Page 190 of Bend

That’s what finally kills the fight.

Not Andre or Draygon.

Her.

Echo standing between us, absolutely fucking shattered, begging the two of us not to make this worse.

My hands fall to my sides.

Draygon releases a breath and steps back.

Echo looks between us, tears still spilling down her cheeks. “I can’t lose anyone else today.”

Fuck.

Whatever fight I had left dies right there.

Draygon reaches for her first, pulling her against his chest, and she folds into him like she’s finally run out of strength to keep herself upright.

For a second, I just stand there watching them.

Then Echo reaches one trembling hand toward me, and that fucking finishes me.

I cross the space and let her pull me in, one arm wrapping around her while Draygon keeps hold of us both. Nobody says anything. There isn’t anything left to say.

Wolfe should be here.

He should be taking the piss out of how fucking dramatic we look, wedging himself into the middle because apparently personal space has never applied to him.

Instead, there’s just the three of us holding onto each other where there should’ve been four.

I bury my face against Echo’s hair and close my eyes.

For the first time since my helmet hit the ground, I stop fighting it.

But fuck, does it hurt.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Echo

Two days later, I still feel like I’m standing between two transporters with Thorne’s arms around me and Draygon holding us both together because none of us knew what the fuck else to do.

Everything after that comes back in pieces.

Andre talking to officials with one hand pressed to the back of his neck, his voice clipped and hard because if he stopped sounding like the person in charge, I think he might’ve come apart with the rest of us.

Talon disappeared somewhere with Sayshen and came back looking furious enough to put his fist through concrete, while Sayshen looked hollowed out beside him. Bex stayed close to both of them, not trying to fix it, just making sure neither brother had to stand there alone with it.

Reign paced until Lena caught him and held on. His grief had teeth too, all clenched jaw and restless hands and nowhere to put any of it.

Revel sat on the floor with Cece beside him, so quiet I barely recognized him. She stayed tucked against his side while he stared at nothing, and that might’ve been the worst part because Revel always had something to say.

Some stupid comment, or inappropriate joke. Anything to fill the silence, but not then.

Draygon put a bottle of water in my hand and stood there until I drank it, his own anger sitting just beneath the surface while he focused on the one thing he could control.

That was all any of us were doing, really. Grabbing onto whatever small thing kept us from completely losing it.