Set fire to the altar
Middle finger to the sun
No time for the sacred
No one to save you when I'm done
— Devil Inside by CRMNL

I stared at Summer as she and Isaac filled Victoria and Liam in with what was happening. I studied the intensity in her eyes and the way her jaw clenched when she shared about what went down in New Jersey. My grip tightened around the glass of whiskey as I thought back to the way she looked at me when she told me that she had made her decision.

Her eyes burned with strong determination, the one I feared to see in her. She wanted that life, and I had promised to stand by her choice no matter what it was. A foolish thing for me to do, indeed. However, if that was the path she truly wanted, then there was nothing I could do but keep my end of the bargain.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Victoria.

Summer turned to me with a small smile, and I placed my glass down on the table. I trusted her judgment on this one. Well, she did make a valid point about Victoria and Liam. Their families were also valued members of the Inner Circle, hence why they could be trusted with this information.

If Summer was going to walk through the roads paved by death itself, then I might as well guide her through it and make sure that she reached the end of her journey safely.

I handed Liam the case files of Marina and Daniela Morales. "I need you to look into them. We believe that they've changed their names and faked their deaths. Your grandparents should have access to the database of people whose names legally changed. Isaac will help you."

Liam nodded. "I'll make sure to get this done today."

"Good," I said.

He nudged Isaac on the shoulder, and they both walked out of the living room together. I turned to Victoria next, who was casually sipping a cup of hot tea.

"Queen of Gossip," I snickered.

She glanced up at me and rolled her eyes before setting the cup down on the table. "Do you want to insert a microchip in my brain and download all the information I have on everybody?" she scoffed playfully.

"If only that technology existed, I wouldn't mind doing it."

"I know you wouldn't," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You won't hesitate to air-out my thoughts like a television show."

"If that is what it takes to get information."

"Meanie," she glanced away with her eyebrows knitted together. "Didn't you say that the Marchioness sent you a quote of Shakespeare?"

"Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, Blood and revenge are hammering in my head," Summer recited.

"Titus Andronicus," she said, turning to me. "Do you remember in junior year in high school when we had to read about that play?"

I nodded. "It was disturbing."

Victoria groaned in annoyance. "Don't you remember what happened that year?"

"That was when the truth about Aila being a product of infidelity came out."

"And when shit started to hit the fan."

"What are you getting at?"

"Aila was obsessed with that play, Gray," she pointed out. "She could recite the entire story word for word. And how do I know? I had to hear people complain about it every other weekend."

I sighed, controlling my waning patience. "Victoria, Aila can't be the Marchioness. She's locked up in an asylum."

"I'm not done, Gray," she hissed.

"Then hurry up and get to the point," I snapped angrily. "We don't have the time to drag the story."

"Cranky," she snorted, unfazed. "Anyway, I heard that Aila had a heated argument with one of her classmates during an oral exam. They both had very different opinions on the topic, but the other person had a clearer point. Aila was devastated. I mean, she was obsessed."

"And?"

"Aila slept with the teacher and got the highest mark."

"Yeah, I remember," I said, "he went to jail after it was found out."

"And it was during the time Aila was already being targeted by most of the students." Victoria shuffled in her seat and pointed at Aila's picture on the table. "Whoever spread the truth about Aila being the product of infidelity — your chosen words — is the same person who told everyone about her and our English teacher."

"And it could be the same person whom she had an argument with," Summer mused. "There was someone else who was as equally as obsessed with that Shakespeare play."

"Exactly."

Summer walked over to my side and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Can you access the database from that year?" she asked.

"I'll need at least forty minutes," I answered as I filled my glass halfway with the whiskey.

Summer squeezed my shoulders with a small smile of encouragement adorning her face. I grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles, then she moved back to Victoria's side.

"Won't they find out that you hacked into the system?" Victoria questioned inquisitively.

Shrugging, I downed the contents in my glass. Nobody needed to know how I worked through any system I wanted to infiltrate. Hacking through the barriers was the easy part. Staying hidden, however, required a special set of skills and understanding. Knowledge was power. Even the slightest information about the target could be good enough as long as it was utilized well.

Summer continued to ask Victoria questions about Aila while I worked to get past the security in Brickfields' database. As expected, my father had installed a specially designed firewall to keep me out of the system. It was a sophisticated program that could detect if it was being breached. A difficult task, but not impossible.

I paid attention to their conversation as my fingers moved across the keyboard fluidly, taking mental notes on the few things that I believed could be clues. I listened intently until all I could hear was her voice — the melodious and therapeutic sound that seemed to have blocked off all the predicaments swirling in my head. For years, the only voice that I could hear was from a fragment of the boy I used to be. It was what kept me sane and at bay from the ugly feelings that marred itself with bitterness.

It was a daily struggle, but somehow, she made it seem easy.

As soon as I was inside the school's database, I searched the teacher whom Victoria meant and went through his files. I browsed through all the English lessons he conducted during that year, looking for the name of the play. Once I found it, I organized the list of students by their grades, and Aila's name appeared at the top.

My eyes dropped at the name below hers.

Interesting.

"Gray?" called Summer.

I raised my head to look at her. She sauntered over to me, but her eyes were fixed on the thumb drive in her hand. She flopped down on the couch beside me and shoved it right at my face. Startled, I grabbed her wrist and glared at her.

"Sorry," she muttered sheepishly. "But look, there's something on it."

She handed me a magnifying glass, and I positioned it above the thumb drive. My eyes squinted as I tried to make sense of what she was implying. We had checked the thing multiple times since we got it but saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was a simple drive that one could buy at any store.

"It's very tiny," she urged.

Then I saw it.

"Well, shit," I cursed under my breath, grabbing the drive from her and placing it on the table. I examined the lines and dots engraved on it, deciphering the few before setting the magnifying glass down.

I had no words for Summer right now. She never failed to surprise me.

"What is it?" she asked.

I grabbed her chin and slammed my lips to hers in a deep kiss. She sucked in a breath and pushed me away, her eyes blinking rapidly in shock. Her cheeks reddened as she peeked at Victoria sideways, then she punched me on the arm.

"You're fucking brilliant," I praised. "It's morse code."

Her eyes widened. "Could it be a clue?"

"Let's hope it is."

"You read morse code?" asked Victoria, reaching for my laptop. "Do you mind?"

"Don't click anything. Just look at it."

"Fuck," she gasped.

Summer hurried over to her side as I grabbed a pen and paper. I drowned out their chatter as I focused on deciphering the code. It seemed rather impossible that the name following Aila's belonged to the Marchioness. But what if that was her? Still, we needed more concrete proof.

Once I finished writing the final word, I read the sentence aloud. "A time of regrets is the day of fondness when love first bloomed."

Victoria's head tilted slightly to one side while Summer's eyes narrowed to slits. I could see the gears grinding in their brains as they worked to comprehend what I said.

I let out a breath. "The password is a date."