Page 28 of Shadow Bound

Isabeau raises a brow while mouthing, “Last time?”

I punched a state trooper, but whatever, he deserved it. Spent the night in a jail cell before my sister and some powerful lawyers Winslow hired got me out.

I ignore her question, my eyes darting to the rearview mirror where I can see Sawyer lying down in the back seat. He groaned in pain the whole ride down the mountain, the bumpy as hell road doing nothing to help him in his current state. “Not exactly.” I brace myself for what’s about to come. “I need you to fly down here to come pick up Sawyer. Don’t panic, but we got caught in an avalanche, and Sawyer’s pretty beat up. He needs to go home.”

“Anavalanche?” Remington says slowly. “And why,dear brother, were youanywherenear an avalanche?”

My gaze cuts to Isabeau before answering, “Long story, but Remington, I’m serious. I need you to get down here and I need you to bring Dr. V.”

“It’s that bad?”

“His arm is busted and needs to be reset. I thought I could do it, but I don’t think it’s a good idea anymore. The bone is sticking out of his skin.” I say the last bit as fast as possible to get it out of the way.

“Jesus Christ, Ransom!” Remi breathes. “Okay, I’m on it, but if we’re taking the plane you know what that means…”

Yeah… I know what it means. It’s the main reason I didn’t want to make this call. “Try to find a way to get herealone.”

“I’m going to have to tell Winnie, it’s technicallyherplane.”

Winslow and her hacker friend were able to steal the money her dad had in illegal overseas accounts and put it into hers. He was shady as hell and is currently someone’s bitch in federal prison, so it’s not like we feel bad about taking the money. He also treated Winslow like no parent ever should—honestly, he’s just lucky he’s not dead after Ranger learned what happened to her. The money is mostly being used to fund our mission to take down Sterling anyway. And Winslow, who was once homeless, donated millions of it to charities that help homeless youth. One of the things she bought with it was a small private plane to use in emergency events like these when flying commercial isn’t an option.

“That’s fine, Rem, just don’t tell anyone else anddo notlet anyone else come with you.” I’m not prepared to explain Isabeau’s presence to my whole damn family. “Promise me, Remington.”

There’s a long pause. “Fine, I promise. Anything else you need me to bring?”

An idea comes to me. “Yeah, bring some bags of blood.”

I feel her heavy stare and in my peripheral vision, see her body go rigid.

“He needs an infusion? Shit, how much blood did he lose?”

“I don’t know if he needs it, I want them here just in case,” I lie smoothly, causing Beau’s body to relax.

She might not need saving, but I’m not going to let her fucking starve.

He gave me a shirt.

And I looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language when he did it, but then again, I would have better luck understanding an entire conversation in Latin than acts of generosity. No one in my life has ever voluntarily helped me without expecting some kind of payment in return. When I looked at Ransom, trying to figure out what it would cost me if I took the T-shirt, I realized he didn’t want a damn thing. He was simply just trying to be nice.

People who are selfish make sense to me. The world is a rough place and if you don’t put yourself first, you’ll be swallowed alive and spit back out. I thought everyone was self-serving, but I’ve been proven wrong multiple times recently. First, when I saw Winslow and Ranger risk their lives to save a random baby. Then when Jax went back to save them even though he could’ve just as easily left them there. And then Ransom. I tried to kill his friend and I would have if he hadn’t stopped me. If I’d been in his position, I would have killed me in a heartbeat, not thinking twice about it. But instead, he held me until I gave up and the blinding bloodlust subsided. Why didn’t he just kill me? He had the perfect opportunity to do it too. He was right, I’m weak right now, it would have been easy for him.

But no, he stopped me from killing his friend and then offered me a T-shirt so I wouldn’t beuncomfortable. I’ve never experienced an act of…kindness?like this before. It’s making me more uncomfortable than being shirtless ever could have.

It’s finally clicking for me, that the Weylyn’s aren’t anything like the people I’m used to. They’re the good guys that Jax talked about with an almost dreamy look in his eyes. I understand how after spending time with them, he would want to be like them.Be good. That being said, while Jax’s hands aren’t clean, they’re not dripping in the amount of blood mine are. I don’t know how to touch something good without leaving a bloody handprint on it.

“Everyone I touch dies,” a six-year-old me whispered. The blade I held in my small hand still dripped with blood. The sound of the droplets hitting the concrete floor of the cell was the only sound I heard. The man who laid lifeless in front of me had been silenced by my own hand. “I don’t want to be like this anymore.”

“Why would you say something so stupid? You are perfection, Isabeau. The perfect predator. You’re doing exactly what you were made to do.” Nessa’s grip was painful when she gripped my shoulder as she eyed my handiwork. Her nails felt like claws in my skin, but I didn’t shy away. I embraced the pain until I couldn’t feel it anymore.

Sawyer moans in the back seat, pulling my attention back to the present. His good hand reaches over to hold on to the place where the bone is sticking out. Before he has a chance to touch the exposed bone, I’ve unbuckled myself from the seat and launched across the middle console. The car swerves as Ransom jerks around, presumably thinking I’m attacking his friend again.

“What are—” Ransom starts to ask but stops when he figures out what I’m doing.

My hand wraps around Sawyer’s good hand, pressing it against the leather of the seat. “Don’t touch it, you’ll only make it worse.”

Hunter green eyes collide with mine, dazed with pain as they struggle to focus on me. Realization settles over his classically handsome features. “You,” Sawyer utters. He obviously doesn’t remember the brief moment he woke up on the way down the mountain.

“Me.” I don’t release his wrist even though he’s not fighting me anymore. Unlike when I touch Ransom, there isn’t any electrical currents when I touch Sawyer. His skin is just warm against my palm.

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