stared at him. At the curtain of hair that obscured his eyes. At the rigid line of his shoulders. At the sealed lips that once said—
“You and I would be a disaster together, Ember. You’d make me believe in forgiveness and hope, and I’d remind you there is none.”
There is no forgiveness.
“Hiro,” I whispered. “What did you do?”
“Baby, don’t listen to him,” Cassius said. “Ives is lying through his teeth.”
I barely heard him. “Hiro. Look at me and tell me you didn’t do this.
His head lifted slowly like every muscle in his neck fought him. Hiro trapped my gaze and I knew before he spoke.
“Ember... I’m so sorry.”
I would have dropped if Nolan wasn’t holding me up.
“You can’t be sorry.” Wetness collected in my eyes that I wouldn’t let fall. “Real men know seven letters don’t fix anything.”
“You see?” The triumph in Nolan’s voice was unmistakable. “They are the real monsters, Ember. Everything I did, it was only to stop them and the Horsemen from hurting anyone else.”
Nolan dropped the gun.
“You said you were saving that beating for the actual sack of garbage that jumped your brother, well, there he is. Don’t let me stop you.” Just like that, the hand holding me back was gone.
I lunged at him, screaming my rage and pain and so much more for everything he destroyed between us.
Hiro didn’t try to defend himself. We went down in a flailing heap.
“Why?!” I grabbed his collar and shook him, knocking his head on the floor. Hiro flopped limply, eyes dead. “Why did you do this?!”
Cassius pulled me off. “Em, stop! It can’t be true. Just give him a chance to explain. Hiro, tell her it’s a lie!”
In the confusion, Leo slinked away and bolted out of the door. His thundering footsteps faded down the hallway.
“She knows it’s true,” Nolan said. He sounded like his old self—calm, relaxed, self-assured. “This is what the Horsemen really are and it’s why they have to be stopped. As soon as I turned eighteen, I hired someone to track down Dante Gallo and take care of him, but he returned with the name Rio Cruz and the truth of the man I was dealing with. For weeks he gathered information on the gang and Rio’s weakness, and he found two.
“The son he keeps tucked away, grooming for the day he’ll take over, and the traitor among his men, setting the dominoes that will topple the Horsemen and free our town. Because it’s them that make this place hell on earth.”
“Argh!” Cassius swung me around. I was fighting furiously to get to Hiro. The long-haired boy stood there awaiting punishment.
“I’ve been helping him,” said Nolan. “Funding him. Rio Cruz is going to lose everything he cares about”—Nolan leveled the gun on Royal—“starting with his son.”
Royal! No!
I struggled with Cassius for an entirely different reason.
“Nolan, stop it!” Julian cried. “You’re not shooting anyone!”
“Listen to your friend,” Royal said. “You’d be wasting a bullet. Rio doesn’t care about me. Just look at me.” He put out his hands. “Look at what he turned his own son into. I’m a means to an end. A pawn. And if I’m gone, he’ll find someone else to take my place.” Royal stepped toward him, brimming with more fearlessness than a person should have. “You want to avenge your sister, I respect that. It’s exactly what you should do.”
“Royal!” I shrieked. What the hell was he saying?
“But this isn’t the way,” he continued. “You’ve got a gun and one traitor, Ives. Rio’s got a gang, cops in his pocket, another sixty years on his life, and witnesses who’ll tell him exactly who he’ll be hunting down for the rest of it.”
Nolan’s expression gave nothing away, though I prayed Royal was getting through to him.
“You won’t accomplish a thing by shooting me.”
Nolan shrugged. “Won’t know until I do.”
“No!”
“Nolan!”
A bang ripped through our screams.
Julian leaped in front of Royal. The bullet struck him, spinning him into his cousin, and both boys collapsed to the floor.
Cassius, Hiro, and I raced to them, screaming and shouting in an overlapping, unintelligible mess.
Julian was loudest of all. “Fuck!” he cried, clutching his shoulder. Blood oozed under his fingers, a growing stain on his shirt. “He shot me!”
“You’re going to be okay.” Royal pushed out from under him. I dove for him, feeling him over for a scratch. “I’m fine, Em.” He gently removed my hands. “You need to call an ambulance now and—”
Royal shot to his feet. “Where’s Ives?!”
I spun. Nolan was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t so much as hear his retreating footsteps.
He was gone.
“What’s going on up here!?”
Security broke onto the scene. The next half an hour was a whirlwind of questions, flashing lights, tears, hushed whispers, and my first hug from Uncle Harrison. He squeezed me to his chest—a more painful embrace than anything—as the party spilled out of the lobby.
“I can’t believe it,” he breathed. “Nolan Ives is a good kid from a good family. Why would he do this?”
Eli pushed between us and hugged me even tighter.
It took me a while to slip away from them and join Royal where he stood beside a tree, silent and alone as he watched the ambulance drive off with his cousin and crying aunt.
“Julian saved my life,” he said mildly.
“He did.”
“And Ives got away.”
That much was certain. Security searched the entire place and found nothing but the oil stain in the parking space where his car had been.
“What do we do?”
“Ives is coming for me and there’s a traitor among the Horsemen.” The flashing lights lit the night purple as we watched them go. “It’s war, Em. This means war.”
If you’d like to read the final book in the series, The End, click here.
The End
It doesn’t feel like the end.
It feels like all of my problems are just beginning.
There’s more happening in my town of Raven River than I knew.
More lies. More secrets. More pain.
Enemies seen and unseen are circling and not even my guardian angels can protect me.
There’s a war coming and I’ll fight because this time my Angels...
My Horsemen...
My loves...
...are the ones who need saving.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruby Vincent is a published author with many novels under her belt but now she's taking a fun foray into contemporary romance. She loves saucy heroines, bold alpha males, and weaving a tale where both get their happy ever after.