Page 14 of Bear

Gunshots ring out through the room.What the fuck? I throw myself over Tink. She hits the concrete hard with an “oof,” and I’m pretty sure I just knocked the breath clean out of her lungs.

Hellfire rains down over us, and tires screech as they burn rubber. I no longer see the garage around me, Tink beneath me.No. All around me are the remains of my brothers, twisted metal, and scorched earth. Beneath me, my team leader lies bleeding out. I stare at my hands, covered in blood and bits of charred flesh, and I can only look down at him as the light fades from his eyes.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!” I suck in several sharp breaths, but I can’t get enough air. I can’t breathe.

“Bear!” Crow shouts, and I shake my head, trying to clear it.What the fuck is the prospect doing here?

I glance down at the fallen brother before me, but his face is not what I see. Instead, pale skin, tattoos, and lilac hair greet me. Her pretty features are twisted in pain and horror as she blinks up at me.

“Tennessee.” She gasps. “I can’t breathe.”

I scramble off her body and lie on the cold concrete, trying to catch my breath. Sweat beads on my brow and trickles down my spine.

“Bear! They’re getting away. We need to go after them,” Crow shouts. I glance at him and then back at Tink, shaking my head, trying to escape that war zone, trying not to see the blood on my hands or smell the desert beneath me.

Blood wooshes in my ears and I can’t hear a thing beyond my own thundering heart, can’t see beyond the blackness trying to consume me, but I turn toward Tink in the hopes that she’ll bring me back. I reach out my hand and she takes it, twining her small fingers with mine.

“Are you h-hurt?” I ask.

“I’m okay.” She winces and then she’s gone just as suddenly, shooting to her feet and running across the room. “Oh my god, Grant!”

“Tink! Get down,” I shout, though the screeching tires and the fact that Crow is on his feet are a pretty good fucking indication that the shooters are gone.

I glance around the shop. Her brothers are scattered at different points, but Grant lies on the concrete, gasping for breath while blood pools on the floor beneath him. “Fuck!”

I rise and walk across the room on trembling legs, as if I’m floating.

“Someone call nine one one.” Tink’s hands are covering the wound on Grant’s abdomen. Crimson seeps through her fingers, and I blink, seeing my team before me again.

“Bear!” Crow shouts. “Shouldn’t we be going after them? Chaos is gonna have our asses.”

I shake my head to clear my thoughts. Liam brushes past me, knocking my shoulder on his way to help Jupiter. Jeb is on the phone, furiously conveying the events to emergency services, but Bobby Ray is nowhere to be seen.

“Bear!” Crow echoes, and I turn toward him. Chaos will have my ass if we don’t follow them. Even now, there’s no telling where these assholes might have gone, but there are only two ways out of town, and the Bastards sped off in the direction closest to us.

I glance at Tink, whose face is contorted in terror. The last thing I want is to leave her right now, but I have no other choice.

I nod at Crow and we both race toward the van. I let him drive because I honestly don’t trust myself to operate heavy machinery right now, but also because my aim is never off. Four years as a sharpshooter on the Teams, and I’d rather take a bullet than miss a shot.

“That was fuckin’ crazy,” Crows says as he takes the corner too fast. I hold on to the handle with a white-knuckled grip and survey everything around us. There’s no sign of the Bastards anywhere. Chaos is going to fucking kill me.

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