Page 113 of Pretty Dark Vows
I look down, realizing that one side of my shirt is wet, stained with blood at the waist.Shit. When did that happen?
I can’t remember when a bullet might’ve hit me in the thick of everything, and I can’t even feel the pain of it now, my body too wired and high on adrenaline to register the wound.
Maddoc strides toward me, shoving his gun into the waistband of his pants as he grabs the hem of my shirt and yanks it upward. His jaw is tight, his lips pressed together, but when he gets a look at the bullet wound, relief passes over his features.
“It was just a graze,” he tells me. “Missed your vest, but missed everything else important too. You’ll be all right. Let’s get the fuck out of here. We’ll stitch you up back at the house.”
He turns away without another word, calling out to Logan and Dante, and I blink as I stare at the back of his head, trying to process the expression of raw fear I saw on his face before he realized I was all right.
Was he really that worried about me?
“What’s going on, Riley?” Chloe asks in a low voice, clutching my arm. “Who is that?”
“He’s, um, helping us,” I say, keeping my answer vague because she’s already freaked out, and telling her that the men who saved her are Reapers isn’t going to help with that one bit. “I’ll explain after we’re safe.”
“We’re not safe yet?” she whispers, shrinking in on herself.
Shit.
“No, we are,” I reassure her. “I mean, I think we are.”
Maddoc, Dante, and Logan are systematically checking out every inch of the warehouse. Logan’s doing something to one of the dead bodies that I’m guessing will play into his plan and Dante is gathering things—drugs or money, maybe—from another one.
There’s more to this plan, though, and I’ve still got a role to play.
“Come on,” I tell Chloe, not willing to be separated from her at all. “I need to help too.”
“Help do what?” she asks, stumbling after me and all but cutting off the circulation to my fingers with her tight grip on my hand.
“We’re going to keep Austin and his crew from coming after you again,” I tell her as we approach Logan.
“Riley.” His cool blue gaze finds me immediately, and he tilts his head toward the large duffel bag he brought with him.
I nod, hustling over to it with Chloe in tow. “Help me spread this,” I tell her, handing her one of the heavy red containers.
Her nose crinkles. “Gas?”
I shrug. It’s some kind of accelerant, and I didn’t ask for more details than that. Logan says it will get the job done, and that’s all that matters.
“Where?” Chloe asks as I lift up the other one.
“Everywhere.”
We’re going to burn the place down.
Chloe looks over at one of the dead bodies on the floor—a West Point guy, I think—and her eyes harden. “Okay.”
She heads away from him, spreading the harsh smelling liquid as she goes, and I move toward the big doors she came in through.
Headlights spear through the open loading dock, and I freeze, but then realize it’s probably Maddoc and Dante pulling the vehicle around so they can unload it. I don’t see either of them in the warehouse anymore, and the fact that Logan doesn’t flinch at the flash of light reassures me that it must be them.
I keep pouring out the accelerant, and a moment later, Maddoc and Dante enter through the open bay, carrying another body between them.
I look away, my stomach turning a little.
This is the one part of the plan I was never too sure about, but Logan promised me it’s important. And if it helps cover our tracks and keeps Chloe safe long-term, then it will be worth it.
The corpse that Maddoc and Dante brought in will match Chloe’s description closely enough that if Austin digs into what went wrong with the drop, he’ll assume she died here too.