Page 144 of Monstrous Serpent

Chapter 36

Atlas

He said it. He actually fucking said it.

My fingers brush my lips, which still tingle, as I watch Hunter crash through the brush and disappear into the night. Wade takes off after him, the other shithead following.

I shove off the tree, my legs unsteady, but I don’t care. I have to help him. He can’t die. Not now.

Not ever.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

My upper lip twitches as I turn to face Garrett. He’s ten feet to my right, hunting knife in hand. “You seriously want to do this right now? They’re going to kill him.”

His brows and nose scrunch as he points the knife at me. “This is your fault.”

“How many times are you going to say the same shit?”

“Hunter and I were fine before you. We were a family.”

My fists curl at my sides, blood dripping onto my palms. “Some fucking family. You didn’t even try to stop Wade.”

Garrett takes a step forward, his nostrils flaring. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t know shit.”

“Neither do you.” I straighten, pulling my shoulders back, forcing myself not to wince at the tenderness in my ribs. “Hunter will never be like the rest of your sick, twisted family. I won’t let him.”

Garrett huffs. “Yet he ran. Didn't even look back. Left you here to die. Alone.”

“He’s not alone,” a deep voice says.

Well, fuck me.

I knew Rua was here. Hunter had his knife. Figured the others came too. But Blackwell? Didn't see that coming.

One side of my mouth pulls up into a lopsided smile as Killian steps out from the shadows wearing a black hoodie, black pants, and our signature white hunting mask.

Garrett stumbles sideways a few feet, eyes wide.

“Yeah no, Hunt didn’t leave me here alone.” I take a step toward him, eyes narrowing. “He actually left you with me.”

Garrett's knife swings from me to Killian and back. His breathing is erratic, his weight shifting from foot to foot. “You think this changes anything? You think your little hockey buddies scare me?”

“Yeah.” I crack my neck, then take another step. “I do.”

A twisted giggle cuts through the dark—high and bright and completely fucking wrong for the situation. It bounces between the trunks.

Shaw.

Garrett's face loses color, his eyes darting to the trees behind Killian as more shapes move in the gaps between the oaks. Black hoodies, white masks, silent except for that laugh growing louder, threading through the trees. Shaw never could shut up.

Garrett backs up, head swiveling as my teammates line up next to our former captain, all of them dressed identically.

“What's the matter, Garrett?” I sneer. “Thought you wanted a hunt.”

He snarls, but the knife in his hand shakes.

My smirk vanishes, eyes widening for a split second, heart beating faster.