Page 222 of Under an Endless Moon

Lying in that bed curled in his arms. Tucked to his chest.

And he prayed that she’d run. Get fully free of this life.

Fly.

He prepared himself for the gunshot.

Only there was suddenly a ton of them. Ringing out, pings and flying dirt.

Shouts and cries and chaos erupted.

Confusion bound, and Otto threw himself to the ground as a flurry of gunshots ricocheted. Coming from somewhere outside the fenced-in area.

A slew of shots were fired back.

And he could hear the stampeding of footsteps and the roar of motorcycles and the quiet of death.

Because when Otto finally hauled himself up onto his feet in the aftermath, when the dust had settled and the sound of sirens shouted in the distance, he was standing in the middle of four dead bodies.

Dusty, Zeke, Lane, and Decker.

Gideon, Brek, and Lye had escaped.

Otto searched the darkness beyond the fence for who was responsible.

Unsure of what he felt.

The opposing emotions that clashed and conflicted.

The hate. The thirst that remained unquenched. The resentment that he didn’t get to end the four who lay bleeding around him.

All mixed with a tiny spark of something bigger. A tiny glow beneath the moon that rained a murky, silvered haze from above.

The fact that he was alive.

SIXTY

OTTO

I pulledmy truck up to the curb in front of Sunrise to Sunset Café. A heavy sigh puffed from my nose as I shifted it into park and looked out the driver’s side window at Moonflower across the street.

The panes of glass glinted beneath the rays of the rising sun.

A beacon.

Blinding like the woman.

I killed the engine and grabbed the two to-go cups from Morning Dew Brewhouse.

Raven’s favorite.

And considering I had some groveling to do, I needed everything available in my arsenal.

River had taken off right after Raven had, not saying another word to me, though the spite in his expression had said everything he needed to.

I’d thrashed, wanting to go after Raven. Pick her up and hold her and wipe the hurt I’d inflicted from her gorgeous face.

I’d seen it, what my silence had done. But I’d been gripped by shame, my throat constricted and unable to give any defense as I’d stood guilty in front of my best friend.

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