“I don’t do birthdays.”
Gigi officially had a new mission in life, oncelifehad returned to normal: Project Birthday.See also: Confetti Pants.
“Brady’s sponsor knows things.” Gigi figured she owed Not-Yet-Confetti-Pants an answer of some sort, but she kept it vague. “And we might need Brady to draw her out.”
Knox had been there when Gigi had told Jameson and Alisa all about the duchess and the Woman in Red, Zella and Calla, and the fact that they’d beensisters, once upon a time. Knox had just been thoroughly pretending that none of it mattered to him.
“I don’t like this.” He picked up his pace again as their path twisted away from the water. Gigi shined the light on her phone after him, but it did very little against the velvety blackness of the night.
“Where are we?” Gigi asked.
“Heaven or hell, depending on who you ask.”
Gigi wondered what this place looked like during the daytime, wondered if it was beautiful or just wild, wondered what Knoxfeltcoming back here.
“This is where you trained, isn’t it?” Gigi knew she was pushing her luck, but cardio always made her a little reckless. “You and Brady and Calla. Severin trained you out here.”
Gigi still wasn’t sure exactly what that “training” had entailed. Fighting, clearly, but she had the general sense it went beyond that. She knew that Calla had been an archer, and that Severin Thorp had been former military and comfortable living in the wilderness, so hunting, tracking, and intense survival training also seemed like real possibilities.
“Let it go,” Knox ordered. “And watch out for the roots.”
“What r—” Gigi’s foot caught on something, and she pitched forward. Knox turned and caught her before she could face-plant. Gigi took that as an opportunity to give his hand a little squeeze. “You and Brady, you became brothers out here. You trainedtogether. And Calla—she was part of it, part of you.”
Even Gigi wasn’t brave enough to sayYou fell in love with her, let aloneBrady fell, too.
“Calla was a Thorp,” Knox said abruptly, like that wasallCalla had been. He set off again, like a half-mad hound who’d scented prey. “Watch out for the damn roots this time.”
Gigi struggled to catch up and managed a record ninety-three seconds of silence before she tried again. “You haven’t asked me. About Calla.”
“What about her?”
“Anything?”
Knox went very still. At first, Gigi thought she’d finally pushed him too far, but then she realized: He was listening. To something?Forsomething?
Brady?
“Wait here,” Knox ordered, taking off full-speed into the dark.
It was a truth universally acknowledged that Gigi Grayson was not particularly good at waiting. She aimed her light in the direction Knox had gone, but he’d already disappeared. Gigi heard a twig snap somewhere in the distance, and then Knox’s voice cut through the night.
“What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Daniels?” Knox said. That rather questionable greeting was followed by the sound of someone being shoved into what Gigi could only assume was the trunk of what she hoped was a very sturdy tree. She had no idea whether Knox had been the shover or the shove-ee.
“I can take care of myself, Knox.”Brady.“And it’s none of your business, either way.”
“You’re my business, Brady.”
“Since when?”
“Since always.”
Gigi headed in the direction of their voices and hit a clearing. Moonlight directly overhead illuminated the outlines of her former teammates’ bodies—more specifically, the outline of Brady’s forearm getting up close and personal with the outline of Knox’s windpipe.
“Not on my watch, boys!” Gigi called, jogging toward them and catching them in the beam of her flashlight. “This is a place of nature and peace.”
Brady let loose of Knox and turned toward Gigi. She gave herself a second to look at him—just one.When in doubt, rip the bandage right off.
“Calla’s alive,” Gigi blurted. “I saw her.”