I reached out for Liam but clutched a lumpy, cotton-stuffed mass instead. My eyes peeled open, adjusting to the dark room. Liam was gone, a pillow left in his place.
“Liam.” I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood. The light in the bathroom was off and the door open. He couldn’t be in there. My gaze flitted to the nightstand. My phone. It had been right there. Instead, a piece of paper beckoned.
As I finished reading it, my heart sank into my stomach. I ran up both flights of stairs, bounding two at a time, until I reached Pepper’s room. I swung the door open, and she shot up from her bed.
“What the hell?” She looked around, her blue hair sticking up straight as if she’d attempted a hairspray mohawk. “Is he dead?”
I almost forgot she didn’t known Liam had safely returned with us. That at one point this evening, he’d lain in bed right next to me. “No. We found him. Beaten, but alive.” I shook my head. “But now.” I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment. “Now, I don’t know. I need your phone.” I grabbed it from her night table and dialed Nikki. Once, twice, then got her on the third try.
“What the hell, Pepper?” she grumbled.
“Liam is going after Bradley and I’m going after him. Call everyone. He has my phone.” I didn’t wait for her to speak. Instead, I hung up and ran to my room, Pepper hot on my heels. I pulled a sweater from the closet and jeans from my drawer as Pepper assaulted me with questions.
“Livy, what’s going on? Why the hell would Liam meet up with Bradley? Where’s Dad?”
I ignored the onslaught and grabbed my coat and scarf off the back of my desk chair.
“I’m coming with you,” Pepper said from somewhere behind me.
I swung around. “No. You need to stay here in case Jac wakes up.” My pulse picked up a notch. Jac. What would she even do if she found out we saved her brother from her mother only to lose him again to another werewolf? “And I don’t know why he went alone to meet Bradley, but I’m going to find out. Nikki will call Dad, and they’ll meet me there.” I slipped Pepper’s phone into my back pocket.
Pepper clasped my shoulder. “Okay. Just breathe. It’s Liam-freaking-Hunter. He always makes it out alive.”
I swallowed and forced a half smile.
“I’m just confused. How did he even talk to Bradley?”
Me. This was all my fault. I’d texted Bradley. “I have no idea of the details. Just that it has something to do with my phone.”
Pepper stayed silent. It was probably best that she did. Having my foolish actions voiced aloud would give them life and weight, and if anything happened to Liam, I’d never forgive myself. If he died tonight, I’d have no reason to live.
I ran down the stairs and out the door, back into the cruiser’s driver’s seat. It felt like days ago, not six hours, that I’d sat here with Nikki on a Liam rescue mission.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I throttled the steering wheel. My mind raced. Go, or wait for backup confirmation? Liam had left the safety of our house to go after Bradley alone. I couldn’t sit back and wait. The darkness of the night paled in comparison to the uncertainty that loomed over my head. In the distance, the sun grazed the horizon but not enough to shed light on the road.
Pepper’s phone rang, and I picked it up.
“I’ll call for a ride share and meet you there. Uncle Harold said no one’s been to the house, which makes me think this is an—”
“If you say ambush, I will throw up.”
“How the hell did he talk to Bradley and split without you knowing?”
I wanted to lie to Nikki, but what was the point? Eventually everyone would know. “I texted Bradley. Told him if he surrendered to us, I could help him, but I needed to know the truth.”
“Are you out of your ever-living—”
I hung up, knowing exactly where that was going. She’d blame me, and this time she’d be justified.
Pepper’s phone rang again, flashing Dad’s name this time. “Are you okay?” The fear in his voice reminded me of the last time he’d asked me that—the day after Mom tried to kill Pepper.
“I’m fine.”
“Good. Because I’m still pissed about the cruiser. Don’t think that conversation is over with, young lady.” He half grunted, half sighed. “But I understand your reaction. Even now. We are on our way to the airfield. You need to wait for us.”
“Dad, I love you, but I am not waiting.”
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, and I could almost sense my dad's internal struggle between wanting to protect me and understanding the gravity of the situation. Finally, concern straining his voice, he said, “We haven’t seen Bradley, his dad, or his supposed three brothers, which makes us think Liam’s walking into an—”
“Oh my God, I know, Dad,” I interrupted, my irritation bubbling to the surface. “An ambush. I got it, all right! That’s exactly why I am not waiting on anyone else. The second I get there, I’m going in.”
“Did you bring a gun with silver bullets?”
