Page 78 of Dark

She sucked in a sharp breath, gaze shifting to River, who sat draped across his chair with the predatory grace of a panther. Because in addition to being possibly the most arrogant prick ever born, my youngest brother was also a master of neural manipulation. At the lightest end of the spectrum, his gift allowed him to erase years of memory with a flick of his eyes. At the darkest, he shredded minds effortlessly as a bullet fired from a gun.

Stepping around the corpse, Guillermo turned to London. “This is your last chance. What coven and where? We’ll have the information off the hard drives within the hour. If we find out you’ve warned them—”

Her eyes grew hard as jade. “And for the third time, I had no part in this. When I find out who betrayed me—”

A crash sounded from somewhere off-screen. London whirled, vaulting from her chair just as the image went black.

A cold weight settled in my chest at the sudden, almost imperceptible shift in the room. Jake was dead. London Blake would be in a dungeon somewhere before dawn. Topher, being a shifter, they might allow to live if they could find a pack to take him in. And that left only—

As if Hayden sensed what was about to happen at the same time as I did, she threw herself in front of Ellie.

“You can’t.”

“I’m sorry.” Guillermo dipped his head, genuine regret tinging the words. “But I’m tasked with protecting more than just one life. One pack. One region. Werewolves are being targeted for extinction at the highest levels of the human government because of a single mistake. I cannot allow more lives to be lost.”

The chopsticks in Ellie’s hair quivered. “I would never betray my sister.”

“Perhaps not purposefully,” he allowed. “But the tiniest slip could allow for her to be captured, tested, her blood profiled and used as a means to out us all. For this reason, we do not allow humans to retain knowledge of our existence. The risk is simply too great. That leaves you a choice. To be voluntarily turned, or to have your memory altered.”

I lunged for him, making it half a foot before Tracers yanked me back. “That could kill her. Best case scenario, we’re talking nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety attacks, breakthrough memories. Yeah, she’ll go on living a normal life. But deep down, she’ll always know in the back of her mind something isn’t right and won’t understand what. And none of us will be able to tell her.”

“The choice is hers.”

Hayden bared her teeth. “Newsflash. When you can’t say no, something isn’t a choice.”

Everyone began shouting over one another. Hayden clung to her sister, both of them crying. I fought against the Tracers holding onto me, desperate to get to Hayden. My mate. The girl who was the other half of me. She couldn’t lose Ellie. Not like this. Not after everything they’d both been through.

“We make her pack.” The room died down, eyes turning my way. “Hayden and I get formally mated. We’ll do it by the next full moon. Ellie will be bound to the pack by blood. She won’t tell. I swear it.”

Hayden’s eyes locked with mine, a momentary flash of surprise quickly followed by a sharp tightening of the bond. She nodded, but I had already felt it, her answer unmistakable.

Yes.

And I knew then whatever came, we would face it together. I would fight for her. For us.

“She’s about to start medical school,” I continued. “You know how badly we need doctors who understand shifter physiology. Just look at everything August has gone through. She’d be an asset to us. What’s more, this is my fault. Hayden never would have left town if it weren’t for me. Her sister never would have been in danger. Don’t punish them because of my mistakes.”

Guillermo lowered his head. “Ethan, you know this goes beyond the risk to just one person. Every week the Council is forced to clean up database records, break into government and law enforcement facilities and destroy evidence, and yes, alter memories that could lead to werewolves being exposed and annihilated. We can’t make exceptions.”

“He’s right.” Brody said in a low voice. And then to Ellie, “I’m sorry.”

I glared daggers. None of my brothers would look at me.

Breathing hard, Ellie turned to Hayden. “I can’t do it. I’m sorry.”

Hayden’s face fell. “I swear to you we would find a way to make it okay. Violet loves Cocoa Puffs. She’s still me. We’d just feed your wolf tofu—"

“Please don’t make this harder. I wouldn’t feel like me. And I know if I was doing this because I was being forced, I would resent it. I’d rather just… forget. Can you understand that?”

Hayden began to silently cry. “I love you.”

“Don’t let us grow apart. Not because you’re trying to protect me. Not because I’m confused and have blank spaces. You have to fight for us. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

At a silent nod from Guillermo, River stepped forward.

“Fuck you, River,” Hayden spat.