He sighs and rubs a hand over his jaw. “I’m not a magician, Ria.”
Ria scoffs, looking put off. “What good are you for, then?”
Ghost
As I walk toward the meeting room, Pops’ words circle in my head like buzzards. Forgiveness. Infinite paths. Hopeful fuckingnonsense. Maybe women can see a thousand roads forward, but what good is that if they can’t even look at you? You need proximity for forgiveness. You need a heartbeat of mercy. Adora won’t even give me a breath.
I saw the way she looked at me this morning. Grief. Panic. Hurt. Hatred. No softness. No hope. Just a mess of raw nerves and everything I broke inside her.
But she needs protection right now. And unfortunately for both of us, there’s no one else I trust to do the job right. No one else I’d bet her life on. No one else who’d take a bullet to the skull without blinking if it meant she got to keep breathing.
That’s the fucked-up truth of it.
I’d leave Myth on her if I could. But I can’t. Because if she’s not safe, I’m not functional. I can’t go hunting cult freaks while she’s a moving target. The job needs a hunter and Myth has to take point on this one. He’s the only other one who’s good enough. He’ll find them, and I’ll make sure it happens quick.
Which leaves me stuck here, trapped in a hell of my own making.
Fuck. I can see it already, clear as day. My future, laid out right in front of my eyes. And it’s fucking grim. I’m done. I’m done for the rest of my life. I’ll be eighty and still chasing the shadows around her. Watching her move on. Build a family. A whole life. While I’ll stay frozen in time, hovering around her existence like the ultimate creep. Unmoving. Unwanted. Just a nightmare she survived.
Fuck my broken brain. Fuck me for not fighting it harder. I should’ve stopped myself that day. I could’ve saved her the pain, and I would’ve also saved myself.
When I close the door behind me and sink into a chair at the oversized table Bones insisted on, I’m still trapped inside these thoughts.Deep breath. Stay here. In this moment. Stop going under.
“You’re late,” Bones snaps.
“Oooh, someone’s in trouble,” Mindfuck singsongs, grinning like a clown.
I resist the urge to cave his face into the wood.
I shoot him a glare, then turn to Bones. “You should thank me. If I hadn’t been,” I glance at my phone, “three fucking minutes late, you’d be holding your nose right now.”
Bones ignores me, eyes flint. “Stay after. We’ve got personal shit to settle.”
I give him a tight nod and lean back in my seat.
“First order of business,” Bones starts, scanning the room. “Adora and Ria are now under full club protection. They’ll be staying here. Indefinitely. Effective immediately.”
He gives me a long look when he says Adora’s name, then continues.
“Their enemies are our enemies and all that shit. And their enemies are the snake whispering fuckheads. We had a run-in a while back. You were all informed. Myth ended two more of them last night. So yeah, they’re a real threat now. And we need to eliminate them. Every last one.”
“I volunteer," Domino says, sitting up straighter in his chair.
Does this fucker like Adora? As in... more than just a friend? Jealousy claws up my throat. I have to bite it back. I can’t lose my shit over this. I don’t have the right.
Just breathe. Just fucking breathe.
“Me too,” Tank growls, fists clenched.
“Could use the distraction,” Fang adds, twirling a knife way too close to Bones’ precious table.
Then silence. All eyes swing to me.
I exhale and lean forward, elbows on the table.
“Before everyone gets murder-happy, let’s not forget one thing — we need to find the cult first. They’re well hidden. Offthe grid. This is a hunter’s job, and Myth’s taking it. I can’t.” I pause, locking eyes with Bones’. “I’ll be guarding Adora.”
“But…” I add, looking back at the men around the table, “I called in backup last night. Reached out to the Hound.”
