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The vehicles had been blown away, as if they weighed no more than fallen leaves. There was nothing left of them but shattered glass, a few bits of metal and plastic, and the shredded black rubber of tires. Even Roman’s car had been blasted across the road and now lay on its roof, a halo of shattered glass glittering around it.

Something touched Shay’s hand. She startled, but it was only Roman.

“Are you okay?” he asked her. Shay had to read his lips, her ears still screeching too loudly to hear properly. She managed a nod, and he helped her stand. Brushed bits of glass out of her hair. Swiped his thumb across the thick blood caked on the skin between her nose and lips.

“I’m fine,” she assured him. Her voice sounded odd. Distant. A stranger’s voice.

Her breath caught for a whole different reason as Roman slid both of his hands to the back of her head, gently cupping her neck with a trembling grip. He scanned her face—just for a moment, as if convincing himself that she was okay. Alive.

And then he nodded—to himself, mostly. Confirming that yes, she was indeed okay. He let go of her neck and took her by the hand, lacing his fingers with hers. Together they approached Pax, walking carefully across glass, blood, and gods knew what else.

Roman paused a distance away, as if it were not his brother he was approaching, but a wild animal. “Pax?” he croaked.

Paxton’s eyes snapped their way—and widened, as if he were just noticing them. It took him a moment to find his voice.

“I’m sorry.” Paxton’s apology was hoarse, his