shed my coat as we made it back to the main road so I was just in my matching pale blue sweatpants and top, the heat of Kyan and Blake’s bodies either side of me making me extra toastie. I threaded my fingers between Kyan’s as I thought about Deepthroat and all she’d done to him. She’d died in fear and that was something. But it would have been nice to have her alone somewhere for a while before handing her over to death.
I would never forgive the scar she’d left on him, and I hoped her end would help him move past the trauma of her attempted rape. He never spoke about it, but sometimes I wished he would. Sometimes I thought I should try harder to draw the depths of his pain out of him too. Because often bleeding was the only way to heal over the past. So I decided once the dust had settled on this day, I’d try again.
“So where’s the safe house?” I asked Saint.
“It’s – fuck, what now?” Saint snarled, his eyes glaring at something in the rear view mirror.
I wheeled around in my seat to look out the back window and saw a red Mercedes tearing up behind us, flashing their lights.
“That’s Danny’s car,” Blake said in surprise as he beeped the horn and Saint accelerated harder.
“Saint, pull over,” I instructed as I spotted Mila in the seat beside Danny, but Saint kept driving.
“Dude,” Blake growled. “It could be important.”
“The only important things in the world are in this car,” Saint said matter of factly, but as sweet as that was, he still needed to stop.
“Saint,” I demanded.
“I’m with the boss man, let’s not risk it,” Kyan said, yawning and leaning back against his seat like he was planning a nap.
“There’s no risk, it’s our friends,” I growled as Danny flashed his lights again and Mila waved anxiously at us. “Stop the car.”
“Just pull over, man,” Nash insisted and Saint growled in irritation.
I leaned forward between the seats, gripping Saint’s bicep and speaking in his ear. “Please.”
His jaw pulsed then he indicated off the road and parked up, putting the hazard lights on even though no one was around but us and our friends.
Blake opened the door and I hurried out after him as Danny pulled his car up his car behind us, excitement rushing through me. Mila spilled out of the vehicle, running toward us and my heart leapt as she wrapped her arms around me.
“I was so worried, girl,” she said, holding me tight. “Where the fuck have you been?”
“It’s a long story,” I said as I hugged her firmly, stepping back as she continued to grip my hands. Hell I’d missed her. And I hated that we had go. That our world was so messed up and there was no place for normality in it anymore.
“Yeah, and we can’t tell it. We don’t have long, we’ve gotta go,” Blake said seriously as Danny stepped out of the car and walked toward us with his brow furrowed in concern.
“Are you in trouble?” Mila asked in a whisper, squeezing my hands and I nodded, not wanting to lie to her. But there were so many things I couldn’t say for her own safety.
“We’re in deep shit,” I admitted. “But we’re gonna be okay. Saint has a plan.”
“Will you come back?” she asked anxiously.
I shared a sad look with Blake then shook my head. “I don’t think so,” I sighed.
Mila’s eyes swam with tears as she gazed at me and I felt my own eyes blurring too. She’d been a good friend to me. The only true girl friend I’d ever really had. And there was at least one thing I could do for her.
“Wait here,” I said, turning and jogging back to the car. I popped the trunk and Saint cursed colourfully as I opened the silver box holding the vaccines, taking out a bottle of the precious liquid and a couple of syringes, drawing up the doses they’d need. I locked the box up tight again, shutting the trunk and running back to Mila.
“Here.” I pressed them into her palm and she looked down at the syringes in confusion.
“What’s this?” she asked as Blake ran a hand through his hair, throwing an anxious glance back at Saint’s car.
“It’s a vaccine. A working vaccine for the Hades Virus,” I whispered, though there wasn’t a soul around for miles to hear us. I just knew how valuable this knowledge was.
Mila’s large eyes