Betrayed, Then Back For Blood

Briar’s heart skipped a beat. Given Ashton’s sharp instincts, it was only a matter of time before he started questioning lan’s identity.

Still, she answered the phone, “Ashton?”

There was a lot of noise on Ashton’s end, and she could hear him ask, “Briar, is lan with you?”

Briar glanced at lan, who looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. She replied, “Yeah, he’s at my place. Are you looking for him?”

“Yeah, pass him the phone. I need to talk to him,” Ashton said.

“Sure thing.” Briar handed the phone to lan, a faint, teasing smile tugging at her lips as she caught his terrified gaze. She stated, “He says he wants to talk to you.”

lan fell silent as he braced himself before taking the phone. “Ashton, did you need me?” he asked.

“Why couldn’t I reach you on your phone? You need to get over to the lab right now. The cops want to talk to you,” Ashton said.

lan’s face drained of color, and he asked, “Ashton, do I have to go? Can’t we just talk on the phone?”

lan was feeling really nervous. His true identity was something he needed to keep secret. What if the police finished asking him questions and decided to investigate him even further? He’d never caused any trouble in Dasmieca, but the police here made him uneasy. Their instincts for uncovering the truth were quite intense.

Right now, he didn’t want to see Ashton, the most influential guy in town.

lan couldn’t shake the thought that Ashton might have already figured out who he was.

“What do you think?” Ashton asked, his voice dripping with confidence, as if he understood lan’s fears perfectly. “Just relax and come over. I’ve got your back.”

lan hesitated before responding, “Okay, just… give me a moment.”

Ashton’s following words made lan even more anxious. “I’ve already sent Connor to pick you up. He should be there in about ten minutes. Just go wait at the front gate.”

lan felt he had no choice but to agree, “Okay.”

Ashton hung up, looking satisfied.

Briar, who had listened to the whole conversation, patted lan on the shoulder, trying to comfort him. She reassured, “Relax. If Ashton says he won’t make things hard for you, he means it. Maybe the police just want to ask you a few questions. Don’t panic over nothing.”

frowned, looking worried. He whined, “Briar, do you understand how intimidating Ashton can

on, he’s not

silent as he thought, ‘Who in their right mind would dare

shuffled over to the front gate, looking completely defeated as he waited for

out to join him, and the two of

up right

Jennings, you’re coming too?” Connor asked, though he was already out of the car and holding the

a look that made it clear he was supposed

1/3

Tue, 19 Aug

Chapter 170

into the car as she replied, “I heard what lan said, so I figured I’d come

response, “Got it.

lab were far too bloody and

tagged along partly because she wanted to see what kind of live experiment lab lan had gotten hunself mixed up in and partly because… well, she was genuinely

lab, and it

watched them pass intersection after intersection, she spotted the stretch of police tape marking off the lab. Her brows

was only three blocks from Shoneport University. It was so close, and yet two

soon as they got out of the car, Ashton waved Briar over as

that she was by his

was, there was no way he’d lay into lan with

determined to pretend any old grudges had

she kept trying to

Ashton calmly stepped in front of Briar, shielding her from the prying eyes. “It’s pretty serious,” he said. “They’ve confirmed the organs came from at least ten different people. The

as she asked, “These people are absolute monsters. What about Sawyer? Did you find any

arrived, all the surveillance footage related to Sawyer had

out a sigh,

“Yeah, these people are highly organized and disciplined, and they’re pros in a lot of

lan ended up disturbing the scene slightly, which gave the lab personnel more time to destroy

It was Sunday, so the school doctor wouldn’t be

shouldn’t be too hard.

brow. With so many people around, his hand hovered, itching to reach out and