Page 60 of The Devil's Reward
Exactly what Bull would want.
THIRTY-TWO
SHADOW
I can’t lose them too.
The hospital’s waiting room is full of my brothers as we wait for word on the status of everyone. Bullet is in surgery, because the crash busted up his ribs, collapsed his lung, and they are monitoring him in case he has some serious head injuries. The doctor told Stone, King, and Torque that they aren’t sure how he is alive, but they would do everything they could to save him.
Izzy and Kaleb are still unconscious, but that is due to medical intervention. Both have some brain swelling, along with some scrapes and bruises, but otherwise they’re fine. The seatbelts, and in Kaleb’s case, the airbag, saved their lives.
Rose and Sage are different stories. Rose is the worst off. She is also in surgery to mend a broken arm and wrist, reduce the massive swelling in her brain, and internal bleeding. Her chance of survival is lower.
Sage is much the same, but they managed to get her internal bleeding stopped and now are repairing the broken bones. Her chance of recovery is higher, but she’s not out of the woods. Only time will tell if she survives.
King, Stone, and Torque don’t speak, they just silently lean on each other, even as Hammer moves to them and speaks to them quietly. I don’t know what he says, but King shakes his head and walks away, going to the window on the other side of the room. He stares out of it, and I can see the fury rolling off him. The grief and despair at knowing he might lose not one, but three people he loves and cares about deeply.
I don’t know why I walk over, but I stand beside him saying nothing. He spares me a sideways glance before returning his gaze straight ahead. “Thank you,” he finally says quietly, his voice like ground glass. “Thank you for saving her.”
“I don’t need thanks,” I answer. “She’s your mother by blood, but she’s mine by choice. I would never have left her there.”
He gives a clipped nod. “But you were the one who got her out before it blew. I was terrified,” he whispers. “So fucking scared that I would lose her. And I still might. I might lose them all.” His voice cracks on the last words.
My chest burns with emotion as I look back out the window. I know I’m still in shock, unable to process what’s happened. I keep a tight grip on my emotions, my memories. “They’re fighters,” I tell him firmly, with a strength that I don’t feel. “Sage will fight with everything in her to get back to you, and then give you shit for underestimating her. Your parents will too. None of them are weak people, and when they make it out of this, they’re going to be out for blood.”
“I want that bastard’s head on a pike,” King hisses. “I want him dead, Shadow.”
“Me too, brother,” I say quietly. “Me too. And we’re going to make it happen.” It’s a solemn vow.
A commotion behind us has us turning around and see Simon, Leonora, Alice, Dale, Sloan, and Raven rushing toward us. All of them are pale with worry, and I can see tears in Leonora and Alice’s eyes as they reach us. “How are they?” Raven demands, dark eyes wide with fear.
“They’re in surgery,” Stone tells her heavily. “Izzy and Kaleb are in recovery, but we’re not allowed to see them yet.”
Simon nods once. “I’ll make sure they have the best care available,” he vows before he turns and heads for the desk.
Leonora and Alice hug Torque and Stone, who hug them back tight. Raven heads for King, who looks at her like he’s not sure if he should hug her or not. She doesn’t give him a choice. She pulls him tight, holding him, and burying her face in his chest. “They’ll make it,” she muffles against his chest. “They will.” I’m not sure if it’s a plea or a decree, but I know that if Raven could, she would force her way into those operating rooms to make it happen. It’s no secret how close she is to Bullet and Rose. Hell, to Sage too.
King doesn’t answer her, but I see the despair in his eyes as he clings onto her, holding on to her like a lifeline.
I step aside, needing to be away from the emotion boiling through the room. It’s battering at me, and my already strained mind is thinning even further.
I look at the room full of people, and I can’t help but think of the stark contrast after my team died in that firefight. My team lay in the dirt, bleeding and rotting as I had to continue, on the orders of our commanding officers, because the people I was rescuing were more important than the team I just lost. That I dragged out of there on my own.
This… this is family. Coming together and hoping for the best. Ready to fight with anyone who gets in the way of that. The Lincolns will use their influence to make sure they all have the best, the Lanes will be here for moral support, and my brothers will keep watch over the people most important to us.
I need to get back to work. I can’t stand here and wait. I turn and head for the stairs. I don’t announce my departure, because I don’t want an audience. I’m going to find this son of a bitch, and I’m going to make him pay.
I couldn’t have justice or vengeance for my team. But I can for this.
When I walk out of the hospital, I let myself breathe. I haul in a lungful of air before I head for my bike. It’s scratched and dented and I don’t give a fuck. I rode it here behind the ambulances after the paramedics checked out my back. My cut saved me from any burns and debris, and now it’s time to prove why that symbol is worth dying over.
“Shadow,” Viper calls behind me. I straddle my bike and look up at him. He looks down at me with too-wise eyes. “I’m coming with you.”
“Then you hurry the fuck up,” I tell him coldly, then I turn on my bike and roar out. I hear him behind me, but I don’t stop to make sure he’s keeping up.
I head back to the crash site, but there are even more lights and sirens further ahead, and I head for those. I slow as I near, following the directions of the cops at the scene to go around. I don’t need to look closely to know that the SUV currently burning on the side of the road is one used to try to kill my family.
I don’t stop until I reach the clubhouse, Crypt opening the gate for me as I roar past him. I barely glance at him. I don’t need another reminder of my past. Not now.
