Page 48 of Monster Mania

“I was trying to keep you alive,” he insisted.

Angel laughed bitterly. “How'd that work out for you?”

“Better than you think,” he said.

“You disappeared,” she said.

“I had to,” he insisted.

“You let everyone think you were dead,” she reminded.

“Yes, I did,” he said.

“You let me run alone for seven years,” she breathed. Crow flinched, and that worked for her because she wanted him to hurt. “You were supposed to protect him.”

“I know,” Crow said.

“You were his Enforcer,” she said. “But more than that, you were his fucking friend!”

“I KNOW!” Crow's shout echoed through the barn. Angel stared at him as he dragged both hands over his face. “I know.” His voice broke, and that surprised her. Crow had always been hard, almost as hard as her father. Seeing guilt on his face unsettled her more than his anger. “I couldn't save Viper,” he whispered. “So I tried to save you.”

“You did a shitty job,” she said.

“I kept Razor looking in the wrong places,” he said.

Angel frowned. “What?”

“Every few months, I'd feed him some wrong information—a sighting, a rumor, or a woman who looked like you in another state.”

“You did that?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because your father asked me to watch out for you,” Crow admitted. Angel went completely still, and Crow reached into his jacket. Angel tensed when he pulled out an old envelope. It was yellowed, bent, and had her name written across the front.

Angelina

She recognized the handwriting instantly because it was her father's. Her eyes filled. “No.” Crow held it out, but Angel couldn't take it with her hands tied. “Untie me.”

“I can't,” he said.

“Then open it,” she ordered. Crow hesitated. “Open the fucking letter.” He tore the envelope carefully. Inside was a single folded page. Crow handed it to her. “I can't hold it.”

He sat beside her. “I'll read it.”

“No,” she spat.

“Lina—” he started.

“I want to read it,” she insisted. Crow stared at her for several seconds, and then he pulled a knife from his pocket, and Angel stiffened. He cut the rope around her wrists. Blood rushed painfully back into her hands, and she rubbed them, then snatched the letter. Crow didn't stop her. Angel unfolded it, and her father's handwriting filled the page. She read the first line and then stopped because her vision blurred.

My Angel, if Crow gives you this, then I failed.

Her hand covered her mouth. For a moment, she wasn't thirty-four. She was twenty-seven again, and her father was alive, Gabriel was alive, and she still believed the Nomad Knights were family. Angel forced herself to continue.

I found something inside my club that I can't fix. Men I trusted aren't the men I thought they were. If something happens to me, you need to leave Raven's Hollow and never come back until Crow tells you it's safe.