Ethan didn't respond to the message right away. He sat staring at his phone for a long moment, thumb hovering over the screen, before finally typing back a single word: Where.
The reply came instantly. Cole family boathouse. Twenty minutes. Come alone this time no Grayson, no council escort. If they're listening, whoever's behind this will know I talked, and that gets people killed.
"You can't go alone," Lily said immediately, exhaustion forgotten in the sudden spike of fear. "Not after tonight. Not after everything Marcus already knows and hasn't shared until now."
"I'm not going without you," Ethan said, already pulling the car back onto the road, expression set with grim determination. "Whatever this is, we face it together. But I need to be careful how we approach it. If Marcus is r
