Page 48 of Dangerous Silence
Which meant that those extra bullets were tomake surethat they were dead, but that my driving had killed them. I had only been on the road for less than an hour and I had already killed someone. Some people.
Some people who had tried to kill us.
I kept repeating that line to myself, trying to make it better.
“Miles Muro’s men,” Axe said. He pulled out the object from his pocket; a matchbox with two Ms smushed together at the top.Midnight Miles Corporationwas written in small text underneath it.
“Is that supposed to make this okay?” I asked.
Axe ignored my comment. “You want to drive?” he asked. I blinked; my hands were still clutching the wheel.
“It can still drive?” I asked. I was afraid to look back and see how mangled the cargo section of the van was from where the SUV had hit it.
“Until we find another.”
A heavy weight settled on my chest. I let go of the steering wheel, unbuckled my belt, then walked around the front of the car. Axe passed around the back of the van, taking the driver’s seat in silence. I don’t know if the accident had turned off the radio or if Axe had turned it off, but the van was quiet again, the car rumbling louder than before, mechanically asking for help.
When we came to a used car lot, Axe bought the first nondescript vehicle, paying with cash.
Suddenly, I realized why Dad never wanted me to drive. Why it was too dangerous. If anyone had a reason to take me out, it would be easy to do so in a car. Because itwasdangerous. A hell of a lot more than I thought.
So why did I feel empty? We had left a car in the middle of the road full of dead people, some of which had died because of me, and yet I didn’t feel anything. At least, I didn’t feel as awful as I knew I should.
Maybe it hadn’t hit me yet.
“Are you mad?” I asked.
Axe raised a brow at me.
“You said to keep going, and I—” Was I panicking? Was that it? I had reacted on instinct; that was all I knew. “I almost got us killed.”
“We’re alive,” he said. I should have felt better about that, but I didn’t. “You did what you thought was right.”
A flush of warmth ran through me, but I wasn’t sure what to say. I wanted to be mad. He should have been reprimanding me for the damage I had caused, that he could have killed those people himself, that I could’ve gotten us killed. But Axe didn’t say a word like that, and I was relieved. So damn relieved. He was the first person to trust me to do what was right, to not question my decisions. I had to think about that, and not think about the people I had just killed.
People who had tried to kill us.
I let out a sigh. Axe reached over and squeezed my thigh.
“This is only the beginning,” he said.
I didn’t have to question it. I knew he was right.
CHAPTER 15
Demi
When we arrived in Sage City, we immediately went to Axe’s parents’ house. I recognized most of the people around the dining table: Wil, Ellie, Derek, and Maddie. The table was flat, covered in a rose table runner. We were the last two to join them; they looked up at us. Maddie smiled at me. Axe and I took seats next to her.
“Where’s Gerard?” Wil asked.
“Taking care of Clara,” Derek said. Wil let out a small hiss. I noticed things seemed normal between Wil and Axe. That was good; the fight about Ellie’s safety must have been over by now. Axe’s eyes flicked away, then back to Derek.
“Figures that he wouldn’t be here,” Wil said.
“Give it a break. Clara has food poisoning,” Derek said. “He’ll be here in a few minutes. Anyway...” Derek crossed his arms. “Wil and Ellie were attacked last night.”
Ellie lifted her hand, her wrist bandaged. “I’m fine,” she said. A small bright pink spot was still healing near her nose. The woman couldn’t catch a break.
