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“We get it,” Ryder said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Sarge is a stupid bastard.”
Turning towards the man himself, Ryder’s eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you, Brother,” he said. Fallon’s eyes warmed as he considered the younger member of his team. I didn’t know what Ryder was thankful for, but I figured it had to do with the fact that the team hadn’t stopped looking for us.
I hoped Ryder understood that he was loved by more than just me.
It was then that Fallon finally got a good look at us. The bruises, the blood, the makeshift slings, the knife cut across my cheek.
“What the hell happened?” I had never heard Fallon use that voice before. It was a voice that promised revenge and death. I had no doubt that he would storm back to the house and finish off Liz for us. Fallon was terrifying when you hurt those he cared about.
I knew he cared about Ryder. They were brothers in every way but blood.
Me? I had thought he merely tolerated my presence.
So why was he holding me so tenderly, as if he couldn’t bear to let me go? Why did his lips brush against my hair?
If Ryder noticed his leader’s strange behavior, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he took my handand propelled me forward. With Fallon on one side and Ryder on the other, I found myself sandwiched between the two men.
Totally would’ve enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been bleeding out.
“I’ll tell you what happened,” Ryder said, helping me into an unfamiliar vehicle. I figured it was Fallon’s car - or at least the car he had stolen. “But I don’t want you to tell the others everything.”
His voice was raw. Bleeding. Desperate. He needed this privacy, this promise from Fallon that his secret would remain safe.
Despite the pain searing down the length of my body, I rested my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his good arm around me, holding me close.
I squeezed my eyelids shut as if I could somehow erase the memories of that house. Of Liz. Of everything she had put us through.
As Ryder began to speak, I risked peeking at him through my fringe of lashes. His eyes were glassy, and he took a shuddering breath between words.
We were survivors. I wouldn’t let Ryder shoulder this burden alone.
* * *
We arrived backat Elena’s house only an hour later.
Ryder gave a full recap of the events with Liz. He purposefully left some details vague, but Fallon was smart enough to read between the lines. His face was an icy mask by the time Ryder had finished his version of events. He looked positively livid when I told him mine.
Fallon explained what had happened after we had been discovered missing. Elena, apparently, had followed the car in the rain for as long as she could. She had gotten the license plate information as well as the car details. Both the boys and girls had split up, each taking a radio with them. The boys, minus Fallon, went to the nearest town. The girls, excluding Sam, went to another. Sam had stayed home, just in case we came back.
Fallon decided to go rogue, so to speak. From what I gathered, he didn’t really have a plan. He instead went from door to door, kicking butt and taking names.
Nobody fucks with Fallon’s team. And me. Because I was their sister that wasn’t a sister, so that made me an honorary member of the team.
It would’ve been sweet of Fallon if, of course, he hadn’t freaking shot at me.
“I didn’t know it was you,” Fallon said, for probably the one-hundredth time. His hand was feather light on my arm as he helped me from the car.
“I’m still pissed at you.”
“I saw a car with the same license plate and description Elena had given me. I didn’t know you were in it.”
“Shut up, Meany Butt.”
Ryder snorted at my eloquent nickname for his fearsome sergeant. I was happy that Ryder was smiling again. They weren’t as frequent, but he would get there with time.
The house was quiet as we entered. All of the blinds were pushed back from the windows, allowing natural sunlight to illuminate the room.
