Saying goodbye to Trout Creek was harder than I thought it would be. I hadn't even stayed there for a full week, but the immediacy with which I was accepted into their community had endeared me to them within a matter of hours.

"You'll always have a place here," Emma had told me before hugging me goodbye. I knew she was telling the truth, too, and Nate echoed the sentiment after helping me jumpstart my car that had been towed to a vacant lot in the next town over. The best thing I could do for them now was to ensure they were protected in the aftermath once the truth came out.

Once I was on the road, the comfort of Trout Creek shrinking into the distance at my back, impatience set in. I tempered my speed where the roads were the worst, but I was determined to drive straight through until I reached Sawtooth territory. I only stopped once, to make a brief call to Dmitri from a payphone to let him know I was on my way. I didn't feel like sleeping; the sharp cramps that started in my stomach and shot up my spine were enough to keep me awake even if I had.

As I traveled further south, snow and ice turned to sleet, then to a bleak, pounding rain that the windshield wipers could barely keep clear at the highest setting. It was relentless and after hours, it seemed that I would never get out from underneath the storm system. The unending downpour matched my mood exactly.

The first thing I saw as I pulled up to Dmitri's home was Gabriel. He was standing outside despite the cold rain, soaked through as if he'd been there for a while. His clothes were plastered to his muscles and his hair hung in limp waves. Some pieces were stuck to his face. When we made eye contact, my heart lurched into my throat and my lungs seized. I thought for a moment I might pass out.

I killed the engine but remained in the car. We stared at each other through the windshield, both hesitant to make the first move. But I had information that I needed to deliver to Dmitri, so I was the one to break first. He advanced towards me as soon as I opened the door.

"Kiera." I wished he hadn't said my name. I never wanted to hear it from his mouth again, if only because I knew how much it would hurt my shattered heart.

"What are you doing here?" I had to shout to be heard over the downpour.

"What do you think?" He shouted back. I couldn't make out his face clearly enough to tell whether he was angry, or hurt, or scared.

I raised a hand to shield my eyes from the heavy droplets pounding down. "How did you find me?"

"Jack." Another name I didn't want to hear.

Instead of responding, I shoved past him and stalked up to the house. I didn't care to listen to his excuses or explanations. Though I could hear his footsteps following in my wake, when I got inside I slammed the door shut behind me. Petty, but it felt good.

Constance was waiting inside with a fluffy towel that she immediately wrapped around my shoulders. It was warm, like she'd just pulled it out of the dryer. I drew it tighter around my body.

"I'm so sorry, Kiera," she insisted. "We tried to get him to leave."

I shook my head, trying to clear the image of him standing in the pouring rain from my mind. "I don't care about him. Where's Dmitri?"

"Waiting for you in his office. Come." Constance led me back to Dmitri's office. Again it struck me just how short my trip had been; our conversation here felt like it had taken place months ago.

Dmitri rose from his chair when I walked in, still wrapped in the towel. Constance ushered me to stand beside the roaring fire. "Do you want me to get you a change of clothes?"

I didn't. The longer I stalled, the harder it would be to say everything I needed to say. As I'd driven down, I first tried to plot out in my mind how I would present the news. When that became too difficult, I instead pushed it out of my head altogether.

Constance moved to Dmitri's side, urging him to sit and give me space. He did, reluctantly, face drawn with concern. She perched herself on the arm of the chair and rested a hand on his shoulder. Seeing their closeness constricted my chest. I was almost, almost tempted to go to Gabriel and bring him in so that I'd have someone beside me, too.

"Are you alright?" Constance asked. It wouldn't have been Dmitri's first question, but she jumped in ahead of him.

"I'm okay," I said. "I was...they were..." I was welcomed. They were kind. I wanted to stay. I took a deep breath, then blew it out. "They're not resistance fighters."

Dmitri's hand tightened on Constance's knee. "That wasn't the right group," he guessed. I could see the panic in his eyes.

"No, it was. They've been making the blades. But they're not what you think they are. They were good people, they took me in. Took care of me." I looked down, steadying myself to deliver the news. I'd start with the least difficult part first. "They were manipulated into a contract to produce the weapons. Their silversmith said she's made over fifty."

