Stone grits his teeth. His perfect face is on edge, but there’s a wariness about him, too. Why do I feel like I’m more like these guys than not? Caught between a curse and a need so deep. The treasure runs through my veins. I may not have been born with it, but it’s taught in Wilder blood from birth. This is how you rock climb. This is how you spend the night in the mountains without dying. This is how you make sure a scorpion doesn’t sting you. I could go on and on and on. I know more about the treasure than I know about any other single thing in this world.
I pause at that thought. It’s kind of sad when you think about it. It’s always just been Dad and me for as long as I can remember. I didn’t just get to do things like this, even if I’d wanted to. There wasn’t time for it. It was always research, search, treasure, treasure, treasure.
Stone snaps his fingers in front of my face. I bat his hand away, and he snarls.
“Give her a second, man.”
All three of us turn toward Lucas. He stares at me, those brown eyes awash with conflict. I feel his stare all the way down to my toes.
No, no. This isn’t good.
For so long, these three were like the forbidden fruit. It’s surreal to even be talking to them. They’re every bit the entitled assholes I thought they were, and that’s fine. Lucas just can’t go being human on me now. They are not allies.
Stone glares at him then moves his stare back to me. He clenches his hands to fists, and it’s apparent he’s trying to keep himself under control while they wait to hear what I have to say.
Lucas chugs his beer and stands, throwing the bottle. It flips end over end until it moves out of sight. It doesn’t make a sound when it lands, which is unnerving, but my guess is it hit a patch of sand. He shrugs. “This fucking treasure, man.” His laugh is empty and indecipherable, almost mocking. “It’s ruining our fucking—”
“Hey,” Stone says, interrupting him. I wish I could see enough to decipher the look he’s giving Lucas right now. “Dude, get your fucking shit together.”
I pick at the label of the beer bottle with my fingernail, ignoring the boys’ stare off. My mind keeps going back to the letter. I can’t let it go, and I certainly won’t help them if…what? I don’t even know. My mind is giving me a thousand possibilities. “Tell me one thing,” I say finally. “Do you know where my dad is?”
Stone leans forward until the moonlight washes over his face. I peek up at him, expecting the same raw hatred he’s shown me tonight, but what’s there is much more welcoming. “Why would you ask us that? Your dad went up into the mountains and never came back. We helped search for him.”
My hands tighten around the bottle. It would be so easy if they knew what happened to him, right? Maybe that’s why my mind went there, but Stone actually looks sincere for once.
Lucas prowls toward me, moving into my line of sight. He bends, squatting in front of me while he fixes me in place with a glare. “Why did you ask us that?”
I stand, shoving him out of the way and shake my head. None of this is making sense. “I know.” I spin toward Stone. The feelings that letter conjured threaten to spill out. “Your dad sent it then. Why?”
Stone stands now, too. “Sent what?”
“Please,” I say, holding onto the thread of hope I have. A glimmer that I might actually know what’s going on.
Lucas gets in between Stone and I again. He actually reaches for my hands, squeezing my fingers in his sure grip. “This is important, Dakota. Please tell us what someone sent you.”
Lucas’s plea sends me reeling, but his touch holds me firmly in place. I search his eyes for the thread of truth to his words. I find it. It’s there, but just because he doesn’t know about the letter doesn’t mean Lance didn’t send it.
Lucas reaches up to cup my face. “Please.”
Jesus. Being touched like this feels good. It’s like the universe has stopped spinning off course. Stone and Wyatt may as well not even be here because I’m transfixed in place. “A l-letter,” I say finally. “I got it yesterday right before I walked into history class and found Stone standing at the front of the room.”
I glance toward Stone, and Lucas follows my gaze. Stone just continues to stand there, his knuckles turning white.
“Who gave it to you?” Wyatt asks, voice like thunder in a storm.
I pull away from Lucas and breathe out. Being in his vortex is suffocating, choking every sane thought I have out of me. I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m ready to give you a decision now.”
“But—”
Stone shushes Lucas.
I close my eyes. My mind has been working on a solution, and I think I have one. It’s only half a betrayal of my family, but if it means finding my father, I’m all for it. I take the last swallow of my beer and toss the bottle to Lucas. He catches it out of thin air like he hasn’t had a shitload already to drink. Both he and Wyatt watch the standoff between us, gazes flicking back and forth. “My answer is…” The air seems to settle, draping over my shoulders like a weight. The only thing you can hear between the four of us is our collective breaths and the insects chirping just outside the perimeter of the truck. “I told you before that if you wanted what my family had then you needed me.” I can’t even open my eyes while I say this. If my dad’s dead and watching from above, I can imagine the
