“Where are you going, Adrian? What are you going to do?”
“He expects me to come. I’m not going to let him down.” I try to turn away.
Raf catches my arm. “Adrian—”
“You and Pri will never be safe until I do this. I’m doing this.” I pull away from him before he demands I define “this” and walk to Pri.
“She’s good,” Savage says, helping Pri to her feet. “She’s a dirty, dirty girl with no restrictions. She’s all yours, man.”
Pri shoots him an “are you serious” look as Jacob joins us. “I searched the area,” Jacob announces. “Nothing. I found nothing. And I saw nothing. Pri is the one who reacted. What did you see?”
Pri stands and huddles close to me, while talking to the group, repeating what I’ve already heard. “Nothing. It was just this crazy gut feeling.”
I turn her to face me, hands on her shoulders. “I need you to let Adam and Jacob get you to safety. I’ll come for you soon.”
“Why would I go with them? Where are you going?”
“I have to end this once and for all, Pri. I know you know I do.”
“You mean kill Deleon,” she assumes. “Adrian—”
“Waters. This was Waters, Pri. This was him. He’s not dead. Not yet.”
“No,” she says. “He died.”
“He faked his death. I’ll bet my life on it.”
Her fingers curl around my shirt. “No, you will not. Because you made me love you and now you do not get to die.” Her voice rasps with demand. “Do you hear me?”
I fold her close and cup her face. “I love you.”
“You can’t—”
Emergency crews erupt onto the scene around us. I ignore them and kiss her, I kiss the hell out of her right there in front of everyone. And when I’m done, I don’t give her time to argue. I hand her off to Jacob. “Keep her safe. Get her back to New York.”
She lunges for me and Adam is there, catching her from behind. I turn away from her and start walking while she screams after me. Leaving her guts me, but losing her because I let Waters and Deleon live is not an option.
Savage is by my side in an instant, falling into step with me.
I flick him a look. “Where the hell do you think you’re going, Savage?”
“With you, my perfect revenge-seeking motherfucker. And if you don’t like it, we can fight, but I’d win and that would hurt your confidence, so let’s not.”
I don’t answer. He wouldn’t win. Not right now. I’m too focused. I’m too ready to do what I should have done a long time ago. Kill the devil.
Chapter Forty-Six
ADRIAN
The Devils’ clubhouse is four hours from the location where I left Pri and Raf. Savage and I take one of the Walker vehicles and drive into Dallas. Once we’re there, we meet up with the local Walker team, who loads us up with firearms and allows us to shower off the soot and change clothes. Shortly after that meet-up, Blake calls me for the fifth time. I decline the call. He calls Savage.
“Bossman is calling,” Savage says. “I take it we’re ignoring him?”
“I am,” I say, pulling us into a Ducati dealership. A bike riding into a biker club, unnoticed, is a whole lot easier than an SUV. I open the door. Savage declines the call and does the same.
An hour later, we’ve paid the dealership to store our vehicle and we ride into a cheap hotel on our Ducatis. Waters is a Harley guy. He hates Ducati and that’s just all the more reason I should ride one to kill him. Every time I think of Pri on the ground, under my brother, while that bus exploded over the top of them, I want blood.
I kick back on the bed, aware that I need rest to face what is before me. Savage walks to the liquor store next door, grabs booze and burgers from some diner nearby. I down the burger and a few shots.
Savage doesn’t speak. He doesn’t tell his stupid stories. Death is serious business. And death is in the air.
I kick back on the bed, and my cellphone rings with Pri’s number on the caller ID. I decline the call. I can’t talk to her right now. I need to stay focused and strong to save her life. And that’s what I’m doing. I’m saving her life. I’m making a path for our future.
I shut my eyes, and I dream, not of that future.
But of Waters. I dream of every monstrous thing he did when I was with him. And when I wake up, it’s fuel.
***
It’s late afternoon on New Year’s Day when Savage and I hit the road, both in jeans, boots, and jackets to stave off the sun and bugs. It’s a cooler day, but the wind is high, the roads busy with holiday travelers.