Keres’s jaw tightened. “Bait.”
“Yes.”
“I hate it.”
“So do I,” Aiden said.
I swallowed. The idea of putting that thing back into my soil made Eden press hard behind my eyes, golden and furious. “And option two?”
Aiden looked at the vial in his hand before answering. “We take it with us. We get it tested by someone outside Bloodclaw, preferably one of Marcellus’s witches, because if this is tied to the facility, I do not want anyone here touching it before we know who we can trust.” His gaze lifted to mine. “And we leave without telling anyone where we are going.”
Silence dropped between us.
Cold, immediate silence.
My first instinct was no.
My second was also no, but with more profanity.
“Mom would kill me if I disappeared again.”
Keres smiled, because of course he did, but it di
