NO ONE SPOKE TO ME. Not in first period, at least. I glanced at the empty seat where Gio usually sat, with my heart in the back of my throat. Flashes of memories came roaring back to me as the teacher called for quiet. The attack last night. Mom’s wedding. I pressed my hand against the sting on my head as mom’s voice echoed.
He just needs time, that’s all, honey. He’s fine…you trust me, right?
She’d lied to me.
But why?
She had to know about dad stealing…
Is he dead? Lazarus’ words came rushing back to me.
No. No, he wasn’t dead and I wasn’t naive enough to think the Rossis didn’t have reach in prison. I forced the panicked thoughts aside and tried to concentrate on class. I had my last year to finish, that’s what I could control right now, even if the rest of my life was chaos.
Someone cleared their throat. “Bitch.”
I stilled with the word.
“Brother fucker.”
My throat turned arid as heat crept into my cheeks.
“Filthy fucking cunt.”
“Okay,” the teacher snapped his head around from the board. “That’s enough. Who said that?”
Fire lashed, burning all the way to my stomach. My phone let out a beep, and for a moment, I was thankful.
I held my phone under the desk, hiding the movement as I swiped the screen.
Creed…
I flinched as my heart leaped into my mouth. We’d been trying to call him and mom for the last few days. Every time the call went to voice mail. At first, we hadn’t been concerned, but then after yesterday…after yesterday, the messages left for them turned from frantic to demanding.
Creed: Meet me out front of the school. I’m waiting to take you to your dad.
I read and reread the message, my heart pounding as I lifted my gaze to the teacher.
“Well?” He glared at the other students. “Who the hell said that?”
I shoved up to stand, drawing every gaze my way. “Excuse me.” I grabbed my bag and my laptop and hurried for the door.
Dad. He was all I thought about as I raced along the hallway and shoved through the front doors. Creed’s dark gray Mercedes sat parked against the curb, the engine idling. I gripped my laptop tighter and raced for the car.
The window rolled down. Creed looked at me from behind the wheel. But instead of finding the calm, relaxed man who was still on his honeymoon, I found the frantic Creed.
“Get in,” he demanded.
I yanked the handle and opened the door, then caught the bright blood on his shirt. What the…
“What is that?” I froze, standing on the curb. “What happened?”
“I don’t have time to fucking explain, Ryth. Get the fuck in the car now.”
The way he spoke.
The way he looked.
Those dark eyes were growing colder. This wasn’t the man who’d taken me shopping, or the man who’d joked as we shared pizza. This man was trembling, shaking with rage or fear, I wasn’t sure. My stomach tightened as I reached for my phone. “I’ll just call Nick and let him know…”
“Don’t bother, he’s already waiting for you, with the others.”
“He is?” My hand stilled.
“We don’t have time for this, Ryth. Just get the fuck in. We need to leave now.”
He looked into the rear-view mirror, making me glance at the street behind him. “Is someone following you?”
“What the fuck do you think?” He shoved the car into gear and slowly rolled forward. “Stay the fuck here if you want, but we’re all leaving…now.”
“Wait!” I lunged, throwing myself into the passenger seat.
Tobias. Nick. Caleb. They were all that drove me. “They boys…they’re leaving?”
“We all are, it’s not safe here. Not anymore.” He punched the accelerator and jerked the wheel, tearing the car around in a U-turn before accelerating hard.
I scrambled for my seatbelt. “Why, what the hell happened?”
He was stony, his gaze fixed on the road ahead. Panic moved in…my mind raced, conjuring images I didn’t want to believe. All I cared about was them…
“Are they hurt?”
“Who?” Creed jerked that hard glare my way.
“The boys, Nick, Tobias, and Caleb?”
He just shook his head, but it wasn’t convincing. I looked at the mess on his shirt. The smear was too big to be just a cut…but a stab wound? “Whose blood is that, Creed?”
He didn’t answer.
“Creed.” Terror moved in, clenching my belly, making my mouth dry. “Tell me now.”
I grabbed my phone, thumbing the screen, but he lashed out and snatched it from my hand as he stabbed the button for his window.
