Page 40 of Off the Rails

But what else could Blade’s text mean?

Security room. Now. Found ID.

Blade

If she was nobody, she would have texted the name so our contacts could get to work on a background check.

We wouldn’t need one if it was her.

I left our captive upstairs, told her to behave before stepping out of the apartment and walking down to the security office in the basement.

When I pushed open the heavy, metal door, Cyrus was leaning against the steel table on the far wall. Her arms were crossed over her chest, those hulking, blacked-out forearms straining against her anxiety.

“What is this about?” Cyrus grumbled.

Shrugging, I let the door close behind me. “No idea.” I watched the dozens of monitors over Cyrus’s head — Blade bounding through the park from one screen to the next as she got closer.

Before Cyrus could ask me anything else — a question about my intuition that I wanted to avoid until I heard Blade’s disclosure — the metal door slammed open.

Out of breath, Blade’s chest heaved as she threw down an open wallet. It slammed on the metal island at the center of the room.

“It’s really her.” Blade was breathless.

Cyrus and I moved forward, but I could only catch a glimpse of the name on the ID before Cyrus snatched it up.

Te…

“I fucking knew it.” Cyrus slammed her fist down, a loud ring bouncing off the concrete walls.

Every emotion ran across her face, recognition, sadness, anger. Fury.

When she looked up, I grabbed the wallet from her hand. Looking down at the picture, my heart sank. How did I not recognize her? I should have known her voice, felt her presence.

But I had. I just didn’t know for certain.

Tess Montgomery. Age 23. Eyes: blue. Hair: Brown. An address somewhere on the outskirts of Valemont.

The picture made it so much clearer who she was. The bleach blonde and blue tips had thrown me off. But seeing the brunette in the picture, a little younger than she was now, I could have pointed her out in a room of millions.

Tess. My Tess.

“FUCK!” Cyrus screamed as rage flowed through her.

Biting her lip, Blade was still for once. “She can’t know, right?”

Cyrus was quick to answer, shaking her head. “Of course not. She can’t know who we are. She’ll run.”

“What happens if she wins?” My jaw tightened, the thought of her leaving us already making me body heavy. The prophecy promised she’d come back, but I always assumed she’d stay.

A deep growl emanated from Cyrus’ chest. “We won’t let her.”

There was a possession to Cyrus’ voice now. Just knowing that she was our Tess was enough to set her soul on fire.

She’d always believed. More than Blade or I. And from the look in her dark eyes, I knew that Cyrus intended to exact the revenge that the cards had promised. In her soul, she believed that Tess had stumbled into Feverpoint for Cyrus to finally make her pay for what she’d done to us. For what she did to Cyrus.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I stared at the ID.

It was one interpretation of the card. One word in a pamphlet left in the dust to rot.