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“Enough cash to see you through for a few weeks. You’re gonna have to find work eventually, but you need to be off your feet for at least another week and there's nothing worse than being in a new town with no money.”
“I can’t take this.” I try to hand it back to her, but she crushes it into my chest and shakes her head.
“Just take the fuckin’ money,” her eyes dare me to argue.
“You got a plan?” she asks, taking a seat on top of a metal bench and lighting up a cigarette while we wait.
“No, but I kinda like that,” I admit, the nerves in my stomach are stirring like a tornado. But the fear of the unknown beats the fear of thinking backward.
“I get that,” Rogue agrees, blowing a thick cloud of smoke out her mouth that makes me choke.
“Do you still see the good in people?” I ask her, changing the subject. I’m about to launch myself into a world of strangers, I need to know there’s hope I’ll trust people again.
“I see the good in them,” she nods back thoughtfully. “The good that others don’t.”
I know she's talking about the Souls now, because I’ve seen the good in them too. In the way they take care of each other, and the way they took care of my people when we needed them. They may be outlaws but they’re anything but bad.
“I get why you’re leaving, but your nightmares are gonna leave with you, you get that, right?” She stubs her cigarette out on the bench and flicks it away.
“I do. But this is me treading water.” I smile at her sadly as the huge coach pulls into the bay in front of us.
“This is you.” Rogue hops onto her feet and I watch the people get off, taking a deep breath.
Am I really going to do this? Can I really leave everything I know behind me?
“I’m not really one for goodbyes,” Rogue admits before she awkwardly leans in for a hug, and I cling onto her for a few seconds more than she’ll be comfortable with.
“Thanks for everything, Rogue,” I whisper, before finally letting go and stepping away. She smiles me a smile full of promise as I glance back over my shoulder at her.
The driver checks my ticket before gesturing for me to get onboard.
“Dalton,” I hear Rogue’s voice come from behind me, and when I look back again, she’s holding the driver's name badge between her fingers. “You make sure my girl there gets to where she’s going safely. You got that?” she warns him, and he nods his head up and down looking fearfully back at her.
“Good, ‘cause you’d hate for me to add your name to my shit list.”
I head to the gym despite having no energy left. Taking out those men, and knowing there’s no more I can do for her except find an invisible man has drained it all out of me. Seeing her sitting in the club had been the sucker punch.
The club will be celebrating the end of Ivan Cooper’s threat, we even picked ourselves up some fresh supplies in the process.
I got jack shit to celebrate. I still need to find out who the man behind all this is, and that’s looking less and less likely.
We’ve hit a dead-end, but it doesn’t mean I’m giving up. Until his blood spills on my hands and I’ve choked out his last breath, I won’t rest.
Seeing her tonight only makes me more determined to make this world a better place for her.
The gym door opens, and Tawk charges in, coming at me like a bull out the stock.
“Get up, you useless son of a bitch,” he yells, gripping at the front of my cut and pulling me onto my feet.
“What's your fucking problem?” I look down my nose at him, trying to keep my calm.
“She’s leaving!” he shouts, landing spittle on my face.
“What do you mean, she’s leaving?” I shrug him off and straighten out my cut. Guy must have a fuckin’ death wish.
“Shaniya’s leaving.” He stares at me and waits for a reaction. “And it kills me to say this, but you’re the only one who can stop her.” He’s so agitated that he turns his back on me, and I watch his shoulders heave up and down.
“Where’s she going, why would she leave?” Panic starts to close in around me.
