Page 2 of Savior

“Well,” he said, puffing out his chest. “I think she wanted there to be more between us, but I just didn’t feel the same, and had to let her down gently. It’s obvious—”

At the sound of a loud pop, I jerked my head back toward the front of the building. Torch and Bear nodded to me before getting up, their hands already moving toward the holsters on their hips.

Molly gripped my arm so tightly that her manicured nails embedded in the skin. “Celia, do you think—”

“That someone’s starting their New Year’s fireworks early?” Kyle asked with a chuckle. “Yeah, I do. Doesn’t matter that the city has ordinances in place to prevent this very thing—”

Kyle began rattling off statistics, but I’d stopped listening. I stalked toward the doors, dragging Molly behind me, feeling as though I’d just gotten off a trampoline. My heart was lodged somewhere in my throat, and the ground felt foreign beneath my feet. Jamie’s newest prospect, Alex, met me halfway.

“Torch and Bear told me to keep an eye on you. They’re checkin’ it out, so we can—”

“No. I’m not going to sit here and act like everything’s fine. I’m going with them. Watch the girls.”

“Celia,” Molly begged, tightening her hold on me. “Just—we don’t know. It could’ve been some idiot setting off fireworks.”

It wasn’t.

I’d been around bikers long enough to know the sound of a gunshot when I heard one.

“It could be Pres caught the mole,” Alex added confidently. “We’ll just wait here and let him take care of it, okay?”

“You’ve got a lot to learn, kid,” I said flatly before pushing the door open. The hair on my arms instantly stood up, not at the sudden drop in temperature, but at the sight of Bear. He paced the parking lot; one hand tangled up in his dark brown hair while the other held a cell phone in a death grip against his ear.

“Jesus, fuck,” he groaned when he saw me. “Crossbones, get her the fuck away from this!”

I kicked my heels off and jogged toward him, scanning in between vehicles for Jamie. “Where is he?”

“Don’t take him to Eli—fuck! Listen to me!” He roared into the phone. “Jarvis, fuckin’ listen! We’re beyond that right now. Get him to the goddamn hospital—”

“C’mon, Celia,” Crossbones held his meaty hand out for me, but I shook my head.

“No. Tell me where he is. Tell me what happened.” My voice was quiet. Calm. As if a part of me already knew the answer.

I looked down at a large dark oil stain near Bear’s boots. It shimmered under the lights above the parking lot as if it was still fresh. A car leaking oil like that wouldn’t have gone very far, but the trail ended abruptly just feet from where he stood.

Crossbones’ fingers had just closed around my bicep when it dawned on me that I wasn’t looking at oil.

I was looking at blood.

Jamie’s blood.

“Fuck, they’re losing him! Torch, you and Angel get the girls.” He looked up. “Molly, thank Christ! Grab Wolverine and get her to the hospital. Crossbones, you follow. I want protection in place for every member of his family! Are we clear?”

White-hot heat flooded my veins, along with a sort of manic energy that left me feeling jittery.

It wasn’t possible.

He’d been wearing a vest.

Bear yelled something else into the phone, but all I could hear was the ringing in my ears like the screeching feedback from a microphone, drowning out everything else around me. I blinked, and Molly was by my side, leading me to her car.

“The girls?” I asked, the swirling emotions wrapping around my vocal cords, choking me.

“They’re safe with Torch and Angel. Zane’s with them too, okay?”

She clenched her jaw, wiping away the stray tears on her cheeks as she navigated away from the crowd of bikers in the parking lot, punching the accelerator once we reached the streets. I noticed as she expertly weaved in and out of the holiday traffic that she was keeping a close eye on the rearview mirror.

“Are we being followed?” I forced out through clenched teeth.

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