Page 185 of Bend

I turn.

She’s crying so hard her whole face has gone blotchy, tears stuck to her lashes and running unchecked down her cheeks. One hand is pressed flat against her chest like she can physically hold herself together if she pushes hard enough, and Sayshen is still close behind her, watching me like he doesn’t know whether to step in.

“Thorne, please,” she says, voice trembling. “Just... please.”

For one second, all the anger drains out of me and there’s just her.

Her shaking shoulders and red eyes.

The way she looks as fucking ruined as I feel.

Then Draygon moves.

He crosses the space without saying anything and wraps both arms around her from behind, pulling her back against his chest. Echo folds into him almost immediately, one of her hands catching at his forearm while he lowers his head beside hers.

“I’ve got you,” he murmurs.

Her face crumples harder and I look away before that finishes me off completely.

When I turn back to Andre, the anger is worse.

Seeing Echo like that has ripped whatever control I had left clean out of me. She’s shaking in Draygon’s arms, crying so hard she can barely get a breath in, and every protective instinct in me is screaming for somewhere to put the blame.

Andre is the easiest target.

My jaw locks.

“I could’ve checked on him,” I say, voice rough. “I could’ve got to him. I could’ve at least been there.”

Andre’s expression tightens. “Thorne—”

“No, mate.” I step closer, fists curling at my sides. “You don’t get to stand there and tell me there was nothing I could’ve done when you never even let me fucking try.”

The hurt under the anger makes my voice crack, and that only pisses me off more.

“I was right there.”

My chest pulls tight.

“And you made me ride away.”

“You couldn’t safely turn around.”

“Fuck safely.”

Andre’s eyes harden. “Thorne.”

“No, fuck that.” I step closer.

“I wasn’t going to let you get yourself killed trying to reach him.”

“I don’t fucking care!”

The words rip out of me so loud people nearby turn.

“I don’t care if I had to dump the bike and fucking run. Fuck what could’ve happened to me. He was there, alone!”

My throat closes around the last few words.