tired, but the news of Dannie being hurt at the hands of this pack had us both ready to try round two of murdering their asses.
The only thing holding me back was the fact that if I pushed them too far today, they might kill me, and I couldn’t let that happen before I knew Shadow and the library were okay. Not to mention everyone else in the Solaris System I’d grown quite fond of.
Simone jumped to her feet, energy animating her face as she nodded. Whatever she’d been mulling in her head, she’d come to a conclusion, and was now ready to share her plan.
Leaning close to my ear, she acted like she was hugging me again. “There’s a secret pack meeting tonight for enforcers and the top pack members,” she whispered. “I think it’s going to be about you and everything that happened. I didn’t want to tell you because I’m scared you’re going to get yourself killed fighting them, but we definitely have to figure out what they did.”
I clutched her shirt, holding on to her. “Yes. I need to get to that meeting. Maybe just give me the coordinates, and you can stay home, where it’s safe…”
She shook her head, pulling back from me. “Not a fucking chance, bitch. I’ll be at your side, just like I should have been when you were taken.”
I grimaced. “Did you not hear what Shadow did to Alpha Victor? He’s absolutely ruthless and without mercy when he’s angry. If you got in his way, you’d have done nothing other than die. And if you’d done that for me, I would have been so angry that at least two lifetimes would have had to pass before I’d forgive you.”
Her eyes sprinkled with tears as she shook her head again. “When I realized you’d run from Torma just before your shift, I blamed myself. If I’d been a more supportive friend, I’d have been with you.”
I swallowed as my eyes burned. “I’m so sorry for leaving like that, girl. Especially after telling you I wouldn’t.”
Her voice was fierce as she shook me a little. “It wasn’t your fault. I’ve had a lot of time to think about… well, everything. You lived through hell, and I did nothing to help. Not really.”
That wasn’t remotely true. Her love and support had definitely saved my life more than once. Simone continued before I could. “When you were taken by Shadow Beast, I promised that if you ever returned to me, I’d never let you go. I can’t break that promise… please don’t make me.”
Our gazes were locked for what felt like an eternity, and eventually, I nodded, seeing in her face the same determination I’d seen in my own for years. In truth, me making decisions for her was just as bad as Shadow doing it for me. I was no stronger or smarter than Simone, and as long as she knew all the risks, it wasn’t my job to stand in her way.
“Okay. Just be aware that I’ve almost died twenty times since I was taken from here,” I told her. “If you’re okay with living on the edge of death, I won’t stand in your way.”
She scoffed. “We’ve got this. Pretty sure being in Torma is living on the devil’s gate anyway.” There was a pause, and we chuckled.
“I’ve literally been living with the devil,” I snorted.
Simone shot me a smirk. “I know.”
Both of us laughed and I had to shake my head at the irony of my last year. To shifters, Shadow was god, devil, beast, sinner, and saint. He was the complete package of yin and yang. Dark and light. Good and bad. I’d been living in the devil’s house for a year, and if anything, had come out stronger and more independent than I’d ever been here under the pack rule.
“We will stop them,” I said with conviction.
Simone’s face was fierce, her lips pursed as she narrowed her eyes. “We will. I need to go home now so I can follow my parents. I’ll text you the coordinates.”
I grimaced. “I have no phone.”
She smiled. “I kept an old one of yours.” From her pocket, she pulled out my phone, fully charged and in pristine condition. For an old piece of crap. “I hoped that one day you’d call your number, so I never let the charge go out.”
My throat was tight as I hugged her once more. “I love you. Be careful following your parents and text me as soon