Page 121 of Praying for Thunder

“No. Hellion.”

I stepped out in front of the horse, facing Onus. “I’m here.”

He lifted a gun… and fired—

Gasping, I woke, finding myself surrounded by the black walls of my bedroom. A silver marker was in my hand. While I slept, I had drawn an eagle.

Holding the chest Onus just shot in my nightmare, I quietly cried out, “Rya.”

Tabi came to me, whispering, “You’re okay. You’re okay.”

My bedroom was dark. “Rya. He tried to kill her—”

Tabi laid a hand on my chest. “Not even in the state. She’s on the road. Safe.” She put the marker down on our dresser and then guided me back to bed.

We crawled in, together.

Trying to catch my breath, I laid back down. “Tab, if I die—”

Tabi lay her cheek on my bare chest. “I’ll protect her.”

It was a promise made, long ago.

“Thank you.” I kissed the top of her head. “Thank you.”

The bunkbed wobbled, notifying us Roam was moving above. He was even bigger now, easily leaning his upper body over the side. He held out his cell phone for us to see, while whispering, “Chubs is losing his shit.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, rushing out of bed behind Tabi.

Roam didn’t jump from the top bunk to the floor as usual. He climbed down to be quiet. “He’s sneaking someone in.”

“What?” Tabi and I both whisper-yelled while getting dressed.

It had already been a long, hard night. Roam and I weren’t allowed on a Titan run, but Chubs was. By the time he had returned, he had blood splatters on his shirt and cut. His eyes were manic as I stuck him in the shower, trying to learn what happened. He kept repeating, “Gotta find her.”

By the end of his shower, I thought I had calmed him. “We will. We’ll find them all.”

I had put him to bed in his room before marching into the Mess Hall, where Titans were downing beers as if needing to settle nerves. Accusingly, I asked, “What the fuck happened?”

Piercer threw a bottle at my head, but I ducked, as I had many times. But things were different now. And he needed to get on board. That’s why I came up swinging and attacking him, screaming, “I’m a fucking Titan! Throw that shit at me one more time.” I was no longer the little boy or skinny teenager, easily beaten. I was no longer a Prospect. Respect was mine to be had.

As we fought, hands were all over us, eventually pulling us apart.

With an arm around my chest from behind, I let Roam pull me backward while I screamed, “I’m a fucking Titan!”

Tabi slipped through men and pushed her body against my chest, trying to help back me away. “It’s over. It’s over.”

“You’re not a real Titan!” Piercer, bleeding from his nose, glared at Tabi and what protected her; a cut reading Property of Hellion.

Were Old Ladies to be sacred? Your forever or wife? Yes, but isn’t a life even more sacred? I’d sex with other club girls, but Piercer was taking his frustrations out on Tabi. He knew she had been my first, so had a special place. I had been too young to help Ani. That wasn’t going to happen again. So, even though my heart was Rya’s, true and true, my title belonged to Tabitha.

Dad laughed, handing Piercer another beer. “Can you stop wasting these?” He kept smiling, gesturing to the hallway behind me. “How is he?”

Still restraining me, Roam’s back was against the fridge, where I was letting Tabi hold me to. I answered, “Sleeping.”

“Good.” He guzzled a beer.

“What happened?” I asked again.