Tae refuses to give the phone back to me. All that talk of us being a team and working together on this, then she turns around and shuts me out.

Not to mention, the last few nights when I go out to Dion's, it hasn't been the usual Hunters following me, but Ryan. I should've known he'd start to get suspicious with me sneaking off base nearly every night. I figured I'd have a little more time before he started taking matters into his own hands though.

Even after walking around the city for several hours, I can't shake him. I've never had this much trouble losing a tail before. I run my hands down my jeans and the black jacket I wear, but I don't feel a tracker.

"You're bound to him," Augustus reminds me. "Within a certain distance, you can sense each other."

"Shit. Can you block it somehow?"

Augustus swirls around my mind like a fish in its tank, almost like they're laughing at me. "I could, but it would weaken both of you. And me, in turn."

I don't like the sound of that, but I also don't like having to leave Dion alone without letting him know what's going on. I could tell Ryan what I've been doing, but I still don't trust him. Amari doesn't either, which only solidifies my desire to keep him in the dark as long as possible.

In the next alley, I stop and wait.

It takes him a while, but he finally approaches to figure out why I've stopped.

As soon as he peaks around the corner, I seize his shirt and slam him into a brick wall.

"Mason!" he cries, like he's trying to pretend he didn't realize he was following me.

I roll my eyes. "I know you've been following me. For hours."

"I don't know what you're-."

"Stop talking," I growl. "You're going to turn around and go back to base or I'm going to harm you."

His jaw locks. "I'm your Protector. You can't lay a finger on me."

"I've already laid ten on you, Ryan. You really want to push your luck? I suggest you go home."

"I know you're doing something out here every night. Is it so wrong that I'm curious why you keep sneaking out? Even if we're not friends... I'm a Protector. Not just of you. But of the world. I'll protect the world from you, if I have to."

"You can take your righteousness and shove it up your ass. I'm not your damn dog and you don't get to control what I do. You don't get to come out here and act like you're the only one that cares about saving the world. I'm a Hunter for a reason."

He lifts his chin and stares me down. "You're a Hunter because the orphanage offered you up to help pay their bills. Because you were another mouth to feed that they didn't want."

Heat courses through my entire body. I yank him back from the wall and slam him against it harder.

Even Augustus flinches in my mind.

I get inches from Ryan's face. "For your information, if anything forced me into being a Hunter, it was my damn parents and their damn mission. Everyone knew the Cranes. You think I'd be able to run, to desert, from that kind of legacy? The orphanage was the only solace I had after they died and you don't get to stand there and try to twist that! I would not be here today if protecting people wasn't something that mattered to me, you asshole. I would be with my parents. I am here, in this city, because being a Hunter means something to me."

For a moment, Ryan looks remorseful, like he didn't realize how sharp the broken bone sticking out of my chest was when he punched it.

"I imagine your Hunter felt the same before Singh got them killed."

Ryan's lips tremble and tears fill his eyes. "Singh didn't get them-." His voice cracks and he looks away.

I ease his feet back onto the ground. "Keep telling yourself that. Every death we face is because there is a malicious fool running things." I look out of the alley, towards the island that I can't see through the buildings. When I look back at him, Ryan's sagged against the brick wall. "You want to know why I won't tell you what I'm doing? It's because I don't trust you, Ryan. Ishani Singh has her hooks in everyone. It's part of the reason you're here and Tarak isn't." I slip closer, putting my hand to the wall next to his head, leaning in until his cheeks darken from my heat. "You could work for her, be reporting to her about my whereabouts. If that's the case, you can tell her to give it up. I am coming for her. I am willing to wage a war against her. But I am not a patient man. She will know exactly when I'm tearing her kingdom down, brick by brick."

I pull away and turn.

"I don't work for Singh," Ryan says, forcefully.

A sigh escapes me as I turn back around to face him. "Pretty words," I tell him, spreading my arms.

He pushes off the wall, his jaw tight. "I don't work for Singh. But I have lied to you."

"Not helping your case."

Ryan holds his hand out to me. "I want to show you something. I need you to come with me."

"Why?"

"I will explain everything when we get there," he assures. "Please, Mason. Please."

I study his expression.

"Knowledge is power," Augustus tells me, their eyes resting over mine as we gaze at Ryan. "If he is working for Singh, we could use him."

"Creepy, Aug."

"You were thinking it too."

I was.

I sigh, look away, rake a hand through my hair. "Fine," I tell him, and I slip my hand into his.