Page 4 of Freeing Souls

I feel like the only way to protect myself is to find a way to close it off again. I want them all in my life, but do I need to let them into every piece of my soul?

“Here!” An unknown voice shouts from behind me in the garage. Spinning around I spot three firefighters moving some large pieces of what looks like concrete and a garage door out of the way. Cade, Grayson and I move in closer and that’s when I spot them. Sugar and Ryker lying about ten feet from each other, both not moving and covered in debris and blood.

Gasping I go to dart forward but arms wrap around me holding me back as lips graze my ear, “Hang on, baby girl. Let them get them out safely. You can ride with Ryker to the hospital.” Cade tells me.

Not pulling my eyes away from the scene in front of me, I stare at the firefighters as they roll Sugar onto a backboard and then lift him. I can’t tell how badly he is hurt because he is covered in so much shit from the explosion. As they carry him past us tearsfill my eyes and I have to blink them away. “Who’s going with him?” I ask quietly.

“I will,” Grayson says. “You stay with Ry. I’ll find you at the hospital.” He croaks with tears in his eyes as he stares at them, putting Ryker’s unconscious body on another backboard and lifting him as well.

“Are you sure?” I ask him, seeing how badly he needs to be with Ryker.

Nodding, he steps back. “Yeah.”

Before I can say more, he is gone, following the guys carrying Sugar to an ambulance. Cade rests his hand on my shoulder, and I glance up to find him staring at Grayson’s back.

He looks down at me once Grayson is out of sight. “Go with Ryker. I’ll get there as soon as I can. I want to help where I’m needed here. Are you going to be okay?”

I nod, reminding myself to lock my heart down.

“Keep an eye on Grayson, okay?”

“I will.” Leaning down, Cade kisses my forehead, and I walk away, following behind them as they carry Ryker to the ambulance.

Climbing in the ambulance, I take a seat on the bench across from the stretcher and reach out for Ryker’s hand, staring intently at the screen where his heart beats consistently.

Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes and just listen to his heartbeat and feel his hand in mine. He’s going to be fine.

But I can’t do this.

Chapter Two

Rage (Gabriel)

My head spins as I attempt to take everything in. The fire chief in front of me talks about the structure of the building and how they have stabilized it for now but it isn’t safe to be inside.

Rage burns inside me at the thought of how this could've happened. Axe has been working with motorcycles basically his entire fucking life. He would not have been careless in a way to cause an explosion like this. No, with the timing of everything, this has to be intentional. I know it fucking is.

Nodding as the fire chief finishes speaking, I shake his hand and thank him for his help today. They are still going through the rubble, but everything else has been done and those who aren’t needed now are clearing out.

I head over to Blade, Stone, and Brielle, who is currently being held up by Raven while she silently cries and stares at the firefighters still searching.

“Updates? What do we know?” I ask them as I place a comforting hand on Raven’s shoulder and squeeze gently. Herwatery eyes glance up at me, and she attempts to give me a smile, but it comes out as more of a grimace.

“Sugar and Ryker are on their way to the hospital. They’re both still unconscious, and Harley and Grayson are with them. Axe was checked out by a paramedic and just told to rest, but he’s still out here somewhere. Otherwise, that’s it. We don’t know much else,” Blade explains, fury burning in his eyes as he aggressively spins a blade between his fingers.

“I think I know what caused this,” Stone states.

I raise a brow at him, and he gestures towards the front of the garage. We walk over that way, away from Blade and the girls. “Brielle noticed a piece of Atlas’ bike.” He points to where a red side piece lays in the rubble. “We are directly in front of the shop garage door. Axe said Atlas got here minutes before it happened, so what if it was his bike? The explosion went inwards from here,” Stone says as he stands where the front of the garage would be, where the bike would’ve been parked, and points forward. You can clearly tell everything was blown inwards, farther into the garage.

Running a hand through my beard, I nod. “That seems right. But I just have this gut feeling this wasn’t an accident. So why would it have been Atlas’ bike?”

Stone raises a brow at me. “If you really believe it wasn’t an accident—which we don’t know for sure yet—there’s only one answer I can think of.”

Narrowing my eyes , I glance at Brielle, who is still crying in Raven’s arms. “Stone, you are the most observant fucker I know. Are you telling me right now you’ve noticed things about them?”

He shakes his head and kicks at the debris on the ground. “No. But we’ve all been wrong about people we thought we could trust before.”

I shake my head at him. “He was in it, though. It just doesn’t make sense.”

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