AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I glanced at the phone in my hand and forced myself not to throw it through the window as I studied the picture we’d received from our snitch tonight.
The girl was sitting on the window seat, just inches from where I now stood, her head resting on her arms as she looked outside.
I clenched my teeth. “It doesn’t matter. It’s her. I know it is.”
“But I don’t know for sure.” Every word from Einstein was clipped, telling me exactly how badly it was grating her to not be able to confirm the girl’s identity.
“We do,” I disagreed, the rumble in my chest hinting at the rage I was trying to keep hidden.
“I know what you’re thinking, Dare, I do. But there are countless blondes in the world. The girl in the picture could be anyone. You said you wouldn’t do anything until you had proof. This isn’t proof.”
“Look around, Einstein.” I raised my arms to gesture to the room as I lost my fragile grip on my composure and seethed, “This is all the fucking proof we need. Not just anyone can handle an assassin. Men like Kieran Hayes don’t allow just any girl into their lives. They fuck women then move on to the next, keeping them as far away as possible so they can’t destroy them. Do you honestly think if Lily O’Sullivan had died that night, he would let another girl close enough to that kind of danger? Close enough to him?”
Einstein blinked slowly, her wide, wild eyes assessing me. “You can’t force your hurt to be Nightshade’s hurt.”
I jerked back, caught off guard by the unexpected assault hurled at me. “I wasn’t—” I ground my teeth, the muscles in my jaw ticking when Johnny slowly entered the room, his eyes narrowed on me as he put himself slightly in front of Einstein—as if I would ever hurt her.
But Einstein just stepped around him, placing a hand on his arm when he tried to stop her, and walked slowly to me. Her large eyes were full of wonder and sadness. “You’re afraid of losing everything again, Dare. I know. I get it. We all do. But that doesn’t mean everyone else would do what you’ve done the last four years.”
“Ein—”
“It also doesn’t mean you’ll be able to keep doing it if you find someone.” She arched a brow, then dropped her head to mumble, “If you haven’t already.”
Hazel eyes and seductive lips flashed through my mind—quieting the need to devastate the Holloway Gang for brief moments before the room came back into view. Before I remembered why we were here.
I shook my head, an argument on my tongue that I couldn’t make myself voice.
I glanced at Johnny, but dropped my stare when I found him watching Einstein intently.
No, not everyone would do what I’d done . . . but I knew Kieran.
I knew what he’d lost, and was starting to get an idea for how well protected he kept the tiny house that was supposed to only be his.
I held up my phone as I turned to leave. “She’s alive. Find her.”
My gaze darted everywhere when I found myself back on the crowded streets of downtown, unable to comprehend what I was seeing—what I wasn’t hearing.
The street fair was still in full swing, but that couldn’t be right.
That night—the passionate kisses with Dare—felt like ages ago.
But even as I took in the people walking around, talking and laughing as they remained utterly clueless to the world around them, I heard nothing.
Only that deafening silence that promised death and destruction.
I clutched the wall beside me as I tried to calm my racing heart. My eyes never resting on one person for long as suspicion pricked at my spine.
They found me.
They came for me.
And I wouldn’t know if the next person who passed by was one of them too.
I shoved away from the wall once I’d caught my breath, and tried to keep my outward appearance calm as I looked for an open store . . . but most of the small town was shut down for the fair.
Digging into the bag I held close to my body, I snatched the glasses I’d dropped in there and put them back on as I walked, knowing full well the disguise could be useless to anyone who might be searching for a dead princess.
I slipped inside the first open place I came across—wanting nothing more than to get off the street that was getting louder and louder as the deafening silence faded away—and nearly groaned when I realized I’d stepped into a bar, filled wall to wall with people.
