I aim my gun at his chest and he freezes, his face a masterpiece of disbelief. "Are you fucking serious? You kidnapped me because my fucking brother lied to your omega?"
"And?" I challenge. "You've clearly never been in a complicated relationship."
"Plague doesn't do feelings," Whiskey calls up helpfully, his voice strained and followed by a wheeze like Nikolai just punched him in the gut.
Plague's glare could strip paint but he doesn't take his eyes off me, that knife still clutched in his grasp, ready to throw even if I've clearly got the advantage at the moment. "Whose side are you on?"
Whiskey grins, unrepentant. "Yours, love. Always. But you're still emotionally..."
"Constipated?" I suggest.
I can see Whiskey's fingers snap in the air just over the edge of the drop off. "Yes! That's the word."
"This is fucking unbelievable," Plague mutters, looking like he's questioning every life choice that led him to this moment. "This is by far the most reckless, harebrained, pointless endeavor I've ever?—"
A roar cuts through his words. Bestial, furious, and achingly familiar. It echoes off the canyon walls, primal rage given voice.
Knight.
My heart leaps even as concern floods through me. He's alive. Of course he is. Nothing short of complete obliteration could stop him. And that means he'll be coming for Cosima, even if he has to tear the world apart to do it.
Even if he has to go through all of us.
Chapter 27
GEO
The dumbass kid'sstill on the train.
I hit the ground hard, sand spraying up around me as I roll to absorb the impact. My knee screams in protest. That bastard Plague's knife wound is going to be a problem. But I'm already spinning around, watching the train barrel past us with that golden-haired idiot still inside.
"You little—" The words die in my throat as the reality slams into me harder than the landing.
Raven didn't jump.
The stubborn, reckless, beautiful fucking moron stayed on that death trap with Knight and whatever other psychopaths are tearing it apart from the inside. My hands clench into fists, nails digging into my palms hard enough to draw blood.
"What the fuck is he thinking?" I snarl, taking a step toward the rapidly disappearing train, ignoring the way my knee screams. The rational part of my brain knows it's pointless—I can't catcha fucking train on foot—but rational thought isn't exactly driving the bus right now.
Nikolai lands nearby with obnoxious grace for someone his size, Cosima cradled against his chest. Even in the middle of this clusterfuck, he manages to shield her from the worst of the impact, taking the brunt on his own body. The sight of her still unconscious form, silver hair spilling over his arms, makes something twist in my gut.
She's out cold because of me. Because I used my bark on her like she was just another thug who needed putting in line. The memory of her fighting against my command, those seconds of resistance that no one else has ever managed, plays on repeat in my head. She's physically safer for it, but there's no telling if that was enough to topple the already fragile house of cards that is her psyche.
But I can't think about that now. Not when?—
The explosion tears through the air like the world ending.
And for all I know, a part of mine has.
One second the train is there, metal screaming against the tracks as it tilts dangerously. The next, the bulky Ghost alpha on a white horse of all things is firing another rocket from the launcher on his shoulder. A massive fireball erupts from somewhere near the middle cars, right where I know Raven is, the force of it visible even from here. The sound hits a heartbeat later, a bone-deep rumble that shakes the ground beneath my feet.
"RAVEN!"
The name rips from my throat, raw and desperate in a way I haven't heard from myself in years. Maybe ever. I'm already moving, feet pounding against the sand as I sprint toward the inferno.
He was in there. My boy was in that fucking metal coffin when it?—
A strong hand closes around my arm, jerking me to a stop so hard I nearly dislocate my shoulder. I spin, ready to tear whoever it is apart with my bare hands, and find myself face to face with Nikolai.
