Page 44 of Twisted Shadows
At the far end of the screen, the front half of a white Hellcat was pulling into view.
Was this the asshole who’d been harassing Diesel? When Diesel was one of the only people in the city Reece knew genuinely liked empaths? Who, despite knowing Reece only hours, had stood guard at the office door to protect him when violence had broken out at McFeely’s in November?
Reece got to his feet. There was a faint ringing in his ears, but he ignored it. Whoever this dick in the Hellcat was, they were going to have a conversation.
He opened the door and hurried into the hall. Even if this was just a temporary club, there would be a door somewhere where the staff could step outside for a smoke break, to make a call, or to get some fresh air. Sure enough, at the far end of the hall was a door with a lit Exit sign that had been propped open a few inches by a large rock.
He slipped out the door and onto a patch of pavement hemmed in by the sides of the warehouse. Someone had dragged a picnic table under a shelter not far from the door, and even though a light but icy rain had started again, at least seven people had crowded around it, squashed tight to each other’s sides in the cold. Two women in bunny ears were kissing, someone had a joint, and Ben was passing out steaming paper cups of what might have been coffee, lots of smiles and laughs from around the table.
Reece hunched into his sweatshirt and darted past the group, around the side of the building. As he broke into a jog, heading down the long side of the warehouse toward the part of the street where the Hellcat had been, Grayson’s text flashed through his mind.
I need you to trust me: go straight to McFeely’s as soon as you see this. Once you get there, STAY there.
Yeah, well, Reecewasstaying here. He was still on the property, wasn’t he?
As he rounded the edge of the warehouse, he saw a man in a camouflage jacket and balaclava standing next to the Hellcat, typing into his phone with gloved hands. There was a tense set to his shoulders that was familiar.
Reece skidded to a stop.“You.”
The man jerked around in surprise.
“You were outside my building.” Reece pointed at him. “And now you’rehere? Are you following me?”
“I—”
“You could have justtalkedto me.” The man blinked behind the balaclava as Reece stepped closer, gesturing at the warehouse. “Do you know how many people are in that club? How many people might have been freaked out if you came in after me?”
A group of women were walking toward the warehouse doors, and all of them had turned their heads in Reece’s direction. The man in camouflage quickly stepped forward, putting a hand in the center of Reece’s chest and shoving him back, behind the side of the warehouse and out of sight.
“Keep your fucking voice down,” he said, pushing Reece up against the wall with a hand on his neck. “They said you’d come with me without a fight. That you’re the one we need. They told me exactly what to do, and unlike their other soldiers, I know how to follow orders, see? That’s why they chose me.”
He had thick gloves on, a mix of emotions coming through like a staticky radio station—greed, anticipation. Fear.
An ache lanced through Reece’s chest. “Hey, you don’t have to be scared of me,” he said, looking up and past the balaclava into the man’s eyes, which were pale in the outdoor lighting and narrowed to angry slits. “I won’t hurt you. I just want you to leave Diesel and McFeely’s alone.”
The man yanked his hand off Reece like he’d been burned. “How are you reading my mind?”
“I’m not,” Reece said. “I’m just trying to keep people safe. If you want me to come with you, I will.”
“You’re supposed to be easy,” the man snarled. “Stay out of myhead.”
And then he pulled a gun.
Reece’s world shrank, the road and warehouse disappearing as his vision tunneled to only the weapon. Pain erupted in his chest, radiating out like fire from a phantom bullet wound that would tear skin, rend muscle, shatter bone.
This is how Evan would have felt, on that rooftop of Stone Solutions, if the corruption had taken hold and I’d made Cedrick Stone pull that trigger.
This would have been Evan’s pain, if I’d made Stone fire that gun on that rooftop.
A man was shouting. In the distance, there were more shouts, more screams, layered over the pounding of feet, growing louder. Reece couldn’t understand any of it. Couldn’t move, couldn’t think, could only stare at the gun.
I almost shot Evan.
Almost murdered him.
The gun abruptly vanished from his line of sight.
Reece sucked in a breath as he heard the gun clatter to the sidewalk, the world rushing back so fast his head spun.
