“Oh, shit. Don’t stop the truck!” Ace yelled, staring at the growing crack on my window.

  “Annie, drive!” Nyx shouted when she had yet to move.

  The XL lurched forward, engine revving as it slowly gained speed. I stared at my window, wondering what the hell had caused the indent, and who.

  Another ping, this time hitting metal.

  “What is that, yo?” Trix asked, searching the windows.

  I couldn’t tell, either. It wasn’t bullets. It was…

  The driver’s side window shattered. There was a loud pop followed by a low yelp of pain and a spray of blood.

  “Annie?” I grabbed the handle on the ceiling as the truck swerved, still accelerating.

  “Shit,” Zane grumbled, grabbing for the steering wheel.

  Our bodies were jostled sharply left and then right as the XL zigzagged back and forth in both lanes.

  “Hold on!” Zane called back as we went off-road. The XL’s front end angled straight towards a telephone pole. Zane jerked the wheel again, missing a full-on impact but still unable to stop a portion from being clipped.

  There was a loud thwack as the plastic fender broke apart, headlight shattering with it.

  In the midst of this, Ace had crawled from the back of the truck to the front.

  “Keep holding the wheel!” he said to Zane, crawling over Annie.

  He braced a hand on the dashboard and hit the brake.

  The XL came to an abrupt, sliding halt, the momentum throwing our bodies forward. My heart galloped in my chest, mind honing in on the fact that Annie was hurt.

  “Dammit,” Nyx cursed, losing her hold on the side of the seats.

  Maliki stretched his seatbelt to the max to grab her waist before she could go sailing to the front of the truck. Zane let go of the steering wheel, shifting the truck into park, and then he was moving.

  Ace reared back, hitting the button on Annie’s seatbelt to release it as he did.

  “Get her on the floor,” Zane commanded.

  Cam moved from his seat and, together, he and Ace lifted Annie from the driver’s seat. Zane took her place.

  Nyx adjusted so that there was enough room to lay her body down.

  I stopped paying attention to what Zane was doing; the sputtering sound coming from Annie’s mouth had me moving on autopilot. I took off my seatbelt and got down on the floor beside her.

  As I took in her face, my stomach dropped and my heartbeat turned sluggish.

  “Annie?” I said her name but I wasn’t sure if it was aloud. “No, no.” I reached for her, stopping mid-way and letting my hand fall limply to my side.

  A long arrow stuck clean through her jaw, penetrating one cheek with the point sticking out the other.

  There was so much blood.

  It came from her nose, spewing over her lips as she coughed and choked on it.

  Her eyes…they met mine as she struggled to breathe around the very thing that flowed through her veins.

  “Fuck, I don’t know…I can’t…we can’t fix this, Addy,” Cam stressed, his own hands hovering over her injury with uncertainty.

  It took every bit of mental strength I had to slam down the denial so desperate to rise up and object.

  He was right.

  If we pulled this arrow out, we’d be ripping open a bigger hole in her face, doing unknown further damage, and we didn’t have anywhere to medically treat her. The first aid kit was a fucking joke when it came to something like this.

  I leaned in and kissed her temple. “I’m sorry. So sorry,” I whispered, fighting to control my emotions. I had never felt as helpless in my entire life as I did in that very moment.

  “Go get in the front seat, Addy. I’ll take care of it,” Nyx promised. Her voice was amazingly neutral.

  “What? Nyx, no, I’m staying with her.”

  She didn’t argue with me. Instead, she pulled her scythe blade from her jacket and positioned it at Annie’s carotid artery.

  I grabbed Annie’s hand and squeezed it, wanting her to know she wasn’t dying alone. She squeezed back as if to say she knew before closing her eyes.

  Nyx bent down, placed a kiss on her forehead, and then drew the blade across, severing the artery with no resistance, gently splitting open her flesh before doing the other side.

  It took seven seconds for her to become completely still.

  I think we both counted them down in our heads, watching someone we loved die, slowly fading away into nothing.

  The overwhelming smell of iron filled the car. Blood. The sight and smell of it had never once bothered me until now. Annie’s saturated the gray carpet. A few drops had made their way onto Nyx’s knuckles.

  Ace and Trix had pulled two of the fleece throws from the back and laid them over her.

  One covered her face, the other her body. Every time Zane hit a slight bump, her dead weight jostled.

  There had been no more arrows and there wasn’t any pursuit. Silence was filled with the consistent squeaking that now came from the front right fender.

  I wasn’t sure how long he drove before pulling over and stopping.

  “We need to ditch the truck,” he announced, cutting the engine. “It stands out well enough without squeaking and letting anyone within a two mile radius know we’re coming and, more importantly, we’re being tailed.”

  “Isn’t walking a sure way to expose ourselves? The road is all open,” Nyx replied.

  She was still doing a superb job keeping her shit together. We both were.

  Externally.

  “There’s a neighborhood right there. We find somewhere to regroup, and we throw them off.” He pointed to the left where an empty guard shack sat; beyond it were houses straight out of old magazines and billboard signs.

  “Them?” Ace questioned.

