Page 6 of Make Them Cry
TWO
GAGE
River Quinn is going to be the death of me.
Not in the fun, flirty,death by temptationkind of way. No. This is a full-body, slow-cooked,watch her walk through hell and pretend you don’t carekind of death. The kind where she looks right at me and I have to fight every instinct I’ve got not to reach out andfixit.
Or fixthem.
The assholes.
The wolves in comment-section clothing. The ones who’ve spent the last two months turning her into some kind of bloodsport. Harassment. Threats. Doxxing attempts. Half the time, she doesn’t even know I’m watching it all unfold in real time from a dozen back channels. The other half, she pretends not to care.
I see the way she clutches her phone like a weapon and a lifeline. The way her laugh’s changed. It’s shorter, less spark. The way she sprints to the coffee machine like that last cup of dark roast will anchor her to something real.
So yeah. I let her catch me taking it.
It’s notjustto piss her off—though, sure, it’s a bonus. There’s something in her spark when she fights back. I want her mad, not scared. I want her eyes onme, not the shadows outside her window.
But today? That spark’s dim.
She still bites—“Choke on a scone,”like it’s foreplay, but her voice wavers. Not enough for anyone else to notice. But I notice.
I always noticeher.
I sip the coffee she clearly needs more than I do and retreat behind my screen like a coward. The act’s easier when I’m typing.
Still, I don’t code. Not right now.
I open a buried Discord tab.
GAGE:got a situation. you free?
Three dots. Then:
ARROW:River?
I freeze. Then lean back in my chair and stare at his response.
GAGE:…yeah.
ARROW:send me everything you’ve got. I’ll loop in Knight and Ozzy.
That’s all it takes. One yes.
Because a few months ago, we didn’t know we were capable of this. Ofbeingthis.
It started with Juno.
Arrow’s oldest friend. Sister to Arby Kate—the influencer murdered live on a goddamn livestream. We helped Juno track the men behind the masks.Found them.Exposed them. Arrow nearly got himself killed in the process. Now they’re together, best friends turned something closer than love, and the rest of us? We’re… still here.
Knight with his maps and field ops obsession.
Ozzy and his manic network pings.
Render with the camera and the haunted eyes.
Poe, the quirky one who never has a lot to say.
