Page 97 of Mortify

"Everly's in the hospital. Bleeding. The baby—" I can't finish.

"Go," Runes says immediately. "We've got this."

But Kraken's already beside me, face white. "What about my daughter?"

"Bleeding," I repeat. "Vail said—fuck, I don't know. We need to go."

For a moment, we just stare at each other.

All the anger, all the conflict, suddenly meaningless.

His daughter, my woman, our fear—that's all that matters now.

"I'm coming with you," he says.

I don't argue.

We're on our bikes in seconds, racing through the night.

The warehouse explodes into flames behind us, orange flames licking the sky, but I don't look back.

Don't care.

All I can think about is Everly in a hospital bed.

Bleeding.

Maybe losing the baby she's protected so fiercely.

The baby I claimed as mine.

"How bad?" Kraken's voice through the helmet comm.

"Don't know. Vail just said it's serious."

"Fuck." A pause. "She's strong. Like her mother.."

It's the first non-hostile thing he's said to me since finding out about us.

"Yeah," I agree. "She is."

"You love her." Not a question.

"More than anything."

"Good." His bike edges ahead. "Because if she loses this baby, she'll need that. Need you."

We hit a red light.

I blow through it without hesitation, Kraken right beside me.

Let the cops try to stop us.

"I shouldn't have been such a dick," Kraken says suddenly. "About you two."

"You were protecting her."

"No, I was being selfish. Wanted to keep her my little girl forever." He guns it around a slow-moving car. "But she hasn't been little for a long time."

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