Page 93 of Blood of Vengeance

I…didn’t know how to respond to that other than to say, “That’s so invasive.”

“It is, but his heart was in the right place. And one of the first things he said to me was he only looked for my info—he never opened any apps or went digging for stuff he shouldn’t have.” She shrugged, tugging me with her as we edged our way around a group of travelers spilling out into the walkway. “He snooped, but not too much. Plus, his snooping brought me here.”

“So the end justifies the means?”

“No. But love makes you stupid, and sometimes that stupidity needs to be forgiven because the intentions behind it were so good. Now come on, they’ll shut the doors on us if we don’t hurry.”

My best friend grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her, leading the way to the plane that would take us to Detroit. The place we should have thought of as home but I didn’t know if I ever would again.

I had a feeling my heart knew that home was in the desert.

Or wherever my taciturn wolf shifter happened to be.

But Zella needed medical attention from people who could help her, which meant that had to be my priority.

Thirty-One

Flinch

My world became a very dark place without Locklyn in it. Everything kept moving on, but I didn’t have a single fuck to give about any of it. Even my brothers—my fellow Desert Hellions—couldn’t pull me out of my misery. Though they tried.

“Yo, Flinch.”

I turned on my seat at the bar to look over at Ridge, our road captain and all-around asshole of the club. “Yeah?”

“If you’re going to pout like a baby, at least do it while getting some titty milk. Come suck on these.” Ridge grabbed one of the women who hung around and pulled her top down, baring her breasts as she laughed at his antics. I scowled and turned my back to them, not at all interested. I wouldn’t even have been at the clubhouse had it not been mandatory. Cutter was being voted in today. Finally and officially. And the man had the votes—there was no worry to be had with that. After how he had handled the vamp attack and knowing Chiggy’s murderer had been destroyed, the entire club stood solidly behind him. Everything at this point was a formality.

“Hey, man.” Rush slid onto the seat beside me, motioning to Billy for a beer. “How you doing?”

I raised my own beer to my lips, pausing before slugging it back to say, “Life is fucking perfect, my dude.”

A lie and he knew it, but what was I supposed to say?

Rush whispered a thanks to Billy when he received his beer then sat silent for far longer than I had expected. His energy wasn’t calm, though. The man almost seemed to be hyping himself up for something. I had a feeling I knew what it was, too.

“Ask me,” I said, turning in my seat just enough to face him. “Whatever it is, just fucking ask me.”

Rush frowned then sighed. “I liked her too, you know? Not how you did, but I thought of her as a friend. I just wanted to know if you’ve talked to her and how she’s doing.” He picked at the label on his beer, refusing to look me in the face as he quietly said, “I’ve been worried.”

Yeah, everyone had. Locklyn had somehow infiltrated our little club with her wit and her heart. People had stopped asking me about her after I’d kicked Zed in the chest for doing it on week two of her being gone, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that anyone was still wondering. Rush had taken a risk asking me about her. The least I could do was respond.

“I don’t actually know how she’s doing.”

“You haven’t talked to her?”

“Talked, no. Texted, yes.” I sighed and stared down at the bar top. “She won’t answer my calls.”

Rush grunted, acknowledging my statement. He then sat quietly again, his energy calmer but still putting me on edge.

Finally, he slammed his beer down and nodded as if having decided.

“Look, I’m a fucking idiot when it comes to women. I am fully aware of that. But it seems to me that she loved you. No, not past tense—she loves you. You hit a bump in the road, but the love was there. It’s like you had a good bike. A great one, really. But something happened and you had to lay it down. Are you going to never ride the bike again just because it got a few scratches? Fucking no. You’re going to throw money and time at the problem to fix it the best you can because it’s surface shit. The good ride is deeper and is still there. You hear me?”

Oh, I had heard every word. I didn’t fucking understand it, really, but I had heard it. “Yeah. I hear you.”

“So there you go.” He threw a twenty on the counter for Billy and rose from his seat. “Go get your girl. Fuck this whole needing-space thing. Space is overrated.”

I didn’t want to say he was wrong, but I also couldn’t fully accept that he was right. Not yet. But his words had filled me with something so close to hope, I couldn’t turn away from it.

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