I strangled the wheel instead of my own dumb neck. Weapons! How could I be so stupid? I’d run through the house like my hair was blazing at the ends, totally forgetting to bring anything to defend myself. My heart pounded in my chest, fighting the python of panic constricting it like prey, but I quickly gathered my resolve, releasing a sliver of tension. At least if Liam died tonight, I had a high probability of going with him to the grave.
“There’s a shotgun in the trunk.” My dad broke through my macabre thoughts. “Use it. We will be there soon.”
I pulled up to the abandoned airfield, the cold wind cutting through my coat, its bite inducing shivers. The dark silhouette of the deserted place loomed before me, an eerie backdrop for bad decisions. Best-case scenario: Bradley had shown up alone, and Liam and he were battling. Worst case: I’d walk into a cemetery. The whoosh and thump of my pulse thickened the odd quiet, leaving me half deaf and jumpy.
On an inhale, I exited the car, my legs like noodles. The urgent concern for Liam’s welfare pushed me forward, fueling my determination. With every step, the impression of walking into a crypt increased, but I couldn’t allow fear to consume me. Liam needed me, and I wouldn’t back down now.
I popped the trunk and grabbed my dad’s hefty shotgun, now more thankful than ever that he had taken me hunting with him years ago. As I approached the airfield’s entrance, I clutched the weapon tightly and stayed within the shadows.
With each stride, the darkness gave way, a lighter sky pushed through, and flecks of orange and yellow skimmed the distance. I entered the abandoned airfield, inching the door open, and immediately heard gunshots. Heart lodged near my collarbone, I ducked low and slunk inside, rounding behind a stack of crates for cover.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Bradley hissed, hunkered behind the same barrier. His clothes were covered in dust and dirt like he’d rolled around with Pigpen from Charlie Brown.
I looked at him in complete disbelief, then around the stacks, then back at him. “What the hell are you doing here?” I pointed. “Who’s shooting?”
He pressed his mouth together before answering, the hard angles of his face severe in the dim light. “You’re gonna get yourself killed.”
I gaped. “Seriously?” The word cracked in my chest. I gripped the gun like it was tethered to my sanity. If Bradley was the enemy, hiding in a corner and pretending to care about my safety was a poor show of his wrath. “What the hell is going on? Why are you not trying to kill me?”
Bradley laughed, but it lacked the sunny humor I knew from school. “You have nothing to do with this. Why would I kill you? Hell, you might be the only real friend I’ve ever had.” He motioned with his head toward the report of gunshots. “It’s the Hunter family I want dead. Or wanted dead. I don’t even know what I want anymore.” He rested his head against the wooden box behind him, baleful gaze toward the ceiling.
“Wanted?” I lifted a brow.
Bradley pulled his knees into his chest, forearms wrapped around his shins. “The short version? I thought Ronnie was responsible for everything bad in my life. But apparently my dad’s the one who killed my mom, and even though Ronnie infected me, she didn’t do it to control me. She thought it could save me from a worse fate.”
I covered my mouth with my free hand. “Wow. I’m . . .” What could I even say to that?
He waved me off. “I’m not overly surprised. My dad’s as evil as they come. Daryl has always felt more like a father to me. It broke his heart when Ronnie threw us out of her pack, but we didn’t know my dad had committed such a heinous crime. We just thought she didn’t want us anymore, after my mom’s death, that she felt guilty for what she had done. That’s what my dad said anyway.” Bradley shrugged, but I could tell the betrayal stung by the way his lashes lowered, fluttering as if to keep tears at bay.
Another shot sounded, and I jumped, worry seizing me again. “Who’s out there shooting then?”
“Your boyfriend and his mother against my family.”
My jaw slackened. Did he just say that Liam and his mother had teamed up?
“You heard me correctly. Liam and Ronnie are fighting . . .” Bradley paused. “Actually, I don’t know who’s left anymore. No way they’re all still alive after that many fired rounds.”
I pressed my fingers to my temple. Veronica and Liam were out there. “Okay, well, I’m going in.”
Bradley’s hand swung out as he grabbed my forearm. “The hell you are. They’ll kill you. I’m not letting them take you too. You’re all I have left.”
I ripped my arm out of his hold. “Friend or not. I’m not going to let them kill Liam either.”
Bradley ground his teeth. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”
The shots stopped. A women cried out. Bradley lifted his chin toward a strangled howl, and he peeked around the crates. “Shit. Veronica’s hit.” He grabbed the side of my arm and jerked me upright, jostling the shotgun out of my grip. “I’m getting you out of here.”
“Oh, I don’t think so, son.” Metal pressed into my back. My heart rammed against my ribs, my breathing picking up. “Walk, girl.”