  “Copperfield is hours behind us. The Stags should be ahead of us, but I can’t think of anyone else who would be waiting around waiting to fire off a round of fucking arrows at a random truck just for shits and giggles.”

  I pulled my attention from the neighborhood and focused on his words. “That would mean they knew we were coming. Or we’ve been followed this whole time.”

  “Does it matter at this point? They’re fucking with us. They have been since this started.”

  “The way it’s looking now, we need to focus on getting to the rendezvous city, because something tells me our hardships haven’t even begun yet,” Maliki said, already preparing to get out of the truck.

  No one disputed his words. There wasn’t anything to argue.

  The Stags that had taken our family members already had a head start. Us stopping to rest and now this only put them closer to their destination and us behind.

  “What about Annie’s body?” Cam asked as Maliki opened the rear passenger door.

  Zane turned his head and looked back, glancing at me before staring at Annie.

  “We burn it.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Quattourdecim

  The smoke was already rising into the sky behind us.

  I took the lead, heading to the immediate right instead of going straight.

  The Stags were following us, there was no doubt in my mind about that. I’d keep that information to myself for now, until I had a better idea of what to do with it.

  My main goal at the moment was to get us somewhere where we could think for a minute, throw whoever was behind us off our trail because they were smart enough to follow a way back, but not far enough to lose us. This changed things.

  We trudged along, me searching for the perfect hideout house, the others all taking in the sights while lost in their own shit.

  Addy was a bit behind me, cradling her acolyte’s shotgun to her chest like it was a small child.

  She looked as gorgeous as she did the night she ran across my path. She wasn’t crying, and she didn’t look angry. If anything, she looked blank, which was worse. That meant something was brewing.

  I found no joy in this. In my mind, the only person—the only thing—ever allowed to hurt her in any way was me.

  I wasn’t going to waste either of our time with subliminal ass romantic antics. If my princess wanted romance, she could sit her pussy on my face and I’d write some poetry with my tongue.

  One of my biggest pet peeves was people who danced around what they really wanted.

  Life had always been kinder to me when I took what I desired and didn’t let anyone get in my way.

  Addy included.

  I didn’t wait the past five years to woo her and hope she might like me. She was going to love me, so that was irrelevant.

  It was only fair that she did after what she was doing to me.

  The way my thoughts had turned on themselves in the past twenty-four hours, I was doomed to fall as hard as I hated her.

  I could have fought it.

  I could have told myself I was a crazy fuck and it was starting to show again.

  But the way the thing in my chest sped up a little when I looked at her, the thought of possessing her entirely…No, this couldn’t be called insanity.

  Lust?

  A thrill?

  My obsession getting the best of me? Who fucking knew. All I knew was that I hadn’t felt any of this shit before. Scratch that; I didn’t feel much of anything until I had Addy right in front of me. She was the small piece of humanity I had lost when I was a kid.

  I shook my head and grinned.

  Demon was going to have a field day with this. Little shit had prophesied this happening the day he found out about me and Luce’s deal. I could hear his voice driving me up the goddamn wall about it now.

  I almost missed his ass already.

  He would back home soon, exactly where he belonged. There was no other outcome.

  “This reminds me of my old neighborhood. Manufactured pieces of shit,” Ace disclosed.

  “How did you end up out here?” Nyx asked.

  I hadn’t expected to hear her voice again—not so calm and normal, anyway. Like Addy, she had a neutral expression on her pretty face.

  I did expect her to be more torn up about having to mercy-kill her friend. Since she was the harvester of souls and whatnot, I supposed it was all just natural to her.

  “Dad kicked me and my older bro out of the house, said we were men and could take of ourselves.”

  “That’s some tough love shit,” Cam said.

  “He has us, now. He’s better off,” Maliki stated.

  “Yeah, it’s all good. I don’t miss the neighbors much, either,” he joked.

  “We can stop at the next cul-de sac,” I voiced a minute later. “We’ll be able to see the street and behind us.”

  “Some of these curtains have moved,” Trix pointed out.

  “I saw them. That just means we find a house that’s empty. Look at this place; shouldn’t be too hard to do.”

  The gated community was nothing like the exuberant area it could have been. An artificial lake now lime green was full of dead fish, the smell intensifying as the sun rose higher in the sky.

  Huge faux mansions with irrigated yards now swathed by barren dirt sat neglected.

  We turned onto a street named MullBerry, and I pointed to a cream colored house in the center.

  “Let’s try that one.”

  “Want me to check it out first?” Trix asked.

  “Yeah, just be careful.”

  “Always, Z.” She flashed me a smile and then broke into a jog.

  “There’s an old man staring from the top window of that white one,” Addy said quietly.

  I glanced at her, and then to the house in question.

  “He certainly isn’t being discreet about it,” Cam commented, giving the nosey fuck a finger wave.

  We laughed as the man damn near fell trying to get away from the window.

  Looking back to where Trix had gone, the front door swung open and she waved us onward.

  “Let’s go.”

  We closed the small distance between us and the house, filing inside.

  The place was nice, all open—like my house, with the exception of this one having an upper level.

  It was clean.

  The hardwood was polished, the throw pillows were nice and neat on the sofas, and a curio cabinet was still stocked with half-full bottles of liquor.

