Page 249 of Entangled

“Ah, crap. Damn it, Jada. I was going to break it to him gently.”

“Jayk, are you good?”

Adrenaline is thumping through my blood. I storm toward the house, where I’ve stored my kit and my gun. She’s not leaving with them. She’s sure as fuck not getting within grabbing length of the Sinners. I told her I’d protect her.

My vision’s a red haze, and the next thing I know, my gun is in my hands. Forget my kit. Bag, rations packs, ammo, and I’m out.

She wants to be prey?

This hunt will be more than she bargained for.

“Jayk, wait. Stop.” A small hand yanks at my shirt.

“Get off me, kid.” I move toward the kitchen, but she digs her heels in, and it just means I’m dragging her along the polished floorboards.

I stop and glare down at her, and her puppy face is scrunched and defiant. I try to shake her off, and her one-handed grip tightens.

Then she thrusts something toward my face.

“Just read this first. She gave it to me, and I was meant to give it to you today—or whenever you realized she’d left.” Kasey rolls her eyes. “Seriously, you’re kind of a shitty boyfriend, you know that? Who doesn’t realize their girlfriend is missing for two days?”

I stare at her, taking that hit below the belt.

I didn’t realize she left last time, either. I was hiding out in my barn and hoping she’d come to me like some corsage-wearing teenager waiting for a prom date.

I snatch the envelope out of her hand and tear through the stationery—Jasper’sfancy stationery. Inside, there’s a letter... and a photograph.

The photo is familiar and strange all at once. Familiar, because it’s mine. That’s my trailer, my face, my mother, and my little brother, back when that was my whole tiny world. Back with my imperfect family who loved me like hell, and I loved them even while we descended into it.

But it’s strange because this picture was in my barn, and that went up in flames. I thought they were gone.

The photo starts to shake, and then I realize it’s me.

I look up at Kasey, and she gives me a half-smile and shrugs. “Eden found it. She said she put it in your toolbox so it wouldn’t get lost, and I guess it survived the fire. Pretty lucky, huh?”

Ida and Ethel come through the front doors, all worried looking, but I ignore them.

Eden did this. Something soft and aching settles in my chest, but it’s too big for the cramped, dank space. It stretches out my rib cage, needing somewhere to go.

I open the letter.

Jayk,

I think both of us understand, in our own way, how precious family truly is. The right family is worth killing for. Even worth dying for.

You, Dom, Beau, Lucky, and Jasper are my family now, and it’s taken me twenty-eight years, but because of you, I’ve finally found something that means more to me than survival. There is so, so much more to living than that.

Please don’t come after me. Use this time to think, instead, and protect the civilians. They’re counting on you.

Whatever your decision about us, you will still be my family.

I love you, Jayk, with all my heart and never only a part of it.

—Eden

P.S. Kasey needs you more than I do right now. I know a sister wasn’t what you bargained for, but you’ve landed one, so be nice to her. I already know you’re the best big brother she could have.

“If you’re going, then I’m coming with you,” Kasey says. “Just let me pack. I’ll be quick, okay? I won’t slow you down.”

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