Page 122 of Twisted Heathens

“Just answer the fucking question. All cards on the table.”

I sink to the floor, legs stretched out as I struggle through the mess of thoughts in my mind. There’s too many to count. Love. Hate. Lust. Shame. It all mixes into one giant shitshow that has my head spinning. But one thought burns too bright to ignore.

“I can’t lose her. Not now that I’ve found her again,” I admit. “She’s different now, not the person she was before. But it doesn’t matter, my feelings haven’t changed.”

Phoenix nods solemnly, his serious attitude so unlike him. But when faced with crisis, we all have our redeeming qualities. He’s cleaned Eli up many times in similar circumstances without a single complaint.

“You should know that I’m falling in love with her,” he adds.

I wish I could say that I’m surprised, but I’ve seen the way they look at her. You’d have to be a fool to miss it. The guys are all fucking enraptured, just like me. Inexplicably drawn to the beautiful, chaotic disaster that is Brooklyn West and her crazy goddamn head.

“We all care about her, so we’ve got to find a solution here.” I look back at my girl, comforting myself with the rise and fall of her chest. “I’ll get Kade, he’ll know what to do.”

Phoenix snorts. “Yeah, right. He’s busy fixing the other idiot hellbent on self-destruction.”

“What exactly do you bloody suggest then?”

He continues to stroke Brooklyn’s skin, gnawing his lip. “She’ll be out for a few hours, we need to get everyone together to talk some sense into her.”

“Talk to her? That’s your solution?” I repeat. Is he for real?

“We’ve got to convince her to stick around.”

Fighting my initial reaction, I consider his idea for a second, shoving the tendrils of jealousy aside. Will it work? Between us all, maybe we have a slim chance of success. Very fucking slim.

“I’ll find Kade and fill him in,” I concede.

“Good,” Phoenix mumbles, nodding to himself. “We need to pull ourselves together for when she wakes up, it’s now or never. All of us need to be there.”

Huffing a breath, I walk to the bed and stare down at my sleeping blackbird. She clutches at the sheets, tormented even now. Surrounded by us, temporarily safe from her own mind. Fuck, there’s no way this will work. We can’t give her what she needs. How can you convince someone to live when they don’t want to?

“It’ll work,” Phoenix reassures, reading my mind.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because there’s no other option. It’s this or let her implode. The shrinks aren’t getting a look in here, they’ll bury her so deep she’ll never come out again. We’re her last chance.”

He glances up at me, offering me a bleak smile. “Get it done, Hud. For her.”

“Keep her safe until we get back later? I’ll bring the others. Just… watch over her.” Gulping, I let some of my desperation leak out. “We can’t afford to fuck this up.”

“Yeah, got it,” he mutters.

I press a kiss to Brooklyn’s forehead and leave them behind, forcing myself to focus. I’ll need the exact right words to offer her, to make her see that she has a reason to live. Phoenix is right, it’ll take all of us. And if we fail, I can’t even begin to contemplate the repercussions. Losing my blackbird is unimaginable.

I burst into the reception area after sprinting over, struggling for breath. Kade’s on duty and his head snaps up immediately as I enter. “Hud? What’s wrong?”

I jerk my head towards the back and he has a quick glance around, checking the coast is clear. We slip into the rear office for privacy and I slam the door shut.

“I need to tell you something.”

“Um, okay. Anything wrong?”

“Just… don’t freak. It’s Brooklyn.”

Kade stills, colour draining from his face. “What happened?”

I’m so fucking angry and scared, I can barely see straight. It takes all of my self-control to keep calm and rational, the thought of Brooklyn bleeding alone in Eli’s bed a nightmare playing on repeat in my mind. We don’t have time to waste right now.

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