Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 150546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 753(@200wpm)___ 602(@250wpm)___ 502(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 753(@200wpm)___ 602(@250wpm)___ 502(@300wpm)
Skeletons I buried.
I reach for my phone on the passenger seat, swiping my tears angrily from my cheek and dialing the for the girls group chat. One of them will answer.
“Crash?” Stella’s face pops up first with a curled smirk.
I shake my head, my face paling.
She stiffens and her smile falls. “We’ll be there in a second.”
“Don’t bring Evie…”
Stella pauses a moment. “Shit.”
I have to protect Evie from as much as I can. For her own safety. For her little brother. For her parents who are about as close to a second family outside of our lives as I’ll get. I’d never want any of this to touch them, and neither would Dad.
No.
Me and the girls need to clean this up, bury him where he needs to be, and then call it a night.
I end the call and send her the map, telling her to follow the track I did so people don’t get suspicious.
Silence claws at the memories I’d locked away.
I squeeze my eyes closed and start counting in my head when headlights beam through my lids. They roll to a stop beside me.
River’s eyes bounce between me and the wreck. “You really just can’t let anyone else win, huh?” she jokes, sighing and turning off the car.
I watch as Stella makes her way to the mess, and once enough time has passed, I slide off my belt and open my door.
“I see…” Stella teases, casting a quick glance over her shoulder before leaning down to get a better look inside.
“This is bad.” Panic grips me around the throat, forcing me still. “I shouldn’t have reacted like this, it’s just—"
River reaches into my car and takes my gun. “Who is he, Hale?” Her tone is gentle. “Do you know him?”
I shudder. “He’s—he—was.” I stop, my tongue stuck to the bridge of my mouth.
“Hey!” Stella brings her hand to mine. “We will figure this out. The boys don’t need to know. We can call in the cleaner after we do our thing, and then there’s no evidence left, okay?”
My muscles relax a little when I see her logic. That would work. “Okay. I’ll pick up Evie and drop her home. We can meet at my house.”
River tosses my gun into her car. “Do mine. No one is there right now.”
War
“Pull back…” I hit the headrest with my palm.
“Why?” Priest hesitates, Bayonet Falls dead in front of us. Even from here, the town is so dark and lifeless that any kind of light is easy to spot. A train of imports flies past us as they leave Bayonet one by one. They’re a mess over the road, as if being chased out by something.
Or someone.
I don’t look at any of them as I say my next words. “Because we don’t have the armor to take on what is waiting for us over that hill.” My eyes land on Halen. “Right?”
Halen swallows, her lashes fanning out over her cheeks. “Right.”
I kick Priest’s chair. “Back up. We need a plan.”
He reverses, just missing a 200SX before sliding into the convoy. I send out a text to shut down the party at my house and we all drive back in silence.
The Castle comes into view as soon as we hit the estate.
No one spoke a word. Not when we were driving up the long cobblestone driveway that’s lined with perfect, manicured trees, and not now when we pull into the horseshoe driveway of the Castle.
Priest parks and we all sit for a moment. After this weekend, everyone in this car will not be able to so much as shit without one of us knowing about it.
Yet right now, I can’t help but feel the separation between us and the girls. Has it always been like this, but we have never all been forced to be around each other?
Probably.
“Everyone out. Meet in Halen’s room,” Priest bites out tonelessly.
I watch as the girls pile out of the car and shuffle their way up the marble steps to the front door.
“What do you think happened?” I’m the first to ask because it could be a number of things.
Priest is silent for a moment. “Twin-tuition… this is something that has been going on for years. I can feel it with her. How she’s responding to it. Almost conditioned. She’s acted out of haste, and now she’s freaking out about the repercussions, which means this has something to do with people we already have tension with.”
Vaden removes his belt. “Yeah… but what? And who? It can’t be the Gentlemen because Riverside would be on fire by now.”
“Well, I’m about to find out.” I reach for the door handle when Priest’s words stop me.
“I get that the two of you have got all of that going on… but I wouldn’t in this house. If Dad catches you, I ain’t helping.”
I shove the door open, ignoring Priest. Please. I’m the favorite fucking child.