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My fingers dug into the leather cut he wore, my nails scratching on the patches that covered the back. I scrambled for purchase and dodged as Pop’s elbow jerked back, glancing against the uninjured side of my face. It hurt so bad that my eyesight went hazy for a moment, but I didn’t let go, dragging my feet as Pop chased after Bird.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and lifted my feet off the ground, making Pop lurch forward when the resistance was gone. Our legs tangled together and he tripped. I’ve never in my life been so happy to see someone fall.
We grappled, and his fingers twisted in my hair, making tears fill my eyes.
No one in the history of the world had ever been more determined than I was at that moment. He could hit me and he could rip out my hair and he could knee me in the stomach, but he wouldneverget to Bird. I held on like moss on a tree, gripping Pop with every bit of strength I had so that Bird could escape.
Then Pop grunted and twisted and as I looked up, I saw Bird standing there, breathing heavily as he kicked Pop in the back a second time.
“No, Bird,” I choked out, unable to get enough breath in my lungs. “Go!”
Pop jerked away from me and my head hit the side of a table and everything went fuzzy. As I tried to get my eyes to work, I could hear him getting to his feet.
Then I heard the sound of my baby brother being hit, his whimper of pain, and felt the floor shudder as he fell.
“No.” I wasn’t sure if it was a whisper or a scream. I wasn’t even sure if I’d said it out loud. I somehow got to my feet and stumbled toward where Pop stood over Bird.
The gunshot was so loud it made my ears ring.
Chapter 19
Rumi
There were bikeseverywhere. They’d parked in the driveway, in the grass, up the street, in the neighbor’s garden. When Brenna had said that the boys had gone to take care of Samson, she hadn’t been kidding. Nearly the entire club had raced over to Samson and Ash’s place.
“You stay,” my dad ordered, catching me around the waist as I ran toward the trailer.
“Nova’s in there,” I hissed, trying to pull away. “Nova’s—”
“I know she is,” he said, his arms tightening. “You stay here.”
“She needs me,” I argued, shoving at his chest. “Get out of my way.”
“A little help here, Mick,” Dad said in frustration as my brother jogged toward us. He’d been as good as his word and rode my ass the entire way to the trailer park.
I jerked in surprise as the sound of an ambulance horn came from behind us—not the full siren sound, the one it made when it was telling you to get the fuck out of the way.
“Cops are here,” Micky said quietly.
“You gonna stay put?” my dad asked.
“Fuck no.” Why was there an ambulance pulling up behind us? Why were the fucking cops there? What the fuck had happened? I felt like I was going to come out of my skin.
“Rumi,” he snapped, leaning close to my face. “Dragon is in there. Gramps is in there. Casper and Leo are in there. That trailer’s the size of a postage stamp. You stay the fuck here.”
“She needs me.”
“I will personally get you in there as soon as I can, alright?”
I nodded so he’d let me go.
“They’re in here,” he called out as he took a step away from me, waving down the ambulance.
They? Who was hurt?
I ran for the front door, ignoring the cops that yelled at me to stop.
The living room was a sea of Aces and the doorway was blocked by at least five backs, but I pushed through them, ignoring them as they stared at me in surprise. I couldn’t see inside. I couldn’t tell who was hurt.
