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We both climbed onto my bike, and Ikicked it over. The loud rumble of everyone’s bikes echoed through the crisp, cool air, the night thick and heavy.
In it, I felt the shiver of something in the distance. A blister of the foul. This sense of foreboding that drifted through the atmosphere and became one with the breeze.
A white SUV came flying up the road only to ram on its brakes, the windows on the front and back passenger side barely cracked as it slowed to a crawl.
But it was enough to see the barrel of the guns sticking out.
I dove onto Charleigh, pushing her off the backside. We hit the hard ground with a thud. A yelp of shock ripped out of her, and I could feel the confusion and panic radiate from her, though I kept her pinned, my weight fully on her, covering her with my body as the spray of bullets flew across the lot.
Bullets pinged and dust flew.
It was chaos and confusion and screams.
Panic ravaged my heart as I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to shield every inch of Charleigh.
To keep her safe.
It lasted for all of fifteen seconds before the dust cleared and the peeling of tires screeched on the road as the SUV raced away, though it was difficult to hear with the ringing in my ears from the gunshots and the loud roar of our bikes that still reverberated.
Or maybe I couldn’t hear over the rage that screamed in my brain and set fire to my veins. Couldn’t hear over the alarm and the fear. Couldn’t hear over the reckoning that was coming.
I scrambled back, searching Charleigh where she was on the unforgiving ground.
“Are you hit?” I gritted it through clenched teeth, and my hands were fuckin’ shaking as I ran them over her body. “Baby, are you hit?”
I didn’t know if she could understand me through my turmoil and the disorder that battered her senses. Her eyes were wide, and when I found no blood, I pulled her up against me, relief obliterating all reason.
“You’re okay. You’re okay.”
“River.” My name finally cracked, and she choked over a sob as the awareness of what had happened came raining down.
“Stay down,” I told her as I stood, and my hands were in fists as I took in the scene.
Trent and Jud climbed out of their SUV, guns drawn as they scanned through the dust and debris, ready to dive straight back into depravity.
It was in our blood. In our bones. Wasn’t sure any of us could eradicate who we were beneath it all.
“Is everyone okay?” I shouted.
A flashfire of fury burned through the middle of me.
Incinerating. Charring. Scarring.
“Everyone’s okay here,” Trent hollered.
“Get Eden and Salem to the motel,” I shouted back.
“You sure, brother?”
“Yeah. Go. Get them to safety.”
“Call if you need us.” Trent and Jud hopped back in, and they took off, peeling out of the parking lot.
Kane and Theo were still on their bikes, though Cash’s was tipped over and he was holding his leg.
“Fuck, Cash,” I roared, and I ran to his side. “You’re hit.”
“It’s nothin’. Someone get those bastards.”
