Page 14 of Ruin

Brock was loyal to a fault, and would have done anything for his brother.

Hell, what if he’d already gone out there and done something stupid? What if he tried to save Tink and failed, then hightailed it back here without backup and tried to hide out, only to be found by Devil’s crew? What if Saraya and Gemini weren’t the only ones Devil’s men went after, and they were more successful with Brock than they had been with the two in the clubhouse?

The possibilities were endless, and each one seemed to get worse than the last.

But there was only one way to find out. I needed to know if Brock was in there, because if he wasn’t, I needed to find him before he did anything stupid and got himself killed. I needed to find him so I had backup myself because right now I was rolling solo, and I’d never been good at that.

I stepped up onto the patio, my heart in my throat, and slipped the key into the knob. Taking a breath, I turned it and then grabbed the knob, trying to prepare myself for whatever might be on the other side of the door.

I hadn’t given it a quarter of a turn before the world erupted in sound and light. Someone came squealing into the driveway, tires spinning and gravel flying, and a stream of light slid across the front of the house. I turned, my hand already on my gun but was blinded enough by the light that I knew I was little more than a target, unable to see the people who could no doubt see me clearly. I dropped down to one knee, pulling my gun out and struggling to see, and was able to make out a few things: the silhouette of a motorcycle tearing into the driveway, its lights on and shining right at me. Beyond that, a car sliding to a stop, running up onto the sidewalk and taking out the mailbox I’d almost hit.

Then the windows of the car slid down, and someone inside started shooting.

CHAPTER 11

SARAYA

I DUCKED EVEN LOWER as I turned, nearly putting the bike down to the pavement in my need to get off it as quickly as possible and to some sort of shelter. I hadn’t known I was being followed until I was about a mile from the address Gemini had given me, and I’d actually been thinking that I might be able to get here, get Brock, and get back to Gemini before anything happened.

I should have known they’d be watching what they thought was his body, just to see if I’d turn up. Stupid to have gone back, I realized now.

Though I couldn’t have done anything else.

I’d torn into the night the moment I saw their lights behind me, and their increased speed had told me that they were indeed chasing me—which had made me drive even faster, wishing like hell I was able to take my hands off the handlebars for long enough to ask the mapping app to give me alternative routes to Brock’s house. I’d needed something that included back alleys and turns too sharp for a car to make as quickly as I could.

But I hadn’t had them, and I didn’t know the area well enough to play it by ear. So I’d gone even faster, trying to outrun them, and had burst into the driveway so close to out of control that I was shocked I hadn’t driven right into the house itself.

As I fought to control the bike, knowing that I had a better chance if I got as close to the house as possible before trying the rest on foot, I chanced a glance at the structure. I needed the closest door, and I was going to have to pray that it was, for some reason, unlocked and ready for me. I could jump through a window, I guessed, but that was probably going to end with me getting hurt. The house was simple, thank goodness, with a wrap-around porch at the front that gave it some elevation. Several windows there, and a door, which was what I’d be going for. I jerked my eyes back to the driveway just in time to miss the tree that suddenly appeared in front of me and circled around it, the tires skidding under me and the bike shuddering with the turn.

I’d misjudged it, though, and the bike shot out from under me, the tires losing their purchase and spinning out as the bike went to its side. I jumped off just quickly enough to avoid getting tangled up and watched the bike go spinning off to the side, where it died of its own accord, the engine cutting out.

Well, that was that, I guessed.

I glanced back toward the porch, trying to gauge how far I had to go, and saw that the porch was already occupied. There was someone up there; someone I’d somehow missed the first time I looked.

And when the light from the motorcycle’s headlight flickered once more, sending a wash of yellow light over him, I saw that the person standing there was Knight.

The sound of shots being fired from behind me jerked me out of that moment, though, and I dropped to the ground, instinctively trying to hide from the men shooting at me. I hit the dirt hard and started crawling army-style toward the house, doing my best to stay as low as possible and keep the tree between me and them. I didn’t know who they were or what they wanted, but it wasn’t hard to guess that they’d come with orders from Devil to either take me back to him or kill me for having left.

Neither of those options were good, and I didn’t mean to let them succeed.

But I had to get into that house if I was going to make it out of this alive.

I scooted forward as quickly as I could, gravel making its way down my jeans and my breath coming short and fast in my chest. When I looked up, measuring how far away I was, more gunshots rang out, and I put my face to the dirt and lay as still as I could, hoping against hope that if they could see me, they’d think they’d hit me and leave it at that.

A second later, the gunshots stopped, and I could hear the sound of tires squealing as the car revved its engine and took off.

Once it was gone, the silence around me was deafening, thick and heavy and threatening. What was going on? Had they actually left? Were they coming back, or just hiding around a corner, waiting to see whether I was going to suddenly come back to life and run for the house?

Because suddenly coming back to life and running for the house was exactly what I was planning. I didn’t know if those guys were coming back, but if they did, they weren’t going to find me lying around out here, waiting to meet them. I wanted the safety of four walls around me. I wanted a lookout point so I could see whether they were coming back.

And I wanted to find Brock and get him to help me save Gemini.

I jumped to my feet and ran for the house, my lower lip in my teeth and my arms pumping to get me going. Twenty feet, I figured. Ten. Five.

And Knight was in there, I remembered. Knight had been on that porch. He was here, and he’d keep me safe.

My feet started moving even faster, and I sprinted for the man I’d been yearning for all night, not bothering to look behind me to see whether Devil’s men were coming back. Even if they were, I thought, Knight was up ahead. Knight with this strong arms and quick mind and big, warm bulk.