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Mongrel leaned close, sniffed me and snarled. Honest to Gods, the beast snarled. His lip all twisted up under that long, bedraggled beard. This time I couldn’t help but be offended and my hands flew to my hips as I glared at the bastard.
Without a word of apology, the biker turned on his heel and stalked over to join Silver at the van. I followed his progress with narrowed eyes.
Now that Benji was settled in the back, Talia climbed in after him. Surprisingly enough, no one stopped her. In fact, if anything, they deferred to her.
“Gotta stop the bleeding before we can get going.” Silver’s murmur was gentle and intimate, as the two bikers bent together like lovers. My stomach did a sad little dip. If those two were together then maybe I’d read the signals wrong. “It’s a long drive home, and I don’t want him bleeding out before we can get him to Doc.”
Mongrel grunted in agreement.
An explosion from behind had me whipping back around. Addy had taken down another shifter fleeing the fire. He hit the dirt with a neat hole in the center of his forehead. Little demon. The bloodthirsty Soul Reapers cheered and I was tempted to join them.
Instead, I turned to take stock once more of my people to do a quick head count.
Viola and Louise were huddled under a blanket. So were Jimmy and Robbie, the older boy holding tight to the younger. Addy was holding her own next to the bikers, a look of raw determination on her face. Her bare feet were covered in what I was going to pretend was mud. Talia was in the back of the van with Benji. Lilac, Jessie, Nadia, Joseph… I went through the names, one by one, marking them off as I spotted each exhausted face.
We were a neat round twenty in all. Only we weren’t.
Sweat broke out on my skin.
Eighteen. There were only eighteen. Nineteen, including me. We were a person down. Of course we were...
No, I had to be wrong. Had to be. Yet I knew I wasn’t.
Dread rolled down my back as I counted again. Sensing my mood, Viola looked up, piercing me with a questioning eyebrow. The panic must have been written all over my face because her eyes flew wide in concern.
Winter was missing. And there was no way in hell I’d fail her twice.
I threw off the blanket and sprinted, full tilt, toward the burning clubhouse. I could hear the shouts of dismay but they were too far away to stop me. All I could focus on was the way the structure was listing to the side, threatening to collapse and destroy my last hope of redemption.
I couldn’t let it. The only way that fucking fire would claim Winter’s soul was over my dead body.
Nearly there, I put my head down and threw up an arm to protect my face as the scorching heat from the building sizzled along my flesh. Arms banded around my middle like steel and I was trapped against a chest hard as stone.
“Let go of me.”
I twisted and struggled—biting, scratching, kicking—anything to be free so I could save my friend. But the arms holding me gave no room to fight. It was Silver. The kind one. The one who had seemed to understand. And he took every lick of punishment I could dole out.
“Kitten, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Silver’s voice was liquid gold poured straight into my ear, sending a shudder of longing and hatred down my spine.
Why? Why would he do this? Why would he stop me from saving my friend?!
“You do realize that building is on fire, right?” The omega didn’t fool me, I could hear the tension in his voice. The fear. He was terrified that I’d escape his hold and dive into the clubhouse.
“Winter.” I pushed at his hands, but they didn’t let go. “My friend. Fuck. Please, Silver. She’s still in there!”
“Shh. Okay, it’s okay. We’ll send someone in to look, I promise. But you sure as hell ain’t the one going in.”
“Why?” I growled.
His smile was strained. “Well for one thing, kitten, you’ve got no shoes on. That fire will burn the soles right off your feet.”
“You’re one to talk.” I grumbled but sagged into his arms, making out like my fear-filled courage had given way to despair. It hadn’t. The terror was still there, fueling my determination. I was going to rescue Winter. Just as soon as Silver took the bait. “Sweatpants aren't gonna cut it either.”
“I have clothes.” He pointed to a tidy pile sitting out of reach of the flames, then winked. “I’m just keeping my options open.”
I forced a chuckle, my body loose and pliable in his arms. His grip loosened as he smiled gratefully down at me. Sucker. Good thing I’d been working on my body language since landing in hell.
Gathering my strength to sprint once more for the door, I leapt to my feet. Silver swore under his breath and reached for me but I was ready for him and ducked out of reach. A few yards later, however, I reeled to a stop and back-pedaled quickly. Because a living nightmare was walking out of the jaws of death with a sick smile of triumph on his bloody maw.
