She looked away from him and shook her head, misery in the sound that escaped her lips. “I’m not a mole, Aric.”
“Unfortunately, it’s going to take a hell of a lot more than that to convince me now.”
“I’m not a mole,” she said, finally meeting his hard stare again.
“But you are on your way to see Big Mack now.”
“Yes.”
“Are you the reason he knew the Order was coming for him the other night?”
She swallowed hard, then lowered her head. “Yes. I’m sure I must be.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“That day when I went for a run, I ended up going to Mackie’s bar.”
Aric let his curse go. It was sharp and rage-filled, lashing out with such force Kaya flinched on the other side of the vehicle. He realized only now how badly he’d been hoping for her denial, despite the strength of his suspicions. Instead, what she was telling him was even worse.
“I didn’t go there looking to break the Order’s trust. I went there because I needed to see someone.”
“Someone who runs with Big Mack?” His voice sounded wooden, but whether it was from anger or shock, he wasn’t sure. He refused to allow that it might be due to the sudden strangulation of his heart as he struggled to process the fact that the woman he loved was about to tell him she was in league with the Order’s enemies. “No one who associates with those murdering cowards is worth your time. If I had my way, I’d cut a bloody track through the heart of every last one of them.”
He saw her slight flinch as he said it. There was shame in the expression she turned on him. And regret. “Aric, I was born and raised with people like him. My mother was one of them, hate-filled and nasty. That was my world too. It was the only world I knew for a very long time.”
“You’re not like that,” he pointed out.
“No, but I’m tied to that world. As much as I despise it, there’s a part of me that might always be tied to that world.”
Aric recalled everything she told him the night they made love on Summit Hill. She’d divulged that her childhood had been brutal, hate-filled. But now he was certain there was a missing piece to the puzzle of Kaya’s past.
“This person you went to see at Mackie’s bar. It’s someone important to you?”
“Yes.” She slowly shook her head. “I hadn’t seen her in a long time. Not since we were sixteen.”
Sixteen. The age Kaya had been when her mother was murdered and she was forced to kill in retaliation and self-defense before fleeing for her life into the city.
“After I saw those murders at that Darkhaven, I knew Big Mack’s people were responsible. What I didn’t know was if my sister had been aware of it too. It was a question I needed her to answer before I decided to shut her out of my heart and my life for good.”
“Your sister,” Aric murmured. “Both of you sixteen when your mother was killed.”
Kaya nodded. “My identical twin. Her name is Leah. Or, rather, it was her name. Now they call her Raven.”
“You have an identical twin who’s been running with Big Mack and his cronies all these years?” Aric felt like he’d just taken a punch to the side of his head. “Ah, Christ. The security guard at the Rousseau estate. The one who turned out to have ties to Mackie. The one who claimed he knew you . . .”
She stared at him, miserable. “He thought I was her. He cornered me and then everything happened so fast.”
“This secret of yours was the reason our mission went south that day.”
“I know. I wanted to say something, Aric, but I was scared.” She reached out to him, her palm coming to rest lightly on his cheek. “Aric, I love you.”
The words lashed him now. “You lied to me.”
“No.”
“You lied by saying nothing,” he bit off harshly. “You’ve been lying to us all.”
“Aric, I wanted to tell you. I planned to tell you just as soon as I saw Leah one more time--”
“Stop.” He drew back, his eyes hot with burning amber sparks. She was saying everything he wanted to hear, but there was still one large question looming. One there would be no coming back from, depending on her answer. “Tell me what you know about the ambush that waited for us at Lars Scrully’s place.”
“I don’t know anything about that.”
“How did you leak our plans to Opus? Or did you only have to leak them to Angus Mackie and he took care of the rest?”
“I didn’t do any of that. I would never betray the Order to Opus Nostrum. Not to anyone. I would never betray you either.” She shook her head. “Aric, you have to believe me.”
“No, Kaya. I don’t. Not anymore.”
Her brow pinched as if she were in pain. Maybe she was. And maybe she was still lying, pretending to be wounded and laughing on the inside for how easily she could fool him, the male of a species she’d been schooled to view as something less than human. Monsters to be hated and destroyed.
Behind them, an angry pickup truck driver laid on his horn as the light changed. Aric impatiently waved the other vehicle around, baring his fangs at the belligerent scowl of the man as he passed them. The truck swerved and jolted before the driver stomped on the gas and fled in terror.
When Kaya glanced at him, he was glad for the savagery of his transformed face. Let her see him--really see him. Let her know what she was professing she loved.
“Where is he?” he demanded. “Angus Mackie. You need to tell me where to find him. I know you know, Kaya. If that skinhead back at the garage didn’t willingly tell you, your
