I glance back up at Colt like a fucking idiot but he’s too busy looking around for his own men to give a shit about me gaping at him like a fucking dumbass.
The sounds of guys getting closer filters through the woods and finally Colt looks up at me.
He lifts a finger to his lips to tell me to keep quiet and then jerks his head at me for me to run.
What the fuck is happening here?
When I don’t move he scowls at me, flinging his arm out in the direction of the river and then turning on his heel to stalk back up the hill.
“He’s shooting from the east! That way, asshole, go!” he shouts and the footsteps start to fade out.
He’s just led them away from finding me.
What the fuck is going on here?
I move slowly away from the creek and down towards where the road starts, keeping my ears peeled and trying not to fucking bleed everywhere.
I walk for at least an hour, feeling fucking useless except that my job here is to stay breathing and get my ass back up to the truck without getting my ass lit up. I’m no help fucking dead and now that I’ve met Colt Graves…
I need to speak to Rue about him.
Shit isn’t fucking right in the Graves house and how that affects Poe, I don’t know, but he needs to know about it.
I also need to get home to Angel and Trink and Keely. I need to keep watch over Speck until the asshole is up and walking again. I need to find out what the fuck is going on with Law and Lyn. I need to fucking finish the job of burning the rats out.
I guess I have a lot to live for these days.
When I get to the road, I turn around and start my way back up to the clearing, keeping to the trees and trying not to get too fucking frustrated at how slow this shit is.
When I finally make it up there I find Cole being patched up by King, Hellion cussing out the entire fucking universe, and Hawk looking fucking fried until he gets an eyeful of me.
“Thank the fucking lord, kid, your mother woulda skinned me alive.”
I scoff at him and clap him on the shoulder. “Good to know you care, old man. How the fuck did you lot get outta it alive?”
Hawk huffs and shrugs. “Cole went full fucking berserker and went after two of ‘em with nothing but his fucking knife. I dragged King and Hellion into the woods after you but when we found the dead Demon we knew you were at least fighting back. Good shot, kid. Cliff was a fucking good kill.”
I don’t even think about it, I just lie. “It was a lucky shot. So Cole took them on and what, killed them all himself? You guys just went on a fucking stroll through the woods?”
Hawk’s eyes narrow at me but at least he stops looking at me like I’m some fucking hero.
I can’t tell them I didn’t kill Cliff without telling them who did.
I’m covering for Rue so fucking hard right now, the asshole owes me.
Little does he fucking know it.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Angel
Rue escorts me into The Boulevard each night and stays with me there.
He’s having to split his time between the hospital and the strip club and I can see just how fucking stressed out it’s making him. He’s always polite and courteous, even in his own gruff way, but as the days go on he’s looking grumpier and grumpier.
Tomi messages me every day, right as he wakes up and when they stop to pass out. I don’t know where they’re going or what exactly it is that they’re doing but I know something hasn’t gone great when the general mood of the texts and the bikers at The Boulevard goes from tense to fucking malevolent.
I’m also not a dumbass.
I keep my mouth shut, follow all the rules, and work my ass off.
I spend way too much money on food now Rue is keeping tabs on my eating habits but when I wake up on the last night before Tomi comes home I finally take a minute to count every last dollar bill of my money.
I did it.
I hit the magic number I worked out, the amount I need to buy a house and pay for college with a healthy buffer.