Passing the Torch (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation 1)

“No,” Luna gasped. “You can’t be right.”

I was right. There was no mistaking what I had seen in there. “She’s gone.”

Luna beat my chest. “You should have let me come out here right away! I could have helped her.”

There was no way in hell Luna would have been able to help Bunny if she had shown up twenty minutes earlier. She had been dead for a while. The smell that had hit Frost and me was enough to knock you on your ass. It would have only been a matter of time before the smell seeped into the whole trailer.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she fought to get around me. “Let me help her,” she pleaded.

I wrapped her in my arms and pushed her back toward the bikes. Luna might have been a force to reckon with, but I could still hold her back. “There isn’t anything you can do, Goober. She’s gone.”

A sob ripped from her lips, and she buried her face in my shirt.

Pie’s eyes connected with mine. I lightly shook my head and frowned.

It wasn’t fucking good.

Bunny was gone, and we had been right in the middle of the crime scene.

We weren’t going anywhere for a while.

*

Chapter Six

Reva

A knock sounded on the door, and my hand froze mid-air with a half-eaten taco in it.

It was seven-thirty, and no one should be knocking on my door.

Mom and Dad never came without letting me know, and I really didn’t have many friends. At least, not ones who would drop by without a call first.

Another knock came.

I dropped the taco on my plate and set it on the coffee table. I slowly stood, side-stepped to the wall, and crept along it ‘til I was at the front door. There wasn’t any way the person at the door could see me, but I was still sneaking around like the boogie man was out there.

“Reva,” the person called. The voice was male and familiar. Too familiar. “Sunshine.”

I sagged against the wall and took a deep breath. It was only Hero. But what in the hell was he doing here? He had told me earlier that he would see me later and made it sound like later would be while I was still working. I had been a little disappointed when five o’clock had rolled around and Hero hadn’t come back over. Tim had finished up installing the new door around four-thirty and had puttered around ‘til I closed. I moved in front of the door and reached up on my tiptoes to look out the peephole.

Yup, there was Hero standing there in all his handsome glory. “What do you want?” I sounded like one of the munchkins from the Wizard of Oz with my face squished up against the door.

“Let me in, Sunshine,” he called. His voice sounded tired, and there was a heaviness to it.

“Are you okay?” I still had my face pressed up against the door and sounded ridiculous.

“How about you open the door and we can talk face to face.” He tried to chuckle but it was flat and emotionless.

“Why?”

“Reva,” he sighed.

I grunted and pushed away from the door. I guess it did make sense to talk without a door between us. I pulled it open and propped one hand on my hip. “You don’t sound good.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I’m doing better than at least one person tonight.”

Just what did that mean? He seemed tired, and his usual air of confidence was gone. “What happened?”