AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I am proud of you, Payton,” I tell her. “Always have been.”
Her smile looks more like a grimace, and she reaches for my face, her fingers sticky with blood and as cold as ice. They tremble, dragging over my cheek, and I grip her hand and hold it there.
She’s weak as shit, but when she tugs against my grip, obviously wanting me to come closer, I let her pull me down to murmur in my ear, telling me what she and Luis found out from the guy they went after. Telling me like she thinks she has to, like I’ve gotta know before she goes.
I don’t want selfless last words from her. I want her to hold the fuck on.
I shush her, pulling back and smoothing her blood-matted hair back from her face, pressing even harder on her chest wound. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about that now. Just stay with me, and we’ll get you to Shane. It’s all gonna be okay.”
I keep repeating it, but when I meet Logan’s eyes in the rearview mirror, I see the truth we all know reflected in his bleak gaze. None of this shit is gonna be okay. And Payton—
“Oh god,” Riley whispers, her voice thick with emotion and her hand, resting on my shoulder, the only warmth in the whole fucking world. She’s staring down at Payton, and Payton’s staring up at the roof of the Escalade, eyes open and lifeless.
She’s gone.
20
RILEY
My heart clenchesas I look down at Payton. I’ve never seen a dead body up close and personal, but that’s not really what I’m thinking about. I never liked her, but seeing her bloody and limp like this—knowing she’s gone—isn’t something I’d ever wish on anyone.
That’s what I’m thinking about. That shecouldbe anyone. This dead girl who was just trying to prove herself, trying to make a mark in the dangerous, deadly world we’re all trying so hard to survive, isn’t so different from my sister. It could have been Chloe.Or me.
Maddoc’s jaw is clenched so tight it looks made of stone, and while I already know he’s a master of staying calm in the face of chaos, a leader who’s not ruled by emotions, he’s obviously affected by this.
I’m not jealous. I know there was nothing personal between them, and that even if there had been, it would have had nothing to do with me. No, what I feel right now is a different kind of ache.
I wish I could take this pain away from him.
He finally lets go of her hand, laying it out over her chest, then passes his hand over her face to close her eyes. No one says a word until we get back to the house.
Maddoc looks up when Logan stops in the driveway with the engine still idling. An unfamiliar car is already parked there, and several more that followed us from where the shootout went down pull up and park at the curb.
“You gonna pull into the garage?” Maddoc asks, his brow creasing.
“No,” Logan says as Dante twists around in the passenger seat, his face as serious as I’ve ever seen it.
“Nah, Maddoc,” Dante adds. “You go in and deal with what you have to. We’ll take care of the… of Payton.”
Maddoc shakes his head. “Payton is my responsibility. I’ll—”
Dante reaches back and squeezes his shoulder. “No, Madd. Let us handle it. This ain’t on you.”
Maddoc looks like he’s about to argue again, and I know damn well he can’t be used to taking orders from others, but after a moment, he relents. He knows just like I do that Logan and Dante aren’t defying him. Maddoc’s still in charge, but they’re his family. They’re allowed to share some of his burden.
I meet Dante’s eyes for a moment, and he gives me a small, subdued smile. Then he pulls his shirt over his head and hands it to me before jerking his head toward the door, clearly wanting me to follow Maddoc.
I nod, a cold shiver wracking my body as I gratefully take his shirt and slip it over my head, knotting it at my waist. I’d all but forgotten that I used my own to try and stop Payton’s bleeding. I don’t want it back. Being surrounded by Dante’s lingering scent, the oversized shirt still warm from the heat of his body, is comforting in a way that I really fucking need right now.
The Escalade pulls away, Logan and Dante driving off with Payton’s body. By the time I head into the house after Maddoc, several other gang members have already piled out of the other cars too.
They follow us into the house.
“This was West Point?” I ask, my stomach tight as I instinctively move closer to Maddoc.
His jaw clenches again. “Yes,” he says tightly.
I already figured that much from what I overheard as we drove across town, but having him confirm it stirs up a level of panic in my gut that almost makes me feel sick. I don’t like the Reapers’ plans for Chloe, but if West Point finds out what they know and gets their hands on her—
