AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She openly sobs in our arms as Jade watches on warily, clearly wanting to jump in but unsure how. I reach and grab her hand, placing it on Rachel’s knee. That’s all she needs from us right now. Being here with her, supporting her.
“I miss him. I know I have you guys, but going back hurts. I see him everywhere. Memories of us are engraved in every inch of Thorns and our home.”
Ryder presses a soft kiss against her head. “One day, that will be comforting. He will always be with you. Always be a part of us. Don’t run away from that.”
We’re all silent for several long moments. The sound of our deep breathing and Rachel’s sniffles the only ones in the room. At some point, everyone else cleared out, giving us our privacy. A chance for Rachel to break and put herself back together again before facing the next step.
“Okay,” she says. “I’ll get back to work. I’ll reach out to the Alvarados. I won’t give up the rest of my life, my business. But I need revenge first.”
I meet the steely determination in her eyes and give her my signature savage grin. “Deal.”
As if summoned by my declaration, Charles and Noah burst into the room.
“We found him.”
Chapter Fourteen Declan
My eyes stay lockedon my dark-haired pretty girl, where she sits in her seat curled around her tablet. It doesn’t matter if we have all the information we could get our hands on already, or that we already agreed to finish the plan once we get to the city where Noah and Charles tracked Romano to. While everyone else's rush of excitement has dwindled down over the first couple hours of the flight, Scarlett’s tension hasn’t eased from her shoulders or the tight knit of her brow. She’s as wound up as when we first heard the news.
We finally found him.
Black Hallows, a small town on the east coast known for the stark dichotomy between the North and South sides. One side built on corruption, secrets, and blood, not unlike the towns where Scarlett and I grew up in. But neither of our towns had such a close proximity to the other half, the ones who bled for the elite to thrive. The ones who fought every day just to survive.
It isn’t the first time the town has come up on our radar. If they were stained in blood before, they’ve been soaked in it now. War has a way of doing that.
As if conjured by the thought, I hear the Facetime ringtone coming from Scarlett’s tablet, and Tyler’s face is quick to fill her screen. I get up from my seat to sit beside her to hear his update.
“Have you heard back from any of your contacts? Max isn’t in town this week.” Scarlett’s brows dip even further in her concentration. She was hoping to have him there, but even as he offered to make the trip she told him not to worry about it. Tyler spent time here on a job Scarlett agreed to for Max. To help and act as backup in the war that could have ripped this town apart but has acted as a cleansing instead.
Not so very different from what we’ve been doing in our own town.
We have enough of our own backup and information without not only having to inconvenience Max, but also wait for him.
“I just got here,” Tyler says in his low, gravelly voice. “But I’ve already secured backup and it turns out, it’s somewhere I’ve been before. Should be an easy in-and-out mission.” Tyler is the most serious out of the crew that runs the fights. He’s not one to mince words or give empty platitudes. If he says it should be simple to get in, I believe him, even if everything that happens afterward will be anything but.
A smirk of amusement lights up Scarlett’s face and I can’t help but to mirror it. There hasn’t been any of her usual savage excitement at the prospect of her next kill. No, it’s been all fierce determination.
“I thought I recognized the name,” she hums.
Tyler responds with his own sly smirk and nod. “Rolland Atkins. One of the many corrupted scumbags that were cleared out while I was visiting Black Hallows.” A new, intrigued light enters Scarlett’s eyes.
“I’m almost excited to meet the crew you worked with.”
He huffs half a chuckle. “One of them will be with me to pick you up from the airport. I’m almost worried about how much you’re going to like them.”
Scarlett promises to see him soon after reminding him to collect any and all useful intel he can over the next couple hours before we land. He readily agrees before hanging up without saying goodbye. I smile in amusement at his gruff personality when I’ve seen the other side of him that Ian and Holden are masters at drawing out.
“Pretty girl,” I purr as I wrap my arm around her and pull her into my chest. “Get some rest while you can.” Everyone else has already drifted to sleep around us. “It’ll be morning by the time we get there and we both know you won’t want to stop and take a nap.”
For a moment, I think she’s going to argue. Her fingers clutch even tighter around the tablet and her eyes harden while her smirk drops. But before I can really push her again, she sighs and nods, grabbing my hand. “Only if you stay with me.” The soft-spoken words painfully pull at my heart, not because of the words themselves, but because of the fear and anxiety she lets me see with them.
Of course. How could I have missed it? She’s scared to sleep. Who wouldn’t be when the worst moments of your life play like a neverending reel behind closed eyes? Every time she drifts off into sleep, it’s not dreams that find her. It’s hell.
I stand and scoop her into my arms, carrying her to the back room where there’s a bed that no one bothered to use. Everyone wanted to stay together, stay close. But she needs solid sleep for everything we have planned. “I’ll hold you tight and won’t let go,” I promise and climb into bed before tucking her against me.
Her hands are freezing as she slips them under my shirt and presses them against my skin. I hiss in response and she smirks as she snuggles in closer to me.
“You could have told me you were cold, pretty girl.”
