Page 22 of Deadly Little Games

Another loud gunshot splinters my ears, and the guard falls to the ground. He killed him. Oh God. But why? Was it for me? My heart pounds harder and harder as Lucas turns his gaze on me, and he looks scary. His chest rises and falls, and I can’t move. I can’t breathe.

There’s a loud whistle over the tracks and I break eye contact to find Kai and a couple of members from 18 Hood surrounded by a bunch of people who have stepped out from the shadows and into the light. Bear and Zion flank Kai and look like they are ready for war.

Kai’s wearing a black oversized hoodie with their written logo on the front. He eyes me up and down before meeting my gaze. I press my lips together, and he nods.

“Let her the fuck go, or I won’t hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes. I don’t give a fuck about the consequences,” Kai growls, taking a step forward so his foot lands over the first track. He looks lethal, glaring at Lucas with his rifle in his hand, ready to fire if they make one wrong move.

Lucas laughs, shoving his gun into the front of his slacks. “Watch your fucking mouth. We’re the ones incharge here—not you. One wrong move, brother, and I’ll kill you all.”

Lucas reaches down, offering me his hand. Kai raises his weapon, finger on the trigger, and I’m ready to bolt, not wanting to be stuck in the middle of a shootout. Part of me wants to protect Lucas from them, and that confuses the fuck out of me. I should hate them. My family is on the other side of the tracks, not here. Not in Daringville—they abandoned us.

“I’m fine, Kai,” I say, and he nods but doesn’t lower his gun.

I take Lucas’s hand and let him pull me to my feet. He heads over to his car opening the back door and pulls out a black bag before passing it to me. I look inside finding my uniform and shoes.

“I’ll be seeing you real soon,” he says before grabbing the back of my neck and pulling me in for a heated kiss. Butterflies scatter through me and then it’s over. He pulls back and walks over to his car.

Pulling my black sneakers out of the bag, I step into them before walking across the tracks straight to Kai, who messes up my hair, his fingers getting caught in the wet tangles.

“You fucking scared us, Frey,” he says, hitting me in the arm. I shove him away playfully. “And tell me my eyesight is fucked because I swear I saw you kissing the enemy.”

“Yeah, you’re seeing shit,” I reply, having no idea what to say about that. He’s right, I did, and I have no idea how I feel about that.

“Hey, kid,” Zion says, scuffing up my hood, and I swat him away, laughing.

We don’t move until the guards disappear into their security box, carrying the corpse with them. Kai keeps hisarm over my shoulders as we walk through the streets. My wet hair clings to the back of my neck and the hood keeps me warm, but only just.

Music echoes through the streets, and they are full of life. A few people walk around with bottles in their hands, muttering to themselves, and others are huddled together talking smack.

“You weren’t really going to shoot them, were you?” I ask.

Bear scoffs, but doesn’t say a word. He hardly ever talks, and most people don’t understand his silence. They are afraid of it because they feel they have to fill in every moment of silence. But I find it refreshing, and if they’d been through what he has, then they’d understand.

“You know I’d start and finish a war for you,” Kai says, squeezing my shoulder, and I smile, believing every single word. He’s my ride-or-die, and I’d do the same for him.

“Now are we going to get fucked up or what?” Zion asks, picking up a rock from the ground and throwing it at a traffic sign.

“Yes, I need to forget tonight ever happened,” I reply, and Zion hollas into the sky.

It’s about to get messy.

If I hear one more tick from the clock in the diner, I’ll murder somebody.

My head’s throbbing, threatening to crack under the pressure, and I wouldn’t blame it if it did. One last area to clean before my shift’s over, and it couldn’t come quickly enough. The day has gone by painfully slowly, and I blame Zion for making me chug that wine from the cask. Thatpushed me over the edge. Bile threatens to come back up my throat at the thought of it. The taste of burned fruit lingers in my mouth.

The diner’s empty by the time I finish cleaning. I lock the door, leaving the key in the lockbox, and pull out my phone. My messages to Alec have gone unanswered, and I try not to worry. He’s a grown-ass guy, and he can take care of himself, but it doesn’t stop the churning in the pit of my stomach.

He missed another shift at the diner, and they are threatening to fire him. He needs this job, but apparently, he doesn’t seem to think so. He’s so caught up with this little drug operation that he’s throwing away everything else. I just hope he doesn’t get into trouble. Nothing good comes from getting involved with guys like that.

After pulling Gage’s hoodie out of my shoulder bag, I throw it over my head, lifting the hood up. I should have torched it the moment I got home, but I haven’t. It’s warm, and it’s the only jumper I have without holes in it. That’s the only reason why. Not because it belongs to him, and I can still smell his signature aftershave. No fucking way. I don’t do things like that when it comes to guys like him. Only desperate groupie bitches do. Fuck that.

I look around the empty parking lot, hoping to find my brother’s car, but he’s nowhere to be seen, yet again, and there’s a small part of me that hoped Lucas would be here. A really stupid, pathetic part of me. I don’t need anyone to come to my rescue—especially them.

I sigh, starting the walk home, the streetlights illuminating the empty parking lot.

My phone vibrates in my hand, and for a split second I pray it’s Alec, but Mia’s name appears over the screen. Ifrown, sliding it unlocked. Before I can even say hello, she rushes out, “Have you seen Alec?”

“No, why?” I don’t bother telling her he didn’t show up for work or that I’m worried about him. She’s one of them, and I don’t trust her. Never have.

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