It was gone before I knew it, sailing through the air to hit the road behind us.
“What the fuck, Creed!” I screamed, shoving up in my seat.
“You don’t need it.” He clenched his fists around the wheel and kept driving, taking us where, I didn’t know.
I snapped my gaze to him. “What do you mean ‘I don’t need it’?”
He just drove, pushing the Mercedes harder as we took corners, the tires squealing. I shoved my hand against the seat, pushing myself as far away from him as I could. “You’re scaring me.”
“You’ll understand,” he said, and braked hard.
I searched the street, seeing a large metal warehouse hurtling toward us, the towering security gate open, the roller door already up.
“Tell me what’s happened. Are they in there? Is Tobias in there?”
“Yes,” he answered. “They’re waiting for you.”
I was desperate to call them, desperate to understand as the car hit the entrance and headed to the open door of the warehouse. Darkness swallowed the car, blinding me as Creed switched off the engine.
I had no choice but to follow as he yanked open his door and climbed out.
“Nick?” I called, stepping out. “Tobias?”
My head still throbbed, but fear burned inside me as I left the car door open. “Caleb…Caleb, where are you.”
“In here, Ry,” mom called.
“Mom?” I surged forward, searching for her in the dark.
Something shifted in the shadows, black on black.
“Over here, honey,” mom called, tearing my focus to the left. I moved carefully forward, still not seeing well in the darkness. “Mom, what’s going on?”
“It’s okay,” she said as she stepped forward.
But she didn’t open her arms to hug me. Instead, she just stood there, her arms by her sides, gripping her phone in one hand.
Creed’s footsteps rang out as a chill raced along my spine. I glanced at my stepfather as he stared at me.
“We had to come back early,” mom said, her gaze fixed on me.
“We left you messages,” I started as she lifted her hand.
“We know,” Creed admitted. “But we were…busy.”
The blood smear on his shirt drew my focus again.
“We were sent a recording, Ryth,” mom murmured as she swiped her thumb across her phone’s screen. “A disturbing one. One that will confuse a lot of people, and ruin our plans.”
“Plans?” I questioned as a deep moan ripped through the darkness.
I jerked my gaze to the sound coming from her phone. There was something familiar about that moan. Something that hit me in the chest like a fist.
Moans played out in stereo. The sounds of fucking made my stomach clench. I knew…I knew instantly. It was Nick’s recording. The one he watched over and over again on his phone. The recording of all of us.
“Mom,” I whispered, my gaze finding hers as that moan in the darkness came again.
“Ryth,” Nick’s low groan reached me.
“Nick?” I started forward as that shift in the shadows came once more.
Three men stepped out of the darkness, coming from where Nick moaned…and in the middle was the priest. The one from the wedding…I jerked my gaze to the name stitched onto his black jacket Hale Order of the Lost.
“We can’t have this messing up our plans,” mom murmured as the priest and his men stepped forward.
They surrounded me, closing in with menacing, stony stares.
“You’re coming with us, Ryth,” the priest declared, nodding to the two others with him. One of them grabbed me, his hold like a vise around my arm.
“No…” Nick groaned.
I wrenched my arm from my attacker’s hold and tore away from them, stumbling backwards.
“It’s for the best,” mom answered, her voice cold and unfeeling as she glanced at the screen of her phone. “You’ll be safe where you’re going.”
“Nick!” I screamed, tearing my gaze from her and frantically searching the dark.
But they were on me in an instant, yanking me back as I lunged. I caught the dark outline of my stepbrother, his arms bound behind him…a dark patch soaking through his white shirt.
“Take her,” Mom commanded. “Take her to the Order…keep her away from the truth.”
Panic roared. I fought, lashing out with all I had, until a hand clamped over my mouth and my nose was filled with the pungent, bitter sting of chemicals.
The warehouse swayed. I kept trying to fight, bucking in their hands, my gaze fixed on my brother.
“Nick…” I cried, my voice strange and warped. “Nick…help me…”
Until I plunged headfirst into the darkness and knew no more.
