Page 66 of Haven

“I lo⁠—”

A single gunshot rang out on the other end of the line, followed by a body falling to the ground before the line went dead. I jerked instinctively as if the bullet hit me, too, my phone tumbling from my hand as my knees gave out. Widow caught me, pulling me to her chest as a sob was ripped from deep inside me. I tried calling my sister back, but it went straight to voicemail.

All three of them attempted to comfort me, but the air was stifling. There was commotion in the hallway, and I knew we would soon be flooded by the entire clubhouse, but I couldn’t process my emotions enough to care. I tried calling her again, to no avail.

“No, no, no!” I screamed. My fists pounded against Widow’s chest as hot tears streamed down my face. “She can’t be dead.”

“Breathe, phoenix.”

“Stop calling me that!” I hissed. “You need to find her!” She let me berate her with my fists until I collapsed completely into her, hand gripping her shirt, and sobs wreaking havoc through my body.

“You need to breathe, mariposa.”

“Fuck you! Go find my sister, dammit!” My breathing became more erratic as black dots danced across my vision. A high-pitched ringing blared in my ears, making the room spin as my vision narrowed to a pinhole. Breathe. Hades said something about me hyperventilating.

“Rory,” Hades whispered, “in and out, valkyrie.” The air became thick, and I was suffocating. My body was betraying me while the world around me continued to spin and as darkness closed around me. Widow tightened her grip, then everything went black.

Fifty-Seven

Widow

Rory collapsed in my arms, tears still streaming down her face. Her skin was red, blotchy, and streaks of mascara marred her cheeks. I knew how she felt. The moment I heard Cinder say those words, my breathing stopped. She told me what that phrase meant to the two of them.

Cinder was slumped over a bottle of Jack. She’s been looking for her sister for a year with no luck. Her mother took her the moment Cin turned eighteen, because she knew she wanted to adopt her and take her away from the toxic environment. She must be using her as a scapegoat for money or drugs.

“I was supposed to keep her safe,” Cinder whispered. “I knew I should have gone there and took her before she had the chance. I always thought the bitch would be too drunk or high.”

“You’ll find her, Cin.”

“My firefly is alone.”

Firefly. “You never told me why you called her that.”

“Growin’ up in Louisiana, we had a yard with woods and lightning bugs would come out. Aurora loved them. When my mom would do drugs or her current boyfriend would come over and be a dipshit, I asked her ‘wanna chase fireflies, firefly?’ when she needed to hide or go outside.”

“When you find her, she’ll know her light came back to her.”

“I hope she knows I didn’t choose to leave her.”

Every Viper heard it, but Rory felt it. I felt it. Cinder was dead. Fuck. There was a shadow of melancholy descending onto the clubhouse, but no one dared to utter a word. There were things that needed to be done, but that would be a problem for another time. First, I needed to get Rory into bed and let her sleep this off. Then I’d go find Melisa and tell her what had happened.

“Get her door open,” I told Haven. I needed to know if it was her fault or not. Cinder was dead, and here she was in Viper territory. It felt like an insult, but Rory would hate me if I killed her or sent her packing.

Haven followed my command, walking to her bed as I adjusted Rory in my arms. She was fidgeting in her sleep, fighting a demon I wished I could slay for her. Her nightmares had been bad when I returned home from prison, but she hadn’t had them in years. One night could ruin everything, and I already knew we had to get her therapist to the clubhouse ASAP. Rory was strong, but this would throw her over the edge.

Someone from her past did this. They took Cinder to hurt her, but why? What was the motive behind making her listen to that?

I walked out of her bedroom and into the main room of the foyer. “Boss.” Boss. I didn’t want to be the fucking boss. I was the sergeant at arms for a reason. I didn’t want this responsibility. Cinder had Mal.

“What?”

“What do you need from us? Cinder was a Viper. We aren't going to let her death be in vain,” Mal said.

My brows furrowed. “We will figure it out. Right now, I need everyone's focus to be on Rory and making sure we didn’t let a Devil spy into our clubhouse.” They nodded in agreement. “I’m…” Fuck, I didn’t know how to finish that sentence; what I wanted to say, what came next. But if I didn't get out of this clubhouse before my anger and grief got the better of me, things would go from pretty fucking bad to worse. “I’m going to see Melisa.”

I knew I had to see her, but not without clearing my head first. The last thing anyone needed was for me to go off on Melisa because of the emotions stirring in my chest. I messaged her and told her to meet me at the pier. She needed to be one of the first ones to know. Cinder’s loss was going to affect more than just the club, but the town, as well. She made a mark on our little coastal town, and she did it for Rory.

We wouldn’t survive this loss. This must have been how Cinder felt when she lost Diesel. Grief was complicated, something I had never experienced first-hand. I loved Diesel, but he wasn’t a father figure to me. It felt like I lost a boss or a coworker, but the rage in my chest knowing Cin was gone could make the whole cosmos explode. I wanted to fight, to scream, to make someone pay.