I park and get out, surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“Security detail.” He pushes off the car, moving to help me transfer my go bag to the escape vehicle. “You think the boys were going to leave you sitting out here alone? I’m your backup.”
“Rook, you don’t have to?—”
“Yeah, I do. They’re my brothers, and you’re—well, you’re theirs, which makes you family. And family doesn’t let family sit in parking lots alone when shit’s about to go down.”
Despite everything, I smile. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Thank me when we’re all driving away from this clusterfuck in one piece.” He settles against the hood of the escape vehicle, close enough to intervene if needed but far enough to give me space. “CJ’s got eyes on the house, I’ve got eyes on you, and we’re all connected on comms. If anything goes sideways, we extract fast and clean.”
“And if they don’t make it out?”
Rook’s expression hardens. “Then we make sureyoudo. That’s the deal. That’s what they made me promise.”
The radio crackles to life with CJ’s voice. “Rally point, check in.”
I pick up the radio. “Rally point. In position. Rook’s here.”
“Good. Maintain radio silence unless there’s an emergency. Clock’s ticking; party starts in fifteen.”
“Copy.”
I settle into the driver’s seat of the escape vehicle, door open, one foot on the ground. Rook takes position near the hood, phone in hand, tracking something—probably the police scanner or CJ’s updates.
“They’ll make it—Dredyn, Talon, Jasper. If anyone can pull this off, it’s them.”
“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
He finally meets my eyes. “Maybe I am. But I also believe it. They’ve got something worth fighting for—worth surviving for.”
“Me,” I whisper.
“You, each other, freedom. All of it.” He checks his phone again. “Seven p.m. Party’s starting.”
I can almost picture it—OCK house filling with people, music thumping, alcohol flowing, my three men, moving through the crowd, playing their parts, waiting for eight thirty.
Waiting for everything to explode.
I settle in to wait, watching the clock tick toward eight thirty. Toward the moment everything changes.
And I pray—to whatever god might be listening—that they all come back to me.
Because I don’t know how to be free without them.
And I don’t want to find out.
THIRTY-THREE
DREDYN
The party started fast. Word spread across campus about free alcohol and a legendary OCK rager, and students showed up in droves. The main floor is packed wall-to-wall with bodies.
I’m stationed near the front entrance, red Solo cup in hand, playing the role I’ve perfected over three years.
Dredyn Steele, OCK officer, life of the party.
Talon’s by the kegs, keeping them flowing, making sure everyone stays drunk and distracted. Jasper’s near the sound system, volume cranked.
