He raises his voice, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Tonight is going to be interesting!” He draws the last word out.
Everyone claps and hoots, and when I meet Chase’s gaze, I see a promise burning in his dark, hollow eyes.
He’ll take my fight.
For life.
Idig my fingers into Laiken’s elbow, my gaze meeting Harlen’s, jerking my head toward the front door.
He pinches Jade’s arm, and when Jade flicks her blue eyes to his, then to mine, I tilt my head again, working through the rage locked at my jaw.
We needed to get out of here.
Laiken follows closely behind me into the entryway, and I pause when I feel a small set of fingers coil my wrist. Catching the door I just ripped open at my back, I spin and watch Laiken cast her gaze from one wall to the other, landing on Harlen when he and Jade step into the space. Her eyes stay there a moment before circling back to touch mine.
I force myself not to shiver when I see how dull they’d become.
“What are you doing?” she asks, her voice empty.
“Weare leaving,” I state a little too bluntly, and with a little too much emphasis on thewe.
I don’t wait for her to reply before turning and stepping through the open door.
But her next words hold me in place. They tighten around the column of my neck, reeling me back.
“I’m staying, Chase.”
I shake my head, chew through my annoyance at the inside of my cheek, sucking my next breath through my teeth.
“Laik, get your ass in the truck, you don’t need to be around this?—”
“Can you not do that,” she states coolly.
What the fuck was she talking about?
My nails bury into the flesh of my palms. I’m a millisecond away from hauling her ass over my shoulder and dragging her out.
“Do what?” I ask, and when she doesn’t reply, I turn to my sister for clarity, and the look in her eyes tells me to listen to her best friend, to really hear what she has to say. I don’t speak again until my mouth is near Laiken’s ear and my voice is a whisper, “Do what?”
She steps away.
“Treat me like I’m fragile, like I can’t handle this shit. I fucking hate that you do that, Chase.”
I scoff, turning, running my hands through my hair, aggressively sinking the pads of my fingers into my scalp. My jaw clenches, teeth grinding, tendons popping.Is that what she really thinks I think of her?
I choose not to push on that just yet.
I throw my arms out. “He can’t just say shit like that, and you stay around to accept it?—”
Laiken raises her voice and this time it shocks me.
“Yes, he can, Chase.” She starts to laugh, but the sound spilling from her is so sad and broken that it only spikes further rage through me.
“Not if he doesn’t have any teeth,” I mumble, and Harlen snorts a laugh, pulling himself onto the metal entry table.
Laiken’s face remains hard, and when she levels her gaze to mine, I can see her eyes are swimming in tears.
Silence presses between us until she speaks again.
