my back, hidden underneath my clothing.

It was Tray that was running towards me and the world slammed back at me. Everything: the wind, the tunnel, the darkness, and Grayley. He was still on the ground, moaning in pain.

I bent and picked him back up and ran to meet Tray.

“Tray!” I gasped, but I knew he couldn’t hear me.

I could see him fumbling against the wall, measuring where the door should’ve been. And then he was ramming the butt of his gun against the wall, trying to get at our escape route.

I dropped Grayley to the floor and took my own equipment. The end of the knife helped some, but it was our hands and feet that did most of the work.

“Fuck,” I gasped, but Tray was quiet. The entire time, he was just focused and silent.

I could see the training he’d undergone in that moment. He flipped the gun in his hand like a kid who’d been given a gun for their first birthday. He turned and aimed it towards the opening where he’d come from.

“Keep working,” he commanded tensely, standing poised with the gun aimed, perfectly even.

His hand was calm and steady.

I had another burst of adrenalin because I hammered at that wall, knowing my knuckles and skin were getting cut. I didn’t care.

Our livelihood was on the other side. Blood, skin, and pain would gladly be sacrificed to get there.

They were coming, someone was coming. I knew it, but I kept trying. I wailed, I punched, and I kicked. I threw my entire body against the unyielding fucking wall and nothing happened.

Nothing.

Tray faced squarely whoever was coming. He had both guns out now, so I stopped and waited a second.

He didn’t say anything.

He didn’t order me to keep working, he didn’t tell me to stop. Nothing.

And I knew it was over. We’d tried, but we’d failed.

They were here.

I reached behind me, where my gun was still secured, but just held it there. Waiting.

Three guards came around the corner and each took position, their guns pointed right at us.

It was over.

Tray didn’t say anything, neither did they.

Grayley spat out some blood.

I waited.

“You disappoint me, son.” Galverson stepped out, from the direction where Grayley and I had come. He looked irritatingly unperturbed, like he’d been waiting for this and was just ready at a moment’s notice.

I hated him with all of my being in that moment.

Tray said nothing.

Galverson chuckled, a dry laugh, “I had high hopes for you. I thought you could go far in my business.”

Tray cocked his gun.

I held my breath.

“Your father told me it was a useless hope that you to come work for me. He said you’d never consider my business proposition, but I needed to try anyway. You’re a genius, Tray, but this…this was foolish. You didn’t plan. This is why you failed against me.”

While he’d been talking, Galverson had circled around us.

“Back the fuck up,” Tray bit out, moving to match him step for step.

I was distracted for a moment when Grayley let out a short moan, but I was aware that something was off. Tray was moving away from me. He was my safety net and he was moving away, making me vulnerable.

Galverson moved in and quickly raised his gun and pointed it at me. Straight at my forehead. I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t disappear. I hated that.

Tray instantly realized his mistake and cursed. Galverson had distracted him, talking about his father and got enough space where I wasn’t protected.

“Drop the gun, Tray.” He was cold now. The act had been dropped. He was just a cold, murdering, businessman now. He sounded like he was drawing up a business plan.

“You’re going to die,” Tray promised, the menace was evident and genuine in his tone. He didn’t drop the gun. “And you’re going to die soon. I promise.”

Galverson laughed. “And you’ll be the one to do it? Trust me, kid, you don’t have the balls. Your father was right about that.”

“Is my father here?”

“No, kid. Your pops left a week ago, but he was here. He was here and he left. He’s been doing that for four years now.” He didn’t care, not one iota how his words were cutting Tray up. Tray didn’t show it, but I still saw what each word was doing to him.

I hated the asshole even more in that moment.

“I know this is where the bad guy is supposed to gloat and uncover all the nasty little secrets that went down, but,” Galverson sighed, “I was in the middle of a business-deal and you interrupted it.”

Tray moved forward. Slightly.

“Easy kid,” Galverson noted, “you might be surprised at who’s behind you.”

Before Tray could counter his statement, Jace stepped out from behind and pointed a gun at Tray.

Galverson smiled an ugly triumphant smile as he held his gun on me.

