Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
“Otto,” Haddie cried, and Theo looped an arm around her waist to keep her from running to him.
“I’ll end you if you even look at her again, and I’ll do it gladly,” Otto hissed as he angled over him. “You got me?”
Dusty and the other guy who’d been with Gideon edged forward, and Cash stepped in front of them, craning his head in a silent warning.
No one else moved. They all watched, agitation billowing through them as they waited to see what would happen next.
Otto finally shoved Gideon hard, and he turned on his heel and stormed back across to the rest of them. All the guys turned at the same time, making a circle around Raven and Haddie as they hurried them out of the bar, ignoring the jeers and laughter that suddenly went up once everyone realized there wasn’t going to be a fight.
They all stumbled out onto the sidewalk, and Raven dragged heaving breaths into her lungs once they were out in the cool night air. Trying to calm the frantic flogging of her heart.
They kept ushering them down the sidewalk, looking over their shoulders as they steered them farther away from the bar and down the street. When the sound of the music was only a dull drone behind them, Otto whirled, fury on his face.
“What the fuck did you two think you were doing?”
Shame swept through Raven, and Haddie shifted on her feet, though she tried to shrug it off like it was no big deal. “We just wanted to have a little fun. See where you guys hang out at night.”
Otto’s laugh was hollow as he tilted his head toward the sky and scrubbed his hands over his face before he whipped his attention back to her. Venom coated his words as he threw them her direction. “You wanted to have a little fun? Those guys are fuckin’ dangerous, Haddie. Fuckin’ dangerous. They could have—”
He clipped off with a shout of fury, spinning around and ripping at his hair like he was envisioning exactly what could have happened.
Raven’s guts twisted in horror, just then realizing how reckless their actions had actually been.
A tear slipped down Haddie’s eye, and she swept it away. “I’m sorry. I just…”
“Don’t just me. Just fuckin’ listen to me for once. Please. You stay away from here. Stay away from all of them.”
She scoffed as her brow pinched. “So, it’s fine for you all to be here, having a great time, but not for the rest of us?”
Displeasure roiled in Otto, though Raven could feel the worry that underscored his demeanor. “You think this is fun to me? To us? We do it to survive, Haddie. We do it so we can put a halfway decent roof over our heads. So we can provide for you because no one else is going to fuckin’ do it.”
He leaned in closer. “We do it so you and Raven have good lives. And you’re not gonna get that kind of life by comin’ around here. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. It was clear she meant it that time.
Pain leached out of Otto’s heavy sigh as he pulled her into a fierce hug. “Need you to listen when I tell you something, Haddie. Need you to hear me. I promise you I’m not makin’ rules for the sake of it, but only to keep you safe.”
Raven met Otto’s intense gaze from where he looked at her from over Haddie’s shoulder, his sister still plastered tight against him. She felt him trying to press the same desperation into her as he was to Haddie.
“Let’s go,” River said, voice low and filled with disappointment.
Haddie sent Raven a look. One of apology. Raven reached out and squeezed her hand. A promise that it was okay, all while she was praying Haddie would actually listen.
“No. No, no, no, no.”
Raven thrashed, flailed and fought.
“No, please, no.”
A wail tore up her throat. She shot upright, and her eyes pitched open to the darkness of her room.
Her hand went to her mouth like she would be able to reel back in the shout that she could still almost hear echoing against the walls.
Like she could hide it.
But she should have known better. Should have known the door handle was going to slowly turn and a massive figure cast in shadows was going to emerge in the doorway.
Only she wasn’t afraid. She was never, ever afraid when it came to him, and right then, she felt both a wash of relief and shame.
Otto’s bare feet creaked over the floorboards as he quietly crept across her room, and like he always did when she had a nightmare, he slid down the side of the wall and onto the floor next to her bed.
Only tonight, his spirit was all different. His own turmoil pulsed and undulated, ricocheting into hers.