"Fifty?" Constance's question was more of a breath than a word. I nodded.

"So we were right in assuming there's a middleman," Dmitri guessed.

"There's money tied up in the contract. A lot of money. It's almost entirely propped up the settlement's economy for the last year." I wrung my hands together under the towel.

"And you know who commissioned them?" Dmitri was sitting forward in his chair now, a coiled spring ready to shoot up. Constance tightened her grip on him but he hardly noticed. He was looking at me with such intensity that I thought I might be knocked over.

I nodded once again. I was trembling, nervous about how he'd react. My heart beat so fast that the sound was nearly one long, steady hum in my ears. I opened my mouth to say the words, but it took several seconds to get my voice to cooperate. "It was the Cascade Pack. William's signature was on the document."

Silence then. A clock ticked somewhere near Dmitri's desk and rain pelted the windows, but not a single sound came from either Dmitri or Constance as they let my words sink in. I wasn't even sure whether they were breathing.

"Are you sure." A statement, not a question. Dmitri's voice was filled with rage that he was trying his best to tamp down.

"I'm sure," I whispered. "I'm sorry."

Constance had me in her arms then, pinning me tightly against her chest. Her heart was racing, too. "Kiera, you have nothing to apologize for. We asked too much of you. You've done so much for us; we're so grateful."

One last tight squeeze, then she let me go. She stayed beside me though, with her hand on my shoulder now. I felt steadier with her there. Dmitri was already on his feet pacing the length of the room. He'd be calling out to Mikael across the link, maybe others too. I wasn't sure if he'd told anyone else yet.

Mikael arrived not ten minutes later. He took one look at our pallid faces and went straight to the bar to pour a drink for each one of us. I took mine, if only for something to do with my hands.

"Do you want me to bring Gabriel in?" Constance asked. I looked at the men before I realized that she was talking to me. I wanted to say no. I wanted to say yes. If he was still outside, there was no doubt he could feel the emotions that were overwhelming me now.

"Dmitri can decide," I said quietly. Dmitri gave Mikael a tight nod and he left the room, coming back with Gabriel in tow seconds later. He must have been waiting in the hall.

I could tell when he came in that his eyes were on me, studying me, making sure that I was safe and unharmed. I refused to look up from the spot on the carpet I'd chosen earlier. The soaking wet ends of his hair dripped with soft plinks onto the mahogany desk that all three were now leaning over, speaking quietly.

"Kiera," Dmitri beckoned me over. Constance moved with me, my shadow.

Dmitri had me explain my trip in detail, from the moment I arrived up to the moment I left. Though Mikael and Constance stood between us, the waves of fury rolling off of Gabriel were so heavy they nearly felt solid.

"Where?" He demanded. Dmitri had smartly kept the map showing the settlement rolled up and hidden out of sight.

"It doesn't matter where," Dmitri said.

"It matters to me," Gabriel growled, the words ripping from his throat.

"They're not the problem here." To my surprise, I was angry, too. Furious that after hearing the whole story—every detail of the kindness of Trout Creek, the way they'd been manipulated by William to sign the contract, how they never truly knew how the blades were being used—his first thought was to demand their location. The first thing on his mind was to hurt them, not the pack that had started all of this in the first place.

His fingers curled around the edge of the desk and the crack of the wood beneath his hand didn't go unnoticed. I didn't care. I continued: "You refused to listen to me once before and Angus died because of your neglect. I will not let any more good people die because you're too stubborn to care about anything besides how you think the world should work!"

Gabriel's entire body shook as he pushed off the desk and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard the glassware on the bar rattled. Tears welled in my eyes and Constance pulled me closer into her side. I'd never meant to use Angus' death against him, but now that the words had left my mouth I couldn't take them back. The guilt was almost as unbearable as the ache in my stomach.

Dmitri's eyes softened. "Constance, take Kiera and get her settled into one of the guestrooms. I think we all need to walk away from this tonight. We can make a plan tomorrow once we've all calmed down."

I was tired, sick with tired, when I climbed into bed and shut off the lights. It didn't matter; my mind wouldn't let me sleep. I should have stayed, it repeated again and again. I should have stayed.