Movement blurred all around me.
The bodies were piled in a corner.
Stacks of debris were set alight.
The roller door to the garage was raised, casting the bitter sting of smoke into my eyes.
My lovers moved with the rest of them, barking orders, firing shots as we moved.
In the middle, stood my father. He stared at me, his dark eyes filled with so much sadness. I swallowed, but not even my saliva would slip around the fist in the back of my throat. “Dad…” I croaked. “Please, no.”
He stepped closer. “It has to be this way, Ryth. Better for you, safer for you. They’ll never stop coming, otherwise. You understand that, right? They’ll never stop.” He looked at London, who was on his phone, barking orders and giving commands.
Nick glanced my way as he grabbed a plastic gasoline can from the floor and poured it all over the bodies in the corner.
I shook my head as tears slipped down my cheeks. “I can’t leave you.”
Dad grabbed my hand, dwarfing it with his as he swiped my tears away, and murmured. “You’re going to have to, sweetheart. You’re going to have to, and you’re going to need to carry on. I know—” He swallowed hard, then looked away. “I know you might not carry my blood, but you are my heart.” He forced his gaze back to mine. “When a man gives his heart, he gives it wholly and to the end. You are my daughter, my heart, my life. I would gladly, in a thousand different ways, hand that over for yours.”
Tears flowed and they’d never stop falling.
I couldn’t speak.
Could only shudder and weep.
“You need to go now,” London commanded.
I sniffled, smearing my tears and mucus with the back of my hand as Dad pulled me against his chest. “I love you. Never stop believing that.”
“Now, Jack,” London snapped.
Dad grabbed my shoulders and gently pushed me back. “Now, I need you to go, my lioness. Become the woman you were always meant to be. Love. Love so fucking hard you feel torn in two.” He glanced toward Nick as my stepbrother stepped closer. “They’ll protect you, sweetheart.” He met my gaze. “They’ll keep you safe.”
One small shove and I stumbled backwards.
“Princess…” strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me toward a car.
“No,” I shook my head. “No, Dad. Please…”
But Dad didn’t move, just stared at me as his eyes glistened, and finally he turned away. Nick had to all but drag me to the car. Car doors opened and slammed shut. Tobias was a blur behind my tears as he leaned across me in the backseat, yanked my seatbelt into place, and snapped it shut.
“WAIT!” Dad roared. “Wait a minute!”
I spun, twisted in my seat, and shoved my door open.
“I need a pen…” Dad barked, rushing toward me. “Someone give me a goddamn pen!”
My brothers twisted in their seats. “We don’t have time for this,” Caleb warned as gunfire echoed all around us.
“Here for Christ’s sake!” London roared as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen.
Dad frantically scanned the floor, then lunged and grabbed up a filthy napkin as he rushed toward the car. “Here,” he panted, leaning above me.
I could hear the scratching of the pen on the car roof before dad shoved the napkin at me. “Here. I kept this for you. I figured…” his brow creased. “I figured we might’ve needed it together. But I want you to have it. Use it to keep you safe. Don’t ever come back here.” He nodded at Nick as he stepped away and gripped the door. “Don’t ever come back.”
Bang!
We were already moving as Dad slammed the door and the four-wheel drive lunged forward as The Order’s men came rushing into the far side of the building. Crack…crack…crack…I didn’t flinch, didn’t care, just twisted in my seat to watch my father as he passed through the open doorway, ducking for cover.
There were men firing back at The Order. Men I could only assume were London’s. They blurred as we raced past, tearing away from the carcasses of forgotten buildings and headed toward the streets…
“Fuck!” Nick slammed on the brakes, throwing me forward.
Then we were reversing hard before skidding to a stop once more. Nick shoved open his door and whistled shrilly, the sharp sound piercing my grief.
“Rebel!” he yelled. “Here, girl!”
Rebel?
I jerked my blurred focus to Tobias’s window. A blur of black came running, tore around one of the Explorers The Order had left behind, and raced toward us.
“Rebel!” I spluttered as she leaped through Nick’s open door and clambered inside.
Bang! He yanked the door closed and punched the accelerator as Caleb grabbed her, patting her head, smoothing her ears. “Easy now.” he soothed. “Easy…”
Tobias held me as we sped away. I glanced over my shoulder, to the open door of the warehouse. But Dad was gone, they were all gone, leaving thick plumes of smoke to pour out.
BOOM!
I jerked as an explosion rocked the night and the warehouse we’d left disintegrated. Chunks of concrete and debris flew outwards, and dropped into the street. Then we were gone, tearing away from the empty streets littered with the dead.
I felt numb. Cold and empty. Separate from myself. Tobias held onto me, his body shaking just like mine. I didn’t remember how we got out of the city, only that we did. Buildings became the highway and cars were traded for trees. We drove and kept on driving, until the sun peeked over the horizon, the bright rays hurting my eyes.
“Ryth,” Nick called, making me slowly lift my head to his reflection in the rear-view mirror. “You okay?”
