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“And people go missing on the water all the fucking time. Trust me when I tell you there isn’t a human on the planet that will give a shit if you’re one of them.”
“Is she worth throwing your life away for?!” He shouted, blood spattering my face. I didn’t flinch, just sneered back at him.
“You tell me—you just did.”
“You threatened a senator’s—”
“I don’t give a fuck who’s spawn you are. You say my girl’s name again, you face your maker. End of fucking story.”
He sneered, lip curling. “This isn’t fucking over. Prison—”
“Means jack shit if I fall asleep at night knowing you’re at the bottom of the ocean, and she’s free to live her life without looking over her shoulder.” A little voice crept up in my chest that said that was the boldest damn bluff of my life. Would I serve life in prison if it kept her safe? Yeah. No shit. But for the first time in my monotonous existence, there was something worth living for. And I wanted to livewith her, not throw it away. Noel had somehow planted her claws so deep in my chest, I wasn’t sure I could surgically remove the hold she had on me. Not that he’d ever know that. “Besides, nobody saw shit in this fog. Ain’t that right, boys?” I tossed the last bit over my shoulder, smiling as they answered.
“Nah, man, visibility is for crap. I was just evacuating when we bumped into each other,” Broderick said smoothly.
“That new guy went missing? Must’ve fallen off a boat. Dumbass didn’t listen to his captain, I guess.Shame,” Max added.
Jaw set, point proven, I stared him down until Charlie’s voice broke the sizzling energy. “James, let him go, man.”
Sucking down air, I released him, slowly backing a step away.
“Such a good little lapdog,” Eric panted over a laugh. I lunged forward, cracking my forearm into the side of his head and looming over him as he collapsed like a sack of wheat.
“Fucking psychopath,” I ground between clenched teeth.
“Jesus,” Charlie muttered as he sidled up next to us. He canted his head at Eric’s pathetic blood-spattered form. Looking up at the rest of us, he demanded, “For the record, he passed out when James still had him against the fence, alright?”
“Holy fuck,” Jake said, loping up beside me and releasing a sigh I think we’d all been collectively holding.
“Feel better?” Axel quirked, and I shrugged, shaking out my screaming hand. Broken, for sure. Worth it.
“A bit,” I allowed as Charlie knelt and checked Eric’s pulse. “He deserved worse.” My mind was suddenly numb as I whirled, searching for red hair and alabaster skin. “Where is she?”
Eyes scanning, I found Mav still holding her against his lanky form, her eyes wide and on me. He’d done good—put some distance between them and the brawl. Minutes,if that, had passed since he knocked her off her feet. But it felt like a damn lifetime. Noel flung herself away from my brother to close the distance, throwing her arms around my neck as she burst into tears against my chest. An agonizing ache bloomed as my heart splintered into unrecoverable pieces. I should’ve killed him. Should’ve ended this. Seeming to see the train of thought in my eyes, Mav shook his head, lids heavy as he watched her cling to me. I wrapped her up. Inhaling her sweet scent, I soothed her, running my hand over her back.
“Shhh, baby, I’m right here. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
“He just came out of—” The sob that broke her voice fractured my resolve to leave him breathing. I glared at my cousin where he watched me like I was a rattlesnake, waiting to strike. He wasn’t wrong. “—nowhere.”
“I know, baby, I know. Are you okay? What hurts?”
Her shaking hand came to settle against her scalp, and then she shook her head. “I’m okay.”
“That’s my girl.” But as I raised my hand to rub calming lines down her head, I spotted my shaky fingers, already swelling, discolored, and painted in blood. I wasn’t any goddamn better than the monster she’d been running from. Just as fucking feral when it came down to it. And she deserved so much more.
Noel
It seemedlike an entire lifetime passed as we answered questions. Jameson never left my side, keeping me tucked against his ribs right until the EMTs insisted on an exam, to which he reluctantly agreed. Charlie had moved us all to higher ground before the responding officers conducted their interviews, the blaring roar of the tsunami sirens adding chaos to an evening more hellscape than resolution. Because it was just starting over again. I knew it in my gut—if Vallie and her firm of urban legal heroes couldn’t keep Eric behind bars, how on earth could a small-town judicial system?
They couldn’t.That was the reality of it. A leaden sense of helplessness sunk into my bones. Because the only thing that made this different was Charlie bearing witness through the fog. But he’d been yards behind Jameson, catching up only once he and Axel had torn Eric away. I needed to call Blaze’s friend back—the time to pull metaphorical punches was over.
Jameson. He’d…gone feral for me. There wasn’t really another way to say it. Eric opened his fat mouth during his one shot at a reprieve, and if it hadn’t been for Charlie, Broderick, and Axel, I was fairly certain he would have beaten him to death. I couldn’t say I’d be sad about it, except for the mark that would leave on Jameson’s soul. The idea of him getting into trouble for defending me made bile climb up my throat. While he’d stayed fastened to my side, he avoided my eyes through the entire investigation, answering Bells’ questions robotically, no doubt in his own kind of shock.
By the time the tsunami alarm stopped keening and they gave us the all-clear to go home, my mind had…gone numb. Hollow silence rang in my ears. While I was relieved all the Rhodes’ homes were no longer under threat, I wasn’t sure I could face them all. Not after this. Not after their boys had thrown themselves into physical danger. Not after my cowardice put Jameson at risk for legal repercussions. Because there would be repercussions. Eric had set us up perfectly for his actions to be suspect. So easily spun. All I could do was pray that the Rhodes name held true in Mistyvale—that Milo’s meetings with the captains would lay enough groundwork that the rumor mill and media wouldn’t clamp on to the opportunity to shred his name. Their family’s name.
“Hey,” his low voice rumbled through the truck cab, and I could feel Jameson’s eyes on me. “You okay?”
“Tired,” I offered by way of explanation, terrified if I opened my mouth, every fear and anxiety would come pouring through it until we both drowned.
