They start pulling Brothers back, but he fights hard.
“You have no fucking honor,” he spits. “You are no fucking gentleman, you fucking piece of shit.”
That means something, coming from him.
“Get him out,” Leland shouts, throwing his arm towards the gate.
“I will fucking gut you,” Brothers roars, veins standing out in his flushed neck. “And when I send you to the fucking devil, tell him Brothers Boyd sent you to burn, you fucking evil son of a bitch.”
Leland turns and strides from the pit. The crowd is in utter confusion, moving this way and that, trying to figure out if they need to clear out or not. The Caudill soldiers hold Jensen and Brothers, but they don’t hurt them. Maybe Leland has a trace of honor in him after all.
The bodyguards pull me back, stumbling over my bare feet, to the platform. They force me down, holding me steady. That’s when it starts to really sink in that I’m in danger. I was so worried about Jensen, I couldn’t think straight. But as I lift my eyes from where I’m on my knees, I see Leland coming up the steps, looking right at me with an expression I know very well.
It’s done. It’s over.
We won, but it doesn’t matter.
I still lost.
CHAPTER FORTY
JENSEN
Leland’s men pull back just as Brothers’ soldiers start pouring over the edge of the pit. They part, leaving us in the bloodied dust. My vision wavers. My body is exhausted, but in me is a fire I’ve never felt.
Pushing myself up, I stride to the fence. Brothers is at my heels, shouting to his men. He’s far away and right up in my ear all at once, voice blaring in my ears. We’re almost to the gate when I look back as the crowd melts away, and I see her for a moment.
She’s being dragged. Her dark hair falls around her beautiful face. Her eyes are big, terrified. Her lips move, pleading. I think she might be calling my name as they haul her away into a wave of bodies.
Right then, I think my heart breaks.
She’s so fucking brave, and she doesn’t even know it. I’ve seen courage like hers before, a long time ago, in the face of a kid who kept peeling himself off the pavement thinking he was really going someplace.
This time, that look won’t go unnoticed.
Tonight, the Caudills are going down. I’ve got blood on my tongue and nineteen years of anger in my chest. Hellfire is going to sweepthrough this town, and there won’t be a damn thing they can do to save themselves.
Turning on my heel, I head through the clearing and out into the woods where the truck is parked. Brothers is mobilizing his men as he follows me, and it’s giving me a head start. I yank open the door, but he appears behind me, grabbing my arm.
I turn on him. “Don’t you fucking stop me.”
“I’m not,” he pants. “I got horses in the woods. We can’t make it in time by road. We have to ride.”
“And then what?” I spit.
His eyes flash. “Jen,” he snaps. “We need to get the women out of that house before Leland hurts them. This isn’t the time to argue.”
He’s right. The fear in his face isn’t for Della or me.
“Where are the horses?” I say.
“Get in the truck,” Brothers says. “They’re about five minutes from here. The men are going to meet us there by road.”
Heart pounding, I slide into the passenger side. In the back seat, something glints. He gets in and puts the truck in drive, screeching it back and around like hell is on his heels. I reach back and rip the canvas cover off a stack of AKs halfway up the seat.
“You came prepared.” I turn around.
His fingers flex on the wheel. “I’m always prepared,” he says.
