Page 128 of Wicked Ends
“It’s time you picked on someone your own size.” I dragged him toward the house. “If it hurts, just remember—this is for Ari.”
Arianna
We pulledoff the highway and into the town of Saguenay after midnight. I was so nervous now, I couldn’t calm down. That phone call was going to haunt me forever. Marcus’ teasing tone contrasted with his grunt of pain would never leave my memory. Had he been really hurt? What if he’d been stabbed, or pushed, or strangled? I couldn’t stop imagining horrible things happening to him, Claire, or Lulu.
“Shit, we’re almost out of gas. Let’s fill up before we run out.” Sally drove into the lone gas station in sight.
It was a small place by the road, with a single bulb illuminating the pump and an old guy asleep behind the counter. Sally pumped the gas, and I stared at my phone and wished Marcus would call me. I needed to hear his voice. Sally had tried calling Gage and Maddox, but they weren’t answering either.
Sally went inside to pay, refusing the money I held out to her. I went to the edge of the gas station and looked along the road towards our destination. What would we find there?
A low gunning sound rolled along the street, seeming to answer my question.
In the distance, appearing over the top of a hill, a headlight appeared.
A motorcycle.
“Sally!” I called.
She came out of the gas station and followed my gaze.
“Who is it?” Sally asked, joining me at the side of the road.
I couldn’t answer. I didn’t have the words. If it was one of the Hounds, then we’d missed the showdown. Whatever had happened, had already happened.
I stepped out onto the road. The motorcycle approached and slowed to a stop in front of us. Two figures sat on the bike. The first thing I registered was that the driver wasn’t Marcus. It was Maddox. The second was the slow recognition of the woman on the back. She tugged a spare helmet off her head and handed it to Maddox, then stared right at me.
“Claire!”
She looked different. I hadn’t seen my sister-in-law in months, and the contrast to the last time I’d seen her was shocking. She’d gained much-needed weight. Her face was full and healthy. Her hair was short, and black now, instead of blonde. If she’d had sunglasses on and we passed on the street, I might not have recognized her.
“Arianna?” she called back.
And then I was running.
I grabbed her when I got close enough, and we embraced. She was hot, her skin burning against mine. I eased back and studied her face closely now. She had bruising along her jaw and under her chin. A big, dark handprint around her neck.
“I was so scared they wouldn’t get there in time,” I said.
Claire nodded. “They got there. They got there just in time.”
I hugged her again before withdrawing. “Lulu?”
Worry flashed over Claire’s beautiful features. “We left at the same time, but we couldn’t fit together on the bike.”
She turned to check back the way she’d come. Another headlight appeared, and then another. The road slowly filled with floating headlights, and the rumble of engines filled the air.
The leader of the pack drew up right in front of me. I made out Marcus immediately, and the small figure sitting in front of him, with a huge helmet on. Claire was right at my side as we ran toward him.
“Lulu!” Claire grabbed her little girl off the bike and hugged her hard.
I carefully took the helmet off her head and feasted my eyes on my niece.
“Auntie Arianna?” Lulu asked, turning her big eyes to me. “Auntie Arianna!” she cried out when she was sure that it was me.
“Hello, honey.”
She pressed herself close to me, and I hugged her as hard as I dared to.
