Page 34 of Traitor

Except Bones.

He watches without a word as I'm dragged across the dirt lot, toward a blacked-out van parked at the edge of the compound.

A Crimson Riders patch glints in the daylight, sewn onto the jacket of the man waiting beside the open doors.

Jinx.

My lungs seize. Panic coils in my chest.

I dig my heels into the ground, a choked sound escaping my throat as I thrash against Joker's grip.

"No! No! Don't do this, please!"

Jinx grins. Smug. Sadistic. Fucking triumphant.

"Missed me, sweetheart?"

I jerk away from Joker, my nails clawing at his arms. I try to run, fight, something, anything.

But it doesn't matter.

He catches me, his fingers clamping around my jaw as he forces me to look at him.

"Shit, girl," he drawls, his breath hot, reeking of cigarettes. "You really thought we wouldn't take you back? Don't worry, your real family is eager to see you again."

My stomach churns.

Bones still doesn't move.

Still doesn't fucking speak.

I turn my head, desperate, my voice raw and wrecked as I plead with him.

"Bones, please! Please, don't let them take me! Don't let them do this!"

His jaw clenches.

But he doesn't stop it.

He never planned to stop it.

That's when I know I'm already dead.

Bones

I force myself to stand still, to hold my ground. I force myself to ignore the feeling crawling under my skin, the urge to move, to reach for her, to tear her away from this fucking nightmare.

Because traitors don't get saved.

Even when you love them.

Even when youstillfucking love them.

And as the van doors slam shut behind her, as the engine roars to life, as the woman I've spent the last eight months calling mine disappears into the distance, I finally let myself admit it.

I feel like I'm going to be sick.

Ely

---