I swallowed hard. “Are you sure? Your dad must have been furious. Are the other guys okay?”
“He was mostly angry with me, and I handled it.” Something in his tone made me think that hadn’t been too easy. “Don’t try to dodge the subject. You said you needed me here. Tell me what happened.”
He gazed into my eyes so intently that I found I couldn’t hold his gaze. My head drooped. “I went back to my old house. I knew—my dad kept some secret documents and things in a hidey hole in his office. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything I was missing. But there was.”
Wylder gripped my shoulder. “You went back there? Aren’t the Red Shark’s people using it in their operations?”
“Yes, but I was careful. No one saw me. That’s not what matters.” There was no point in putting it off. I had to just spit it out. “They’re using the house because my dad’s the one who invited them into the Bend. That’s what the guys Gideon caught in his recording meant.”
Shock rippled across Wylder’s face. “Are you serious? How do you know?”
I explained everything I’d found out from the text conversation with the contact named Teeth. “They were talking about joining forces. Dad wanted to expand his territory, and he figured an alliance with a bigger power was the way to do it. Expanding by sharing their territories or something… I don’t know what was going on in his head.”
“Why the fuck would he want to do that? He had plenty already without bringing a bunch of strangers into it.”
“I know!” I threw my hands into the air. “But he did, for whatever stupid reason, and now— I’ve been defending myself and him all along, refusing to believe Colt’s claims about Dad, saying the Steel Knights were the real problem, but— Maybe your dad is right. My family is the biggest threat Paradise Bend has faced. We’re where we are now because of the Claws.”
“But not because of you,” Wylder said. “Are you even listening to yourself? Your father didn’t make you a part of his plan. You didn’t know about any of this until just now. You’re not responsible.”
“I was right there. Maybe he thought he was doing it for me, so Colt and I would inherit more— It doesn’t make any difference. I’m the leader of the Claws now, and there’s no one else who can take responsibility. Everything—the violence on the streets, and the deaths—it might as well be my fault.”
My vision blurred with a sudden welling of tears. “Fuck,” I muttered, pressing my palms to my face. I didn’t want him to see me crying.
“Mercy.” Wylder’s grasp on my shoulder tightened. He gave me a little shake. “Get a grip on yourself. You’re in shock.”
Despite my best efforts, tears rolled down my cheeks. “If I’d found out sooner—if I’d managed to stop him—if I’d been able to say something before the Red Shark’s people showed up—"
Wylder’s voice hardened. He sounded almost angry. “Listen to me. You’re not to blame for your Dad’s shitty actions—or Colt’s either, for that matter. From what you said, the real problem was Colt making assumptions instead of talking to your dad to find out what was going on like a sane person would have. All he had to do was mention what he’d heard, and it would have all been sorted out. He’s the one who flew off the handle instead.”
His forceful tone brought up my hackles, pissing me off enough that my tears dried up. “If my father hadn’t gone after more power in the first place—”
“You’re not him, something I’m very glad for. Why the hell do you think you owe him anything?”
“I don’t,” I snapped back. “It’s about what I owe the Bend.”
“There,” Wylder said, jabbing his finger at me. “There’s a little of the Mercy I thought I knew. Are you really going to run away because of what you wish you’d done, Princess? Or are you going to stay and fight? Where’s the cat with the claws, with enough fire to burn down the world around you? You’re not going to let this one thing break your spirit, are you?”
His fingers dug into my shoulder painfully. I pushed his hand off me and shoved him back.
“No,” I said, my voice almost echoing in the thick foliage of trees around us. I was more than this. I was more than my father’s actions, more than the men who had tried to put me under their thumbs.
Wylder nodded in appreciation, his stance starting to relax. “I didn’t think so. The woman I know always fights back.”
I glared at him, my emotions even more jumbled up than before—but he’d stirred up a defiance in me that seared away the most hopeless parts. “You wanted me gone not too long ago,” I couldn’t help reminding him. “I never did then, did I?”
Something in his face softened. “No, you didn’t. And I never really wanted you out of my life. I thought I was protecting you. Obviously that didn’t work out very well for either of us.”
“You don’t think so?”
Wylder stepped up to me again and put his hand under my chin, slowly stroking it with his thumb. I relaxed into his touch automatically. Even with all the history behind us, he was the first person I’d turned to when I was in trouble. And he had come for me in more ways than one.
“I don’t want you to go even though I know you’ll be safer that way,” he murmured. “You’re stuck with me now, Kitty Cat.”
He didn’t kiss me. Instead he touched his forehead to mine. We stayed there for a few moments as my mind cleared and the last of the helplessness I’d been feeling dissipated.
I wasn’t alone. I had Wylder and Kaige and Rowan and Gideon. And I had the Bend. No matter what had led us here, I couldn’t back down now.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, easing back so that I could meet Wylder’s gaze. “The Bend is still my home. It’s broken, but I’ll do everything I can to fix it. I’ll rebuild it better than it ever was, and at the same time I’ll rebuild my family’s legacy. The Katz name doesn’t end with my dad.”
Wylder nodded, affection shining in his eyes. “So what comes next?”
I raised my chin. “I am the head of the Claws now. That means it’s time to take some responsibility and see if I can undo what the leader before me set in motion. Let’s find out if I can convince the Red Shark that his invitation’s been revoked.”