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Go to The Onyx. Sit at the bar and order the Immortal’s Eye.

Wait for the answer you need.

H

My hands shook as I reread it, over and over. I knew the handwriting, and there was only one person H could possibly be.

Holly.

She was here, somewhere, or nearby. She knew something she wanted me to know, too. But could she be trusted? And even if she could, how could I possibly meet her at The Onyx? The name rang a bell because it was one of the Delta’s premier nightclubs. Polly Holiday talked about it in her endless screeds about the best places in the compound.

I thought of the last time we’d met, when she’d risked everything—her life and her status with the Order—to help John save me. Without her help, I would’ve almost certainly died. Even when she’d been more faithful to the Order, she was the only reason I’d escaped the Cave. Whatever else she did or believed, I didn’t think she intended to hurt me, or that she’d try to lure me into a trap after saving me more than once. The woman who gave me the message must’ve been someone she trusted not to rat her out.

I turned it over and over in my mind, trying to find a way that I might be able to visit The Onyx without Hamilton as an escort, but nothing came to mind. I had one shot at going somewhere unaccompanied—just one—and I already knew what I was using it for.

I lay back on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Holly wouldn’t have bothered contacting me if it wasn’t important. What if she knew something that was key to taking down Julius, as she implied? What was this similarity she mentioned to Jim J? The only way to find out was to meet her. I sat up suddenly in realization.

Perhaps I couldn’t meet her. But someone could.

Chapter 19

Claire

It was the next night when John finally visited again. I met him on the balcony and immediately yanked him into my room, impatient. My nerves didn’t stop me from pressing myself against him and kissing him thoroughly against the wall.

“Fuck, I missed you,” he said between kisses. “I hate not seeing you every day. It’s bullshit.”

“Greedy,” I teased, and he silenced me with another bone-melting kiss.

“Damn right, I’m greedy,” he growled a second later, cupping my breast. “I’m a newly married man who needs regular access to his wife to keep him happy, and that’s not happening at the moment.”

“You being grumpy with Kimmy?” I asked, shivering as he sucked on my pulse point.

“She’s been back and forth from the camp to take care of the horses, but yeah, she can’t stand me,” he replied, and I laughed. “I need my fix.”

He was sliding the strap of my nightgown over my shoulder when I stopped him.

“Business first this time,” I said with a wry look at the growing bulge in his pants. “Because you won’t be able to think clearly after I blow your mind.”

John grinned. “Bold claim. I’m listening.”

We sat on the bed and I told him everything I’d learned since his last visit. He was especially outraged about the cannibals.

“I can’t believe the reason I’ve been fighting them off for years is because of this asshole,” he spat, disgusted. “I’ve known people who died because of them. What other little ‘experiments’ are running around because these idiots couldn’t stop meddling in shit?”

“I know,” I said with a sigh. “I’m sorry.”

John quirked a brow. “For what? You didn’t do anything.”

“But I was part of this,” I replied uneasily. “Maybe not on purpose. But…I was.”

He turned my chin to look me in the eye. “You’re not one of them now. You’re one of us.”

“Yours,” I said softly, and his thumb stroked my bottom lip.

“Mine,” he agreed, moving in to kiss me.

“Not yet,” I said, giggling as he sighed dramatically. “There’s one more thing, and it’s serious.”