Page 22 of Kade

Logan growled, his restlessness snapping. “I don’t fucking care what you say—”

Every one of us readied ourselves. We all recognized the sound coming from my brother. The need for violence twisted inside of him too.

Neither of us was quite in control.

Stripes showed his teeth, moving to face off against Logan. I checked him, moving faster than him. Stepping intohispath, I made it look like he’d made the first move, not us.

He noted the positioning and his eyes jerked to mine. He was surprised.

We shared a look in that split second. We both got a read on the other and a week ago, our roles would’ve been reversed. This was his place of business. His territory. He had more men to back him up. Hell, he had all the power on his side, except I was on edge. I was the unknown in this situation, and I couldn’t make myself care that he was a killer.

Everything in me needed to feel someone’s blood.

He read that. Just like I read him, that he was aware in the moment, they’d win. He was also aware my name would bring a spotlight to this world that thrived only if it was in the dark.

He eased back, holding up a hand because his guys were about to throw down with ours. He raised his voice, speaking low and calm, but assertively, “We’re going to let ’em pass.”

“What?” one of the bikers snapped. “Stripes—”

He clipped out, “We don’t need to be on the evening news when an NFL Hall of Famer ends up in the hospital, breathing through a tube.”

I saw red. I was reacting as if that were a threat made.

A hand caught my arm and jerked me backward. Nate body-checked me, shoving me to the side. “Dude, get yourself undercontrol,” he hissed. “We’re here to get Maddy. That’s fucking it. Got it?”

I rubbed at my forehead, becausefuck. He was right. I already knew he was right.

Stripes began laughing.

“They’re both grieving,” Nate snapped at him. “Neither one is thinking clearly right now, but if we threw down, you’d be surprised at the end result. Believe me. I don’t know what the dynamic is between you and Channing, butI don’t care. We’re just going to get the kids.”

Stripes’s eyes were glittering, an eerie image of a cobra rising before an attack flashed in my mind, but he only moved aside. He held up a hand. “Like I said, let ’em through.”

As we passed, he’d switched to watching Channing. His gaze never left him.

Jesus fucking Christ. All that work just to step into a warehouse.

A wave of clear thinking doused the fight that’d been boiling inside of me once we moved farther away from the bikers. Nate was right. Get Maddy. Get home. Take my frustrations out at the gym. Keep my head clear. That’d always been the number one rule of surviving Fallen Crest. I half laughed to myself as we prowled through the crowd.Thathadn’t changed.

Heads turned our way. People stopped watching the fight as more recognition swept through the place. I heard my name spoken, along with Matteo’s.

Nate was right.

Get Maddy. Get out. Throwing down was not a good idea.

The bloodlust was calming down inside of me.

That was until we got to the other side of the warehouse and a scream ripped through the air.

It was Maddy.

9

SAMANTHA

“Ladies,” I said, taking the first bottle of wine and three glasses outside to the table on our patio. I filled the glasses to the absolute brim before Taylor brought out the second bottle, as well as a water for herself. She slid it over as she, Quincey, and Heather all sat.

I sat in my chair, but it felt like I more collapsed. All the kids were asleep. They’d been fed. They were content—for the next five minutes, at least. We needed to make the most of this. I held up my glass.

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