I wanted to say no, that I didn’t think I’d ever be okay.
But that’s not what dad would’ve wanted.
He would’ve told me to be strong, to learn from this. To grow from this. To hold onto those who I loved and who loved me in return…and never let go. So, I swallowed and forced myself to speak. “I will be.”
Caleb turned around and reached for my hand. “You will. We all will. We’ll do it together.”
I gripped his hand as he smiled awkwardly at me.
“There’s a truck stop ahead. We can stop, shower, grab some food, then keep driving,” Nick suggested.
So we did, and pulled into the parking lot. In the back of the four-wheel drive, we found a small case filled with money, fake passports, and IDs. Stevie Jacobs. I stared at the name and my face on the card, then looked at Nick.
“Hunter.” He lifted his.
“Adrian.” Caleb winced.
“Jesus…” Tobias stared at his, his lips curling. “What kind of fucking name is Samuel?”
“A safe name.” I stepped closer, pushed his hand with the ID down, and caressed his cheek. “A careful name. A name I’ll call you for the rest of our lives.”
He flinched as though he finally understood. “For the rest of our lives?”
I drew in the stench of smoke that clung to our clothes, and answered. “I’ll call you anything. A name doesn’t matter. To me you’ll always be Tobias.” I turned my head. “And you’ll always be Nick and Caleb.” I met C’s gaze. “You’ll always be the men I fell in love with. The ones who protected me, who fought for me…who bled for me. You’ll always be…”
“Mine,” T finished, pulling me closer. “You’ll always be mine.”
“The napkin,” Nick spoke. “The one your dad gave you. What did it say?”
I hugged T tight, then pulled away. “Nothing, just a bunch of numbers.”
“Let me see.” Nick held out his hand.
I reached into my pocket, gently retrieved it so it didn’t tear, and handed it over. He looked at it for barely a second. “It’s a bank account number.”
I scowled. “How do you know?”
“The numbers of digits,” he answered, and lifted his gaze to mine. “Did he tell you anything else at all?”
I shook my head. “Maybe it was a college fund? We can use whatever is in there, it might keep us going for a month or two.”
Nick shook his head and handed the napkin back. “We won’t need it. I’ve got that covered.”
“Wait, no. Your money is all tied—” I started.
“It’s liquidated,” he answered.
Both Tobias and Caleb glanced his way. “Everything?” C asked.
Nick just nodded. “Everything. The buildings, the crypto, the accounts. We have enough to last, as long as we’re careful.”
The warmth drained from my face. “To last how long?”
He held my stare. “Forever.”
Forever? The night seemed to sway. I reached out and grasped Tobias’s arm.
“Whoa, little mouse.” T gripped me tightly. “You okay?”
It all made sense now. The night in Ben’s office when he’d closed himself off from the rest of us, that’s what he’d been doing. That’s what he was doing when he…the memory of his tongue invaded, making my body tremble.
Nick handed me the napkin. “Keep it. Let it sit and gather interest. That way, you have an out if you want it.”
“An out?”
He gave a shrug. “If one day you change your mind.”
One day you’ll want more…
“No,” I snapped as those words came back to haunt me. “I don’t want an out. Not now, not ever. So I’m going to put this away for when, or if, we might need it and if we don’t, then I’m sure I’ll figure out a way to use it.”
Nick gave a slow, sad smile as I gently folded the napkin and slipped it into my pocket. In the back of the car was another bag with clothes and guns, ones none of us wanted to touch, not knowing it came from London St. James. But we did, with the clothes under one arm and Tobias’ hand in mine, we headed for the truck stop. No one stopped us when we made use of the facilities, washing our hair and drying with paper towels, until we stepped out fresher than we’d gone in.
We grabbed food, drinks, and snacks, filled the four-wheel drive’s gas tank, and kept on driving.
We pushed hard. My brothers took turns behind the wheel while the others slept. I tried to, but the sound of gunfire still echoed when I closed my eyes, making me jerk awake with my heart hammering as my whimpers stuck in the back of my throat. Rebel seemed to be exhausted as she drank bottled water and ate some dog food from bowls Nick had surprisingly found on a shelf. But she slept on the floor of the car at my feet.
Until slowly, the day slipped away.
“We’re staying at a motel,” Caleb muttered, waking Nick in the front passenger seat. “We need a bed and a shower and more than canned food.”
He pulled into the parking lot of the next decent-looking motel we saw, parked and climbed out, then disappeared as he headed for the office. He returned a few minutes later with two sets of keys, climbed back behind the wheel, and pulled the four-wheel drive further back from the street, parking it outside two adjoining doors.
“Don’t worry.” Caleb climbed out, shaking the keys. “I got us connecting rooms.”
My back was killing me and my legs felt like jelly. It took me a few minutes to get feeling back into my legs after I climbed out. Then we gathered our things and went inside, me with Tobias, Nick and Caleb in the adjoining room. The first thing I did was open the door between us. Not for one second did I want us apart.
Never again…
Never ever again.