I still had one hand on my gun, but was frozen in place.

“Taryn,” Jace murmured, sadly, “I told you to stay out.”

“Fuck you,” I snarled.

Galverson laughed harder, but his hand was steady.

Grayley moaned again from my feet; he’d moved to sit up against the wall.

“She’s a spitfire, Jace. I see why you have the hots for her.”

Jace just watched me.

Tray was quiet. But not me. “I fucking hate you, Jace. I hate you so goddamn much.”

“I know,” Jace replied.

“Did you kill Brian? Did you?!” I screamed, but I stayed put.

Jace ignored that and replied, “You were supposed to have a better life. I gave you that life. Why couldn’t you just take it?”

“Because when people I love die or vanish, I don’t just give up and leave them. What were you going to do with Grayley? He’s never hurt you!”

“Oh him,” Galverson sniggered, “he was poking around my place. Kinda like you, little birdie. Asking all sorts of questions.”

“You’re going to die,” I repeated Tray’s prediction. I just didn’t know who would kill him, me or Tray, but one of us would take him down before we did. I’d personally grab his ankle and drag him to hell with me, if I had to.

“Yes, yes. I’ve had lots of people tell me I’m going to die. Funny how no one seems to follow through.” He chuckled, but he stepped forward. I saw the gun raise slightly and braced myself for the inevitable.

I looked up and stared boldly at Galverson, waiting.

Pop!

The world slowed; I felt the world literally drop onto my chest, like a suffocating weight in the atmosphere as I looked around.

It took a second for me to comprehend it, but I was still standing. Tray was still standing. But Galverson, he had fallen with red-velvet blood that poured out of his wound. Shock had been cemented in his eyes as he’d realized what had happened. And who had shot him.

Jace.

Jace stood above his form and he emptied his clip into Galverson’s body.

“Jace?” I gasped as I staggered back a bit.

He looked up and met my eyes.

“Jace?” I asked again.

Just then three more shots rained out and the three security guards all dropped to the ground.

Jace nodded behind us. “Your brother, Chance, is out that way. If you go with him, he’ll get you out safely.”

Tray lingered a moment, his eyes on Galverson’s body before he nodded.

“Jace?” I asked again.

“Take her with you. And Grayley.” Jace ignored me.

I shook off Tray’s hand and stepped forward. I grabbed Jace’s arm instead and whirled him to face me. “You asshole!” I seethed and slapped him.

“Taryn, go,” he said quietly, “go.”

“What was this? What? I don’t understand.”

I wasn’t going anywhere. Tray and Jace both knew it, so he sighed and said quickly, “I’ve been working with the DEA for six years. Tray’s brother was my agent. I tried to keep you out of this, that’s why I set up your adoption. Brian found out and I tried to keep him from telling you, that’s when Grayley got suspicious. I think Brian told him what was going on. They didn’t know I had anything to do with you leaving, but I couldn’t protect Grayley. I’m sorry. I planted his phone where I knew you’d find it and I made sure that the videos got Tray’s brother. I needed you guys in here sooner than later so that this could all come to an end. But I had nothing to do with Brian’s death. You have to know that, Taryn!”

“The DEA?” I echoed, baffled.

“Get her out now!” Jace briskly ordered. “I can’t guarantee her safety for that much longer if they find her here. Right now they’ll think me and Galverson had a disagreement. I’ll take over Galverson’s business, they won’t even look for you guys. But that’s only if you’re not seen. Get out!”

Tray nodded and grabbed my arm. He dragged me and carried Grayley out towards the tunnel’s opening.

I floundered backwards, but gazed at Jace. He stood above Galverson’s body, his gun in his hand, and he watched me right back.

I felt like my world had just been splintered, with little pieces amassing the ground I walked on.

We left Jace behind and I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. The right or wrong thing.

Gray. Everything was just gray. There was no longer black or white.

I was vaguely aware of Tray’s hands at my elbows, but I was lifted onto a boat and deposited on a back seat.

Tray was speaking to someone, his brother. They looked so much alike.

Once upon a time, I knew another pair of brothers.