Page 192 of Steel

Give me an hour then you can send someone for me to North Ridge Hotel.

UNKNOWN

If I find a setup, my guy slits all their throats.

BAILEE

You’ll have me. No setup. Just leave them alone. Leave all of them alone.

UNKNOWN

You have 45 mins.

I nod, pushing the phone into my pocket, and shove through the writhing bodies around the common room. I don’t stop to talk to anyone but smile politely when they get my attention as I pass.

There’s going to be a prospect at the gate, so I can’t go that way. I’ll have to leave the car behind, which means it’ll take me longer to get where I’m going, but once I’m off club grounds, I should be able to get a rideshare out of here.

I’ve seen enough of the fence outside that I might be able to climb it as long as no one catches me. It’s just a matter of getting out there and to a spot where there’s no one patrolling. Considering how raging this party is, I doubt it will be too hard.

Only a few people are milling around in the darker part of the yard, so I sneak by them by pretending I’m not doing something I’m not supposed to.

After all, I’m on club property, so what’s going to happen?

The hardest part of scaling a fence is trying to not tear my stitches open, so I move slower than I initially want to. WhenI’m safely over with no signs of anyone catching on, I blow out a heavy breath.

Honestly, I’m surprised because I was sure they had security out here to let them know if they have a breach.

I take off walking down the darkened street, no longer worried about Killer attacking me out of nowhere. Why the hell would he when he gets me without a fight in just a bit anyway?

The calmness I feel inside scares the hell out of me. Or maybe it’s the emptiness that’s keeping everything else at bay.

Once I’m a good bit away from the clubhouse, I pull up the rideshare app and request a ride. I mention to the driver that I’ll be walking to meet them on their way, then I continue on my journey.

I keep my mind carefully blank because I know if I give myself time to break down over what’s happening, I’ll never be able to go through with this.

The driver meets me not long after, and then we’re on our way to the hotel. Since I won’t be staying the night, I don’t bother going in to get a room. I just wait under the front awning.

Glancing at the time on my phone, I realize I still have about thirty minutes, so I pull up Lena’s contact and hit the phone icon, lifting it to my ear.

She doesn’t answer, so when her voicemail clicks over, I leave a message.

“Hey, Lena,” I murmur, staring out into the darkened night. “I don’t know when you’re going to get this, but I just wanted to tell you a few things. I don’t know if you know it or not, but you saved me a lot when we were growing up. You were my safe space whenever Dad was in one of his moods. Do people have platonic soulmates? If so, you were mine. You’re not going to like what I’m doing, but I can’t let them have her. It was either me or her, and if there’s ever that choice, it’s always going to be me. A world without that beautiful little girl is just too hard tofathom. I’m strong. I’ve been through more hell than some, and I’d like to say I’ll come out of this one, but I don’t know, Lena. I’m not feeling it. I love you. Be sure to look after my brothers and sister.”

I didn’t even know I was crying until my screen becomes blurry as I try to find Emmy Lou’s contact.

“Hey, girl,” Emmy Lou answers.

“Hey. Got a minute?”

“Sure. Give me a sec.”

When she comes back on the line, I jump into it without warning. I explain what happened between me and Heather. How she’s back to trying to manipulate Steel, and how he’s obviously fallen for it. I let her know about the threats I got before my fight with Steel. Then, I tell her what my plan is.

“Stop. Just stop. There’s no way I’m letting you hand yourself over to him. Do you know what that will do to Steel and Lyric? Just give me time to come up with a plan. We’ll figure something out to take him out of the picture.”

“He threatened her,” I murmur, flicking a loose pebble away from me.

“Shit. Okay. Just . . . let me gather the troops, and we’ll figure it out. You hear me? Just give me a couple hours.”

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