Page 2 of The Last Call Home
This was fury shaped into something physical, aimed right at the man who made us grow up afraid, angry ...broken.I raised it.
He stared at me like he was finally seeing me for the first time.And he fucking smiled.That smile nearly did me in.
He wanted it.Wanted me to swing.To cross that line.To be his mirror.
“Go ahead,” he whispered.“Do it.Be a man.You end me, you’ll become me.”
My grip tightened.My arms shook.My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached.Every memory I had of him yelling, of Ledger hiding under beds, of Keir’s bruises, of silence that lasted too long—it all roared inside me.
I wanted to.
Fuck, I wanted it so bad.
But I didn’t.
Because if I became him, he’d win.
So I dropped the poker.
The clang against the tile floor was final.I didn’t surrender.I chose myself.
“You don’t get to make me you,” I said.
He took a step forward, but I didn’t do anything for him.I walked out, leaving our father standing there in a puddle of his own rage.
That night, we slept in the barn.My brothers and I—even Atlas—curled up in horse blankets.Ledger tucked against my side, his hand gripping my shirt like he thought I’d disappear if he let go.
I didn’t sleep.Neither did Keir.
We watched the door until morning.
That was the night something inside me changed.I stopped being a kid and became whatever a boy had to become to survive.Something cracked and didn’t heal right.Grew back twisted.Fused with everything I couldn’t say.
My father was a monster, but this town ...this town let him be that way.No one ever defended us, even when they knew what was happening behind closed doors.
People knew.Of course they did.The bruises, the silences, the way we fought when people pissed us off.We were bad news.Yet, no one stepped in.No teacher.No neighbor.No friend-of-a-friend.Just polite smiles in public and shut doors in private.
So I left.I ran like my life depended on it—because it did.I made Keir swear that he’d leave if things got to the point where he felt he might want to kill our father.After that, I planned on never coming back.Not for a funeral.Not for a favor.Not even for forgiveness.
I joined the Bureau.The Federal fucking Bureau of Investigation.Because if no one was going to protect kids like me, then I would.
That’s where I first met Cassian.
We were partners.I was assigned to him straight out of Quantico.He had all charm and swagger and zero regard for procedure.If James Bond had a moral compass and unresolved trauma that he refused to unpack—that would be Cass.
He didn’t last long in the Bureau.He had a way of doing things—his way.Not illegal, but ...not exactly by the book either.Morally gray, rule-adjacent, and somehow still always defending those no one else would.
He landed at some high-level private security firm that pays outrageous money for people who know how to color outside the lines without setting the whole damn place on fire.I didn’t blame him for leaving.Hell, part of me wanted to follow.But I stayed—at least until I found a reason to leave.
Until Birchwood Springs needed a sheriff before the Hollow Syndicate burnt it to the ground, I didn’t put wear a badge to enforce the law.I wore it so I’d have the power to bend it when the law didn’t protect the people who needed it most.
I became a sheriff to hunt down men like my father.
ChapterOne
Cassian
The Birchwood Springswelcome sign is overly cheerful for a town that could turn to ash if we’re not careful.
