Page 28 of Nocturne
I ball my hand into a fist. Blood rushes up, bitter taste crawling down my throat.
Hunter. Of course it’s gotta be him.
“You’re fucking kidding, right?” I say, can’t even hide the edge in my voice.
O’Connor ignores me. Steps forward, steady, with that tone that says there’s no damn room for arguing.
“The balance between the two gangs needs to be set. This mission might be the start of that, even if each side’s got its own shit to settle.”
Carter finishes up, not even looking my way:
“Loyalty stays with your own side. But if this truce’s gonna work, if anyone’s gonna take it seriously, each gang needs to be there. One of you from each side. Go there, find out what’s up, and be straight about everything that goes down.”
I stare them both down. Then I look at Hunter.
All I can think is this shit’s gonna blow up in our faces.
He catches my gaze and smirks from the corner of his mouth, that irritating smile that makes me wanna knock his teeth out.
“Chill, grump. I’m not gonna kill you on the way... unless you ask real nice.”
Son of a bitch.
CHAPTER 4
HUNTER
I speed through the streets, the wind slapping hard against my face, and one thought won’t fucking leave me alone: Damon’s getting too close, eyes full of blood, ready to uncover every last piece of the truth behind his brother’s murder. He’s on my tail like a fucking predator, getting closer every damn day, breaking through every wall I’ve tried to build between us.
I’m stuck in the crossfire of my own darkness, holding on to this truth that could burn everything to the ground—and still, I can’t get close enough to talk to him, to come clean. Fear, anger, silence... They lock me in a prison no one sees. And Damon, no matter how bad I want to reach him, is still a fuckin’ wall I don’t know how to break.
O’Connor had told me to keep an eye on Noah and Aiden that night. Noah was supposed to hand over a list, a fucking list of witnesses that could’ve buried Landon Steele for good. The leader of Midnight Echoes was about to be tried for a long-ass list of crimes, but that handoff changed everything. The list ended up in the wrong hands. The plan was simple: figure the fuck out what the hell was going on. Iron Requiem had set up an interception, but it all went to shit.
I was on sniper duty, lying flat on the damn roof of a rusted warehouse across the street, scope locked on the entrance of the junkyard where the exchange wassupposed to happen. And in a matter of minutes, all fuckin’ hell broke loose. Gunfire erupted out of nowhere — screams, smoke, bodies dropping between twisted metal and totaled cars. When I got down there, the ground was soaked in blood and spent shells. Bodies were scattered like trash between crushed vehicles, eyes open, glass shards in their skin, the air thick with smoke and gunpowder. That was the same night Damon’s parents died too.
My phone buzzed right at the exact moment Noah and Aiden were about to make the swap. Noah on one side, clutching that damn witness list. Names that talked too much. People who needed to disappear. Aiden on the other, frozen, a suitcase full of cash resting by his feet, the payment.
O’Connor’s message came cold, straight up: “Do it.”
And that’s how Noah died.
No hesitation. No drama. No mercy.
Another name crossed off.
Another body added to Iron Requiem’s tab.
And I was the damn invisible hand that pulled the trigger.
He never meant shit to me. No attachments. No second thoughts. Just another target. Another mission that reminds me who I am and who I belong to. I follow orders. I execute. Then I sleep like nothing happened.
What fucks me up, and that’s the only thing, is knowing what he was to Damon.
He was his brother. His family.
And now he’s gone too.
And it was me.