  “I think someone lives here,” Ace said.

  “No, they’re dead,” Nyx replied solemnly.

  “Yeah, they’re in the garage.” Trix hitched a thumb over her shoulder in the general direction. “They have a fresh generator running and the water works. It’s not warm, but it’s better than nothing.”

  “That’s my cue,” Addy said.

  “Want some help?” Cam asked.

  What did he just say?

  “The fuck if she does.”

  He looked at me with an amused ass grin on his face. “Calm down, killer. I meant with this.” He slipped the gear bag from his back and passed it to Addy.

  “Thanks, Cam,” she said softly.

  She looked at me, her gaze lingering just long enough for me to see everything I needed to.

  Something clicked between us, like two pieces of a puzzle finally coming together.

  I don’t think either of us knew right then what it was, but we both felt it.

  That was the first time I saw her look afraid.

  For a second I thought she was going to say something, but her eyes dropped and she turned away, making her way towards the stairs.

  He killed his family before he hung himself.

  ‘I’m sorry’ was written on the garage wall in orange crayon with a frown face at the end. I’d waited until Nyx disappeared to get cleaned up before checking it out.

  I was an asshole, but I wasn’t going to shove more death in her face.

  The man had used a bed sheet on himself.

  Due to the amount of blood coloring the blanket where a woman and two smaller bodies lay, I pictured this being a messy family affair.

  They couldn’t have been dead too long, either; the smell wasn’t to the unbearable point, whatever that may have been.

  I wasn’t one of the people who would ponder why he did it. Not everyone was strong enough to survive in this world, and sometimes those weak motherfuckers dragged everyone around them down, too.

  I shut the door and walked over to the dining area where Maliki was sitting with a glass of water in his hand. I took the chair opposite his.

  Ace was on one of the couches allowing Trix to brush out his shoulder-length hair.

  Cam had the map spread out in front of him on the floor.

  I turned my attention back to Maliki. “How are you holding up? We haven’t gotten to talk since this whole shit show started up.”

  He swallowed an ice cube and shook his head. “The bitch I thought I’d always be with is our nark. Feeling pretty shitty and stupid about that, Z. She lured our baby bro into a trap. She used me.”

  I wouldn’t refute his claim. I already had Gwen picked out as our nark—one of them, at least. It made sense and his next words proved why.

  “All those fights she picked so she could find an excuse to bitch and disappear….she’s dead, Z.”

  I wasn’t going to refute that, either. Disloyalty wasn’t tolerated. The bitch was going to die, but that wasn’t going to make him feel better right this moment.

  I wasn’t a relationship guru, but I had basic common sense and life experience. Betrayal burned, some deeper than others, but regardless of who did it or why, the shit could make a decent man flip the script and turn into a monster.

  “You take all the time you need to make things right with yourself, and then you’ll find another—someone a fuck of a lot better.”

  He nodded and took another sip of his water, glancing towards the staircase for the fifth time since I sat down.

  “Little Miss Death?” I questioned.

  “Who?” He glanced back at me. “You mean Nyx?”

  Bingo.

  I smirked.

  “Don’t give me that confident ass look, Z. She’s cool, that’s all.”

  “Malik, cool is what you said the first time you saw a pussy.”

  Trix snickered from the living area, letting us know she was eavesdropping.

  “She’s a down ass chick, she’s sexy as hell, too, but she’s one of them. And she has some deep issues.”

  I leaned forward and clasped my hands together, resting my elbows on the table. “You know what that all sounds like to me, Malik? Bullshit. You got issues, too. And one of them? My girl is one of them.”

  He shook his head, laughing quietly. “Just leave it, man. We both got too much shit to deal with.”

  He was holding back.

  Maliki knew me like the back of his hand, and vice versa. I’d drop it…for now.

  What about you? What’s the deal with you and Adelaide?”

  I shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

  “Try me.”

  I knew I could talk to Maliki about anything. He was more an extension of me than anything else, and that’s how Addy felt—like she was part of me already.

  I could feel her grief as if it were my own. I didn’t feel shit like this. “Can’t wrap my fucking head around it. I feel like something inside me was asleep, and whatever it is, it got woken up the other night.

  “It’s…primal. And…”

  I ran a hand through my hair, growing uncharacteristically frustrated.

  “Adelaide.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Cam, who was approaching with the map in his hand.

  “That’s all you need to know. It’s Adelaide.”

  I raised my brows at him. “That doesn’t make any fucking sense.”

  “It’s as simple as the sky being blue and the sun being hot. You two got a long ways to go yet. Stop trying to make sense of it and just let shit be.”

  I watched him spread the map across the table.

  “He knows,” Trix said without turning away from her task.

  “I figured it out before we even left Copperfield. I figured this was coming.”

  “Nothing to say about it?” I waited for him to tell me what everyone else did. I was a sick piece of shit like my father

  He sat down and his silver eyes met mine, showing nothing but something akin to mutual respect. “Nope. I know my girl. I don’t know you, but you’re not him. I won’t intervene in anyone’s personal relationships; just know I have no problem ever stepping in if she needs me.”