"Ash?" The voice on the other end was Zeke's.
I was immediately awake and sitting up in bed. That made Luke twitch, startling him out of sleep. He twisted partway over so he could see me, and there was nothing but confusion on his face. Beside him, Violet shoved her face deeper into the pillow. Like always, Cy was oblivious to the world.
"Yeah," I managed to croak out. "What the hell time is it?"
"I don't know," he admitted, "but it's early. Look, we're headed to the hospital."
"Wait. What? Why?" I couldn't get out all of my questions fast enough. "What the hell is going on, Zeke?"
The sound of the boy's name had Luke nudging Violet's shoulder. Then, he reached over to tap Cy's hip. All of that happened while Zeke kept going.
"If you'd shut up for a minute and listen to me, I'd tell you," Zeke snapped, making it clear just how stressed the kid was. "Someone snuck onto the property again this morning. They were throwing something through the windows of the cabins. Sounds like Sissy heard it and started freaking out, which woke up Darnell. He came outside to see what had the dog upset, saw a couple of guys down by the cabins, and went to chase them off. Except there were a few more than a couple."
"Is he hurt?" I asked, feeling my heart stall in my chest.
"Yeah, a bit," Zeke admitted. "Mom thinks he broke his arm. He's in the front seat, and I'd let you talk to him but he has to hold his arm still. Chartreuse is staying at Southwind, though."
"What the fuck is she thinking?" I demanded as I threw off the covers and got out of bed. "That means she's there alone!"
"Yeah, I know," Zeke agreed. "Darnell left her his gun, and I heard she came out of the house wielding that thing like she was some kind of sharpshooter. Some idiot decided to go pick a fight with more than one guy and didn't take his gun with him."
"Or pants," I heard Emily say in the distance. "Tell them I called Dan."
"Mom said to tell you that she called Dan," Zeke repeated. "I guess he's going to go over and wait with Cess. It's just that it's a long drive to the hospital, and I don't know how long it's gonna take Dan to get there. I mean, they were beating on Darnell bad."
"Jesus fucking Christ," Darnell said. "Hand me that. No, the other goddamn hand. Thanks, kid." There was rustling, and then Darnell's voice got a lot closer. "Who'm I talking to?"
"It's Magenta," I told him. "Darnell, how bad are you?"
"Yeah, pretty sure my left arm is broken in at least two places. Fucking hurts like a bitch, too. Worse than that, I got the whole lightheaded thing going on. Look, here's the real shit. Faith's little puppy has one helluva protective streak in her. She started growling and going off, and just wouldn't give up. I tried ignoring her, so she jumped up on the bed and started licking at me. Soon as I opened the door, she was through the living room and at the front door, barking and pawing it like crazy."
"So Emily and Zeke didn't hear anything?" I asked.
"Nah, the guys were smart enough to be up on our side of the cabins. So, at least there's that," he said. "Well, I stepped out on the front porch, thinking I was gonna see a deer or something, and heard the glass break. I was halfway down the hill before I realized it was more than one. I'm gonna guess that Sissy just kept going, because I barely had time to tell those idiots to get out of there before they were on me. I saw at least four, might've been five. Pretty damn sure I could pick them out of a lineup, too."
"How the hell did they break your arm?" I asked, aware that everyone in the room was already working to get dressed - including me.
"One of them had a tire iron. Pretty sure it's the same tire iron that was used on the front windshield of Violet's car. I also saw a can of spray paint on the ground. Can't promise there's not any graffiti out there. Anyway, they jumped me, my girl came out wielding that Glock like she's a badass, and then she popped off a shot into the ground just to make a point. I ain't never seen no damned white boys run that fast before in my life."
"Okay," I said, thinking quickly. "I can probably get our flight moved up, but we are at least five hours away. It's probably going to be longer than that. I want Zeke and Emily to stay with you, and have one of them call us when they find out what's going on with you."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I couldn't stop Zeke from calling if I tried." Darnell chuckled at that. "Only problem is that I'm gonna be worthless for a bit. Soon as I hit the ER, they're gonna jack me up on so many drugs that I won't remember my head from my asshole. I made sure to tell Cessily everything before we got in the car, so she has the facts. Ash, I just need you to take care of my girl, okay?"
"Promise," I swore to him. "I may not be able to get there fast, but I know someone who can. Do what the doctors say, Darnell. If you don't, then I'm turning Cy loose on you."
"Nah, I've already learned this lesson a few times in my life. I'm fucking sorry about the windows, Ash," he said. "We were ready to open, and they just had to screw it up. I'm pissed. Might hurt like a bitch, but still pissed."
I ended the call with him and then turned to repeat all of that to everyone in the room. I may have left out a little bit of Darnell's excessive cursing, but I couldn't blame the man. He'd only mentioned that his arm was broken, but he also said that he'd just been beat up by four to five guys. I was pretty sure he hurt all over, and I'd be surprised if his arm was the only thing that was injured.
Thankfully, we were the Shades of Trouble. We all knew what to do. Cy and Violet both went for their phones. Luke headed down the hall to wake up Faith and let her know that our weekend away was getting cut short. Then Cy called the hospital Darnell was headed to, gave them a brief update, then asked for the records to be sent to his office. He simply forgot to mention that his office was also where the attack had happened.
Violet called the airline to see how soon we could fly out. I had a feeling that phone call was going to last a while, so I took care of the last thing we needed. Scrolling through my contacts, I found one and pressed it. It was answered on the second ring.
"What the actual fuck?"
"Teal, Magenta," I said. "I don't care what you're doing and who's listening, I need you to get your ass up to Southwind. We are currently in New York and Crimson was just attacked. He's on his way to the hospital right now. Chartreuse is in that house all by herself. The cops in town are crooked, so if you have that FBI guy's name and number, you might want to give them a heads-up. Regardless of that, I just need to make sure that someone's up there with Cessily in case they try again."
From the moment I started talking, I could hear Shawn moving. As soon as I paused for breath, he spoke to someone else in the room. "Zoe. Hey, babe?" He paused for a second and started again. "Get in touch with Ruin for me, would you? I need to head up to far North Texas, and I'd like to have a few more hands with me. I don't even care who."
