Page 58 of Heron's Flame

“Fucking Christ, brother. You need to wake the fuck up. Now!”

I blinked. For a few seconds, I couldn’t form thoughts through the throbbing ache in my skull. I winced as I touched the side of my head and felt a fucking lump.

“Rebel!” I shouted as it all came back, flooding my brain with anxiety, pain, and fury. I tried to rise to scramble to my feet and nearly face-planted.

Hawk pushed at my chest and held me upright. “You okay?”

No, I wasn’t fucking okay. “Hammerhead took Rebel.”

“We know,” Talon informed me. “When you didn’t come home an hour after your text, we came lookin’ for you. Good thing we did.”

So Rebel hadn’t been gone long. “We could still catch up to them. Let’s go!” I shouted, a bit unsteady as I shoved at Hawk’s hands and rushed to the door.

“As soon as we give you some fucking painkillers, bro. You look like shit.”

I flipped off Talon.

“Let’s move.”

Two hours later, fighting exhaustion and a headache, I still hadn’t found Rebel. Above me, flying in a desperate search, the crows looked for any sign of Hammerhead, the Grave Robbers MC, or my woman. They found nothing.

I finally pulled over, hands shaking as I struggled to remain in control. My body fought me to stay coherent and upright, but I couldn’t give up. I wouldn’t.

Rebel needed me.

“Heron, we should go back to The Roost.”

“I won’t stop searching for her,” I growled, hating that we weren’t making any progress.

How the fuck could she just disappear?

Talon rolled to a stop beside me. “Pres wants us back. STAT.”

Fuck.

Hawk ticked his head at the sky. “The crows will keep looking. We fill in Crow and form a plan.”

“We’ll find Rebel,” Talon assured me.

With a reluctant sigh, I gave in, but only because I wanted the entire club to help search, not just the three of us.

We returned to The Roost, and I parked my bike, rising off the seat when I saw Carrion. Something inside me snapped, and I threw down my helmet, stalking in his direction.

He didn’t move, staring me down. “Heron.”

“Don’t. You knew! You fucking knew this would happen!”

“Of course I did. That’s why I warned you.”

“You didn’t warn me about shit!” I shouted, shoving him in the chest.

The fucker barely budged. “You’re angry. I can understand that.”

“Oh, you can, huh? Understand this!” I lifted my fist, intending to punch him, but he caught it before I could reach his jaw.

The fuck? How did he move so fast and intercept it?

“I saw you, remember? I saw this whole fucking conversation and every fucking way it could have gone down. If you would calm your fucking ass down, I could explain more and help.”