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My mind churns, trying to figure something out as we finally slow our steps. Vic glances around like he’s trying to find some sort of landmark to help him orient himself as we step out onto another street.
But before he can say anything, a loud roar cuts through the air.
Fuck. The Jeep.
There are no headlights this time, but there’s no mistaking the sound of the engine. The driver cut the lights to blend in with the darkness around us, and the Jeep is gunning toward us, barreling down on us fast.
“Shit!” I shout, and I feel both Malice and Vic move beside me. Vic throws himself in front of Willow protectively, and in that exact second, a gunshot rings out.
Then Vic crumples the ground, going down hard.
Willow screams, the sound high pitched and terrified, and the Jeep’s engine roars again.
It doesn’t stop or even so much as slow down. It veers slightly off course, whipping past us. The sides are open, and a hand shoots out, grabbing Willow up as it goes by, pulling her on board the speeding vehicle.
She screams again, fighting the hold of whoever the hell grabbed her, but it’s not enough.
“Fuck,no!” Malice shouts.
“No you fucking don’t!” I bellow, right there with him.
I put on a burst of speed, trying to chase down the Jeep, but it tears away into the night, moving so fast I don’t have a hope of catching it on foot.
Come on,I urge myself, gritting my teeth. Willing my body to move faster, to at least keep following the Jeep so it can’t disappear on me.Come the fuck on.
But it’s no good. It gets farther and farther away, and eventually, I have to stop running, my lungs burning. With the headlights still off, I can’t even see the damned thing once it gets far enough away.
Shit. Fucking goddamnedshit.
The Jeep is gone, and Willow with it.
For a long moment, it feels like time stops entirely as my mind grapples with that fact, refusing to believe it. Every breath is like inhaling shards of glass, and I fight for air, trying to keep the anger and desperation from clouding my brain.
The only thing that finally cuts through the haze of panic and fury in my brain is a noise from behind me. I turn to look back at Malice, who’s returned to the spot where Willow was snatched from us.
He’s on his knees on the ground, hovering over Vic’s body, and a sickening feeling lurches in my stomach.
Fuck, no.No, no, no.
We can’t have lost Vic and Willow in the same night. That would just be…
No.
They’re several blocks behind me, almost indistinguishable from the darkness around them, and despite the way my muscles and lungs protest, I turn and start to run again, making my way back over to them. My chest is tight, and it’s not just from the exertion. I don’t know what I’m going to see when I reach the two of them, and if Vic is dead—
I swallow hard against that thought.
As I get closer, I see Malice keeping pressure on a wound in Vic’s side. Vic groans, and even though it’s a pained sound, it loosens the knot in my stomach a little. He’s still alive.
Thank fuck for that.
Malice looks up when I approach them, an obvious question in his eyes, and I shake my head.
“They got away,” I say, voice hoarse. “Willow is gone.”
“Fuck!” my older brother curses. “Fucking—fuck.” His dark eyes flash with emotion, his jaw going tight.
On the ground, Vic doesn’t look much better off. His shirt is soaked with blood, but it doesn’t seem like he even notices or cares. He closes his eyes and lets out a shuddering breath, and I can see his hands clenching into fists, squeezing rhythmically as he counts under his breath. He has to be in pain from getting shot, but it’s losing Willow that’s wrecking him now.
