Page 5 of Hold Me Before You Go

“Done.”

After ending the call, I dialed another number, knowing I needed to do this now.

“Grayson,” Mags greeted firmly. “You both on your way?”

My gut tightened, and I closed my eyes. How quickly things could change. Carrie and I were supposed to be on the road to Hallow Ranch by now, for Carrie’s protection. “Mags…”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he demanded, his voice suddenly cold.

“They got her,” I told him in a monotone. If I succumbed to my emotions with him on the phone, I might not survive. No one, not even he, would be able to pull me out of the rage.

“Say again?” he asked lowly, growling at the end.

“They took her while she was on an errand for work earlier this afternoon,” I explained.

I heard him curse, followed by a loud bang in the back ground. “Who? Who has her?” he barked, anger seeping from his voice now.

“Her dead husband’s lover,” I answered. “But the woman isn’t working alone. There’s another player.”

“You got a lead?”

“My team is doing all they can.”

Silence.

I looked at my lap, grinding my teeth. Minutes of silence stretched between us, both of us knowing there were no words in any language that could fix this. Nothing could provide me with comfort now, not until she was back in my arms.

“I’m coming to you.”

My head shot up, my eyes wide now. “Mags—”

“No,” he clipped, stopping my protest. “Stay in Astoria. I’ll be there by tonight and we can—”

“You aren’t leaving Hallow Ranch for me,” I snapped, sitting up. “Like fucking hell you are Mags.”

Mags hadn’t left Hallow Ranch in over a decade. It was his safe space, his home. I’d be damned if he was going to leave all that behind to help me. “Red Snake has this,” I told him.

“Red Snake won’t cross certain lines if needed,” he returned softly.

That wasn’t entirely true.Jake just crossed one for me, but there was no telling if the other men would. Not that I could blame them. Mags, though, wouldn’t just cross lines for me; he would obliterate them, sending him back to a place he didn’t need to be. He barely made it out the first time.

“I can’t ask you to do this for me, Mags,” I told him with a sigh.

“You aren’t askin’. I’m tellin.”

I couldn’t let him risk his happiness for me, his sanity. “Hold tight for now,” I ordered.

“Dammit, Gray—”

“Hayes is on his way up here,” I told him, cutting him off. “We’re getting more information from the local PD and then heading out. I appreciate the offer, but for right now, I needyou on standby. If things go south…” I trailed off, leaving the promise hanging in the air.

He finished it for me. “Things go south, you call in a code Reaper.”

The last time I called in that code, over a hundred people lost their souls. I looked back to the General Store, picturing Carrie fighting, needing me.

“You have my word,” I told Mags.

When he spoke again, it wasn’t my friend. It was the man from the war. “I’ll be waiting.”

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