AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tobias held me as we sped away. I glanced over my shoulder, to the open door of the warehouse. But Dad was gone, they were all gone, leaving thick plumes of smoke to pour out.
BOOM!
I jerked as an explosion rocked the night and the warehouse we’d left disintegrated. Chunks of concrete and debris flew outwards, and dropped into the street. Then we were gone, tearing away from the empty streets littered with the dead.
I felt numb. Cold and empty. Separate from myself. Tobias held onto me, his body shaking just like mine. I didn’t remember how we got out of the city, only that we did. Buildings became the highway and cars were traded for trees. We drove and kept on driving, until the sun peeked over the horizon, the bright rays hurting my eyes.
“Ryth,” Nick called, making me slowly lift my head to his reflection in the rear-view mirror. “You okay?”
I wanted to say no, that I didn’t think I’d ever be okay.
But that’s not what dad would’ve wanted.
He would’ve told me to be strong, to learn from this. Togrowfrom this. To hold onto those who I loved and who loved me in return…and never let go. So, I swallowed and forced myself to speak. “I will be.”
Caleb turned around and reached for my hand. “You will. We all will. We’ll do it together.”
I gripped his hand as he smiled awkwardly at me.
“There’s a truck stop ahead. We can stop, shower, grab some food, then keep driving,” Nick suggested.
So we did, and pulled into the parking lot. In the back of the four-wheel drive, we found a small case filled with money, fake passports, and IDs.Stevie Jacobs.I stared at the name and my face on the card, then looked at Nick.
“Hunter.” He lifted his.
“Adrian.” Caleb winced.
“Jesus…” Tobias stared at his, his lips curling. “What kind of fucking name is Samuel?”
“A safe name.” I stepped closer, pushed his hand with the ID down, and caressed his cheek. “A careful name. A name I’ll call you for the rest of our lives.”
He flinched as though he finally understood. “For the rest of our lives?”
I drew in the stench of smoke that clung to our clothes, and answered. “I’ll call you anything. A name doesn’t matter. To me you’ll always be Tobias.” I turned my head. “And you’ll always be Nick and Caleb.” I met C’s gaze. “You’ll always be the men I fell in love with. The ones who protected me, who fought for me…whobled for me.You’ll always be…”
“Mine,” T finished, pulling me closer. “You’ll always be mine.”
“The napkin,” Nick spoke. “The one your dad gave you. What did it say?”
I hugged T tight, then pulled away. “Nothing, just a bunch of numbers.”
“Let me see.” Nick held out his hand.
I reached into my pocket, gently retrieved it so it didn’t tear, and handed it over. He looked at it for barely a second. “It’s a bank account number.”
I scowled. “How do you know?”
“The numbers of digits,” he answered, and lifted his gaze to mine. “Did he tell you anything else at all?”
I shook my head. “Maybe it was a college fund? We can use whatever is in there, it might keep us going for a month or two.”
Nick shook his head and handed the napkin back. “We won’t need it. I’ve got that covered.”
“Wait, no. Your money is all tied—” I started.
“It’s liquidated,” he answered.
Both Tobias and Caleb glanced his way. “Everything?” C asked.