“Dad, no.” Bradley pleaded, holding his hands up in surrender. “Take me. Not her. Please, haven’t you stolen enough people from my life? I’ll do anything.”
I pinned my eyes on Bradley, silently asking him what I should do. My racing pulse sharpened the world but fogged my brain with a sound like crashing waves in a storm. If Mark could kill his wife, I didn’t doubt for one second, he’d put a bullet through my back. But better that than be used as a lure to bait Liam to his death.
Mark, more beast than man, pressed harder into my spine, pushing me forward. “Don’t make me repeat myself. Walk.”
“Just do what he says,” Bradley answered, giving me a slight dip of his chin for reassurance. Not that I believed we had any.
The three of us trekked toward the middle of the hangar. Veronica lay on the ground clutching her bleeding arm. Liam sat behind her, his jacket lying next to him and his long-sleeved T-shirt in his arms. Blood was smeared around his shoulder and crusted down his bicep and elbow. His glistening chest shone in the light filtering through the now illuminated windows. The sun had met the sky, and morning had found us. Too bad my father and the others hadn’t.
“I think I have something you both may want,” Mark growled.
Liam paused with his ripped shirt in mid-wrap around his mother’s wound.
“Mark,” Veronica hissed, pushing herself upright with her good arm. A muscle in her jaw ticked.
Liam’s head snapped up. Rage ignited behind his irises like a blue flame.
“I’m fine.” I tried to comfort him, but his shoulders tensed in response, the muscles along his chest flexing. More blood seeped from his wound.
Liam finished wrapping his mother’s arm and stood, blocking her with his body. “Let her go, or I will kill you.” The structure of his face shifted, the words barely escaping his taut mouth.
“Dad, let her go.” Bradley echoed Liam’s command, stepping closer. “I’ll do anything you want.”
“Anything I want, huh? Where was this attitude when I first asked you to leave Ronnie and come away with me? You said no then, right?”
Bradley nodded, tears forming along his lower lids.
“But now, when you’re the one asking me for the favor, you think pulling the family card means I have to say yes, huh?”
Bradley swallowed.
Mark’s deep chuckle raised the hairs on my arms. I heard the click and braced myself—knowing what a gunshot felt like already—but the bullet zinged into the meat of Bradley’s arm instead. His body lurched backward with a spurt of blood. Tears wetted his red-darkened cheeks as his wolf side emerged. His teeth elongated and claws broke through his nailbeds as he hissed like a cat. His paw-like hand clutched his injury, blood dripping between the webbing.
“Mark, stop it,” Veronica commanded.
“I don’t work for you anymore, Ronnie. Keep your ass down and shut the hell up, or the next bullet is yours.”
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Liam shouted.
My eyes widened. Whether Liam knew it or not, he’d just defended his monster mother. I hoped we’d have a chance to revisit that . . . in this life, preferably.
Bradley bared his teeth. His eyes glowed, the pupils thinning into black slits. “I said, let her go.”
“Well, since you asked nicely.”
Everything happened so fast. A hand knocked me forward, and a thunderclap of gunfire pierced the air. I landed sprawled on the hard ground before I realized I’d fallen. Someone fired another shot, then a third. The ringing in my ears echoed like a gong beaten right in my face. Someone screamed. I think it was me. I closed my eyes, thinking I’d taken at least one hit, but no pain arose other than my mildly bruised front.
“Are you okay?”
My eyes snapped open. I clutched my chest. It pounded but was still intact. Liam’s breath punched in and out of his lungs as he stared at me, waiting for my answer.
“I . . .”
A crumpled body lay in a pool of blood several feet from me. I whimpered, the person’s slack face blurring as hot tears gathered at the corners of my eyes. “What happened?” The words broke on a sob.
“He saved you.” Liam cradled my head in his hands. “Mark pushed you at him, planning to shoot you in the back, but Bradley jumped in between you. The bullet must’ve been silver. It got him straight in the heart.”
Grief and guilt cut deep into my gut, nicking a paralyzing nerve that arrested my heartbeat. Bradley’s green eyes stared lifelessly back at me. Blood bubbled out from his mouth, covering his pale lips in a stark, shining red. The heat of a tear trailed down my cheek.
Liam used the pad of his thumb to wipe it away. “I don’t think he used you. Somewhere in all this mess, he really did care for you.” Liam turned my head away from the devastating scene and pulled me into his arms. I went willingly. “Bradley’s distraction gave me the time to get my ankle gun, and I shot Mark, a couple times for good measure.”
“Veronica?” I pulled out of Liam’s arms and stood, frantic. We both swiveled around and around.
She was gone.