Page 46 of Tick Tock, Boom!

“You?” I whispered, eyes wide. "You fucking traitor!"

He stared back at me, eyes cold, lips tight. He didn’t deny it.

Rancid pointed at Elrik’s mangled body. “He’s done. He’s out. Let him crawl back to whatever gutter he came from.”

That’s when the shot rang out and within seconds, all hell broke loose. Willow’s brother stood at the entrance, gun smoking. The bullet hit Rancid right through the shoulder. It was followed by men shouting and a lot of blood being shed.

Elrik was dragged out by Willow’s brother, both of them running for the door. I tried to follow, but Barrel hit me again, sending me crashing to the floor.

“Stay down!” he shouted.

I didn’t. I pulled my gun, aiming it at his chest. “You fucking traitor!”

He lunged and I fired my weapon. The bullet hit him square between the eyes. He stumbled forward, his knees buckling, and he collapsed on top of me. His blood soaked through my shirt, and I felt his dead weight suffocating me.

It took me a second to realize what had just happened. What I had actually just done. I was in shock and the events of what had just happened were playing on repeat in my head. I’d just killed the father of the woman I loved.

My arm was suddenly being yanked at. The body of my best friend rolled off me. Knuckles had me by the arm.

"Let's go, come on."

I hesitated but he didn't wait, just began to drag me out of the carnage. Shots echoed behind us. Members turned on members. The clubhouse, a place we’d bled for, was being destroyed.

"Move!" he shouted at me, and I stumbled and then I ran and kept running until we couldn't run anymore.

NATALIA

It had been more than a week.

More than a week since I last saw Tick Tock. More than a week of silence, of pacing around this house that used to feel like a home, of unanswered texts and voicemails, of staring at the front door until my eyes blurred.

More than a week since my heart stopped feeling steady in my chest.

At first, I thought it was just another run. Something long, something that required him to go ghost for a bit. He'd done it before but always came back to me, always made it worth the wait. But this time, something felt different.

Wrong.

The silence was too heavy. Too long. My father wasn't answering his phone and Aiyana hadn’t answered any of my calls either.

I sat on the edge of the couch, phone gripped tight in my hand, my thumb hovering over her contact. I tried again. The dial tone rang, once… twice… and then it clicked.

But it wasn’t her voice.

"Ain’t that a sweet surprise," came the deep, gravel-coated voice I hadn’t heard since the clubhouse.

Rancid.

My heart plummeted. "Where’s Aiyana?"

"Oh, she’s fine, sweetheart," he said slowly, as if every syllable was some kind of game he was playing with me. "But I do have somethin’ real important to tell you. Where are you at?"

I hesitated. Every cell in my body screamed not to answer. But then he said it. "It’s about Tick Tock."

I panicked. My mouth moved before I could stop it and I gave him the address.

The knock on the door came too quickly after that. Too heavy and menacing. When I opened the door, Rancid was standing there, a grin that didn’t meet his eyes plastered across his scarred face.

He let himself in without being asked, brushing past me into the house. A house that wasn’t his. I backed up, hands curling into fists at my sides.

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