Aching heart in my throat, I hurried to the door at the back of the shop and stepped out.
Praying I could act halfway normal as I came to the few bikers loitering at the back.
But I guess with everything going on, anxious appeared normal because they only gave me understanding juts of their chins as I headed toward the worn trail carved through the thicket that I used whenever I walked from the house to the shop or vice versa.
My spirit swirled and clashed and banged, and pain splintered through me with every step I took.
Unable to comprehend why Silas could commit this sort of treason against me.
I wanted to tear off my heels and run.
Run toward safety.
Toward my brother.
Toward Silas.
Torn in every direction.
Every urge made me feel like I would be ripped apart.
Nagging thoughts told me to go to Silas. To just lay it out and demand to know what was happening. Demand to know if it was all a game.
To know if every single thing between us was fake.
A blade drove right through my chest at that, and it nearly made me stumble over the uneven ground.
It wasn’t something I could even contemplate right then.
I needed one focus.
Warning Dereck.
I’d let myself crumble after that.
I made it to the densest part of the grove where I was completely concealed from the rest of the property, and I tossed my attention in every direction. Sure I was alone, I broke right and darted toward the fence line.
Praying I could get there without anyone noticing, or God forbid, one of those Crows waiting on the wall, ready to tear me to shreds then dance all over my grave.
I tried to keep my breaths controlled rather than expelling them like bricks, but it was nearly impossible.
The adrenaline mixing with the torment churned them into choked sobs.
My heels kept sinking into the soft earth, and the thorny brush scraped my legs, spiky limbs gripping on like they’d been grown for the sole purpose of deterring my actions.
But I wouldn’t be stopped.
I couldn’t be.
I had to find Dereck. Save him. I had to wonder if he’d even had his phone this whole time. If all my pleas had been met with silence because he’d never been given the chance to return them.
I slowed to a crawl when I finally made out the white stucco wall in the distance.
My nerves bucked like electric charges.
Trees grew right up against the barrier, and shrubs and vines crawled up over the sides and top.
I went covert as I slinked beneath the green, lush canopy.
