Page 129 of Riot

“Don’t lie to me!” She socks me in the back of the head, the gun and the howl that leaves my throat isn’t just for the pain. It’s for everything. My girl. My club. The life I want. It ain’t gonna end like this. I refuse to let it.

“Fuck!” I yell. “I’m not lyin’. But you of all people know, gettin’ out is impossible, almost no one achieves it.”

“But yet, you did it.”

“I was one of the lucky ones. I fought hard for my freedom. I had nothin’ to lose.”

All I can think of is thank fuck she didn’t want Halo. To hurt me, she’d want to hurt her, too.

“But now you do. Tick-tock.”

What the fuck does that mean?

“I really hope your girlfriend got out of that house in time,” she hums. “It would be a real shame for you to lose someone else so close to you.”

“What did you do?” I spit.

She laughs. “So chilly all of a sudden,Myles.It hurts when someone fucks with your life, doesn’t it?”

I shake my head. No. Fuckin’ no! I thought Halo and Cookie were safe. I didn’t even imagine that something could’ve happened to them.

“Cat got your tongue,Myles?”

“Fuck you!” I spit. “You’re wastin’ your time barkin’ up that tree.”

She walks around to face me. She has a silk scarf wrapped around her head so I can’t see her hair, just her face. I’m surprised that she’s pretty, in an evil bitch kinda way. “You thought I’d leave her unscathed?”

“So you were in love with Carter? Why didn’t you help him?” I shake my head, then it hits me. “You couldn’t.”

She taps one long, blood red fingernail against her chin. “Let’s just say my past caught up with me.”

I smirk. “So really, you could point that finger around on yourself,Shade?You let Carter suffer and instead of helping him get out, you took the money for one last job and it didn’t pan out so well.”

I can see the cogs turning in her head. “You know, I was going to let you suffer horribly, but now I think I’m actually done with you.” She aims the gun once more.

I love you, Halo. There’s never been anyone but you.

The things I’ve yet to tell her. The things I’ll never get to say…

She’ll be in my heart forever.

The gun goes off and I flinch. I don’t feel the pain I was expecting. It takes me a second to realize that it’s not her gun and before I can even blink, I bounce in the air, the chair still attached, and bowl her over with my body. She yelps, the gun flying from her hand. Of course, without the use of my hands and legs, I’m useless and she manages to roll away.

“I told you they’d come!” I yell. “I fuckin’ told you, you bitch!”

More shots sound and I’ve never been more relieved to hear the sound of guns.

She doesn’t even have time to pick hers up before she shoots across the warehouse floor and disappears. She won’t get far.

“Myles!” I hear a familiar voice, but not the voice I expected, unless my mind’s playing tricks on me. “Son?”

It’s Charles.

My eyes go wide as I roll onto my side. “Over here!”

“Thank fuck.” Another voice.Cash?“He’s hurt, but he’s alive.”

“Shade, she’s… she left through the back,” I choke.

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