Page 84 of Soulless Saint

“Kaleb,” my brother hissed, earning himself a little chirp from Kate as he grabbed me by the back of my shirt and hauled me to my feet. I twisted from his grip.

“What the hell, man?”

He inclined his head for me to follow him back to the edge of the room, and I suppressed a growl as I stormed after him. “What?”

“There’s a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“The kind that has Dad calling me at two in the morning. What the fuck do you think?”

My face pinched, and my piece weighed heavily in the back of my jeans as a bolt of unease drove up my spine. The Sons.

We didn’t know.

And they made their move.

“What happened?” I asked.

Hardin ran a flat palm over his mouth, his face a menagerie of fury and an unsettling amount of uncertainty. “I don’t know. He wasn’t exactly forthcoming, Kale. He said to get our asses back to SoCal. Now. We’re supposed to meet him at the house.”

Fuuuuuck.

I turned my attention back to Becca, who was currently being babied by her friend. Ava Jade brushed her long dark hair from her face and pressed the back of her palm against her pale forehead.

“I’m not leaving her,” I decided.

Hardin’s jaw flexed. “Agreed.”

At least we did on something.

I cleared my throat. “We have to peace,” I announced, hurrying back across the room. I lifted Becca’s clutch from the coffee table and slipped it into my back pocket. “We’ll drive her back to Santa Clarita. Make sure she gets tucked in.”

Hardin brushed past me, already lifting Becca from the couch, tucking her tight against his chest despite her muted protests.

“Wait, maybe she should stay,” Ava Jade argued.

Kate nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think she should be alone in the apartment right now. She can–”

“We’ve got her,” Hardin said, speaking for the second time in front of Becca and her roommates, surprising the hell out of me.

Ava Jade and Kate fell silent, but Toby returned to the living room and had to have his two cents. “We’re leaving soon anyway. Let us drive—”

“Look, Toby, I’ve got no beef with you or your roommate, but you’re high and she’s had two… whatever that is… in the last forty minutes. Neither of you should be driving. Not until you sober up a bit. We’ll get her back safe, and we’ll stay with her until you guys get back, yeah?”

I had no idea whether or not I could actually make that happen, depending on what kind of shit we were dealing with back home, but we’d figure it out once we were there. I just knew I wasn’t leaving her. Not in that condition.

“O-okay. If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

“Can you drive?” Hardin’s rumbling voice vibrated against my side and I fought for a sense of focus, of alertness that seemed just out of reach, making everything come through foggy and muddled. Like I was hearing through ears filled with cotton. Moving through mud. Trying to speak through a mouth thick with a numb tongue.

I did know one thing, though. I liked the feel of him. I liked the sound he made when he finally opened that beautiful mouth to speak.

I couldn’t remember why, but I was meant to be angry with him. I wanted to be. But every time I tried to latch onto those feelings, they slipped through my fingers like sand.

A small sound came from my throat, something like a moan or a whimper. I just wanted him to keep talking. For that rumbling voice to lull me back to sleep.

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