Everything in my mind blanks. It’s quiet, which is new because I’m always thinking. I’m rarely on social media and never check in with the people from school, soit figures that I haven’t heard about the photos. Why didn’t Dahlia tell me about it?
“I see,” I say. “Who else was there?”
She raises her gaze to the ceiling as she thinks. “Mickey, Kyle, and Connor.”
I grab the bag with all the items and leave without another word.
Ryder shuts the door and locks the deadbolts behind me in the abandoned home. I cross the room and head to the bathroom Kyle has been staying in.
“Jaxon,” Ryder calls.
“Unlock the door,” I say.
Ryder comes to my side and rests his hand on my shoulder. “What’s going on, man?”
I tense and glare at him while I grind my molars. Rolling my shoulder to get him off of me, I growl, “Unlock. The. Fucking. Door.”
“What’s going on?” Aiden says behind us.
“He’s losing his shit,” Ryder says.
I grab him by the collar of his shirt and jerk the keys out of his pocket. My friends dive in and hold me back from getting into the room with Kyle.
“You need to calm down, Jax!” Ryder yells directly into my ear.
I twist my body and punch him to get him the fuck off me. Aiden charges toward me and pulls me against his body, dragging me away from the small bathroom. The bastard whimpers inside the room, knowing that death is coming.
Black spots creep into my vision as I get closer to blacking out. My blood roars in my ears, along with the pounding ofmy heart against my ribcage. I throw my elbow back into Aiden’s gut, and he lets out a wheezing grunt.
“Come back to us, Jax!” Ryder moves into my line of vision and whips off his mask. He puts his face in mine, forcing me to look at him instead of the door that’s calling my name.
“What the hell is going on?Oh, shit.” Hawk sprints to us and holds me back as I loosen Aiden’s death grip.
I jump and kick my boots out, slamming them into Ryder’s and Hawk’s dicks. Aiden loses his balance and stumbles backward. We careen to the ground in a tangle of limbs and flying fists.
Kyle’s chains rattle, but the fucker doesn’t say a word. I’m sure he’s shaking in fear as my friends hold me back from killing the asshole for what he and his friends did to my sister. When I’m done with him, I’ll find Mickey and Conner and kill them, too. After that, I’m punishing Dahlia for not telling me about this.
“We need to call Dahlia,” Aiden says, then grunts when I punch him.
“It’ll be too late,” Ryder says.
I get on top of Aiden, and Ryder hooks his arm around my neck, holding me in a headlock. Aiden punches me in the gut. All the breath in my lungs wheezes out, and I grapple with Ryder’s arm as I gasp for air.
“I’m getting her,” Hawk says.
“No! She can’t fucking know about this!” Ryder yells, and squeezes harder.
“I’m still getting her, asshole. Do you want him to fucking murder us?”
My lungs burn for oxygen, and everything spins. I scratch my blunt nails on Ryder’s arm. Seconds later, I slump backward into him and everything goes dark.
I don’t know how long I’m out, but when I come to, I’msurrounded by my friends on the couch. Ryder tilts his head back with a bloody napkin held to his nose. The fight left Aiden with a scuffed and bloody face. His limbs stretch out while he leans against the cushions. Hawk lights a cigarette, blood dripping from his eyebrow. He winces each time his busted lip wraps around the smoke as he takes a drag.
Hawk’s the first one to notice my open eyes. He sighs in relief. “He’s back.”
The other two look my way, sharing the same relieved expression.
“Want to tell us what the fuck that was?” Aiden growls.
