Page 61 of Property of Azrael

My stomach lurches at the thought. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you need to understand who we are. We aren’t like the bikers in your books. We kill real people, and we don’t think twice about it.”

I peer over at Azrael. Had he done that? Had he killed for me?

“Leave,” Asher barks out.

I narrow my eyes. “No. He needs me.”

“If you stay, you’ll die, or he’ll die trying to save you. This only ends one way.”

Fear courses through my body. Fear at his words. The attempt tonight should be proof enough that he’s not lying to me, but I didn’t know who they were aiming for. Was it me or him? Did it matter? Did any of this matter?

“You’ll be the death of each other, mark my words. Save yourself, and you’ll save him.”

I stare at him in the bed. The lines from the pumps cross his body as his chest rises and falls with ragged breaths. If we hadn’t gone out alone, or if I hadn’t insisted on it just being the two of us. If I hadn’t accepted that ride to Houston or brought him to the event. None of this would’ve happened without me as the catalyst.

Asher’s right. This is my fault. Azrael will die because of me.

I look at him one last time, putting his face to memory before I shove past Asher and run. I run until I can’t run anymore.

ASHER

She’s gone,away from my brother, exactly where she needs to be. The guilt of what I’ve done will be a distant memory in time. There had been one attempt on her life already, and it would only get worse if she stayed.

I move a chair closer to my brother’s bedside. Not long after Hallie’s departure, the doctor had come in.

“Your brother is very lucky. The bullet missed his heart by centimeters, but buried itself in his left lung. We were able to surgically remove it, but recovery is going to take some time. While he lost a lot of blood, we’re optimistic.”

Optimistic. The word I had clung to in the conversation. Az had to survive. I’d turned down the presidency when we formed our club, and I’m not prepared to take it over if the worst were to happen. The club needs him more than it needs me. If he died, the club would cease to exist, and the Hellions would win the war.

He can’t die. I won’t let him.

The idea of him dying seeps into my brain, but I shake it away, shoving it down into the inky, black depths where I kept all my memories of Kennedy’s death. A place I didn’t want to visit again soon.

He won’t end up like her. He can’t leave me too.

The hustle and bustle of the emergency room drowns out the thoughts in my head. Though Az had undergone surgery, the tiny hospital didn’t have a room for him. The only choice was to keep him in the ER until they could find a space for him.

My phone rings, snapping me out of my morose thoughts.

“Tell me you found the fuckers responsible for this,” I growl into the receiver, not even bothering to look at the caller.

“Not yet,” Orion replies. “Van and Fox are scouring the city. Called in a few favors to some friends in the area. They’re looking too.”

“And what the fuck are you doing exactly?”

“I’m outside the hospital, Asher. If you think I’m leaving the two of you unprotected with Az down, you’re fucking crazy. You’re acting president right now, and she’s with Az. The fucker would kill me if something happened to either of you.”

“She doesn’t matter,” I snarl. “Finding who did this is.”

“We’ll find them, Ash. Hallie gave Fox a good description of what to look for. We have Mindy hacking into camera systems around the area, trying to spot them,” he assures me. “My priority is you and Hallie. Fox and Van have this covered.”

I want to believe him. I want to believe these fuckers haven’t already left town, that they’ll answer for their transgressions against us, but there’s no guarantee. Hallie had been knocked out for God knows how long. They could be anywhere by now.

“How is she holding up?”

“Wouldn’t know. She’s not my problem.”

---