“I call Leif,” Brendon shouted.
“What?!” Ash demanded. “How could you, Brendon? And here I thought I was your favorite.”
I bit back a laugh.
Boys.
Lyrik held open the gate as our entire family filed through and climbed down the back steps that led onto the sidewalk. We made a right toward the main road that cut through the neighborhood.
All of Sunder were in the front.
Lyrik carried Adia, Ash carried Colton, and Austin carried Sadie, nothing but a train of hot daddies and their babies. If it were a busy road, I was pretty sure we would have been stopping traffic.
Connor raced up ahead with Brendon.
Willow, Shea, Tamar, Edie, and I had gathered in a small group, all of us chatting, Greyson spouting his gibberish as he shouted at the rest of the kids who raced ahead. “Go, Momma, go. Wet's get 'em.”
“But we can’t leave our Penny-Pie behind can we?” I told him, planting a kiss on his cheek.
Penny and Kallie had their arms linked at the elbows and their heads pressed together about ten feet behind us, confiding more of their secrets.
Sweet, sweet dreams.
Innocent hopes and grateful tomorrows.
Leif took up the rear, trailing the girls by about ten feet. Barely peeking at me. But it didn’t matter—I could feel him, anyway.
“Hurry up, slow pokes,” Brendon shouted from under the cover of the trees that extended over the sidewalk.
At the intersection, we paused to check that it was clear, and Shea shouted at the girls, “Be careful crossin’.”
Kallie moaned. “Mom, we’re eleven. Stop being so embarrassing.”
I held the laughter that wanted to get loose.
When I made it to the other side, my gaze slipped back to Leif, his attention locked on the ground, agitation in his stride, like he thought it was his duty to question his reasoning for coming with us.
Those walls there, but shaky.
The man an outsider.
A beautiful, terrifying refugee who I hoped one day would find his home.
His place.
The same way as I was looking for mine.
My insides curled, nothing but foolishness when I thought I wished that place could be me.
Kallie suddenly started to run toward us, bubbling with excitement.
Clearly, she and Penny had been hatching a plan. “Hey, Momma, is it okay if Penny comes to spend the night tonight after we get finished at the park? We want to make a fort in the back and sleep out under the stars.”
Penny slowed her stride as she crossed the street. My sweet girl always got shy when the attention turned to her. Not wanting to be standing there or in the way if Shea said no.
In the distance, thunder rolled.
Just the quiet intonation of a building storm.
Summer getting ready to show off its bold, bold beauty.
Then all the peace in my heart dropped to the ground when I heard the sudden roar of an engine. An engine that came from out of nowhere.
From right up the street.
Straight from hell.
I didn’t know.
I just knew I was too far away.
Too far.
Dread streaked down my spine.
Tires squealed as an accelerator was floored.
My heart stopped working and my knees went weak.
“Penny!” I screamed.
Penny’s eyes went round as her head snapped to the right in shock. Terror took to her expression, my baby girl frozen in the middle of the crosswalk.
Like her feet were glued to the spot.
Horror clutched my soul in a bloody fist, knowing there was no chance I could get to her in time. Knowing there was no way for her to get out of the way.
“Penny!” I was still screaming. The plea echoing in my ears.
The car screamed. Almost as loud as me.
Her tiny body suddenly lurched forward.
Flailing.
Arms and legs and black, black hair.
Toppling and tumbling as the blur of a car raced through the small intersection, skidding and swerving.
Not slowing for the stop sign but speeding up as it blew through.
“No! Oh my God, Penny, no!”
I clutched Greyson tighter to my chest, my hand on the back of his head like I could shield him from witnessing this. Like I could shield myself.
Screams and shouts rolled. A clatter of feet that raced and rushed.
Lyrik flew passed, the rest of the guys on his tail. “Fuck. Oh God. Penny.”
But all I could see was the pile on the ground.
My mind racing, blurred, trying to make sense of the scene.
My baby girl in a ball.
Curled against him.
The man steel where he was wrapped around her.
A shield.
A destructive force.
Everything finally gave, and I dropped to my knees.TwentyLeifScreams pierced my brain.
Spikes of agony.
Blades of desperation.
My pulse roared, deafening, the world spinning and spinning and spinning. Tipped on its axis. Falling into an endless abyss.
Adrenaline blurred the edges of my sight. Burned through my veins. Sloshing and destroying and stoking the rage.
Everything was a void. A black hole. All except for one singular focus.
The girl.
The little girl with the black hair who was balled against my chest. My arms steel bands around her, my body a fortress willing to take the blow to protect the treasure that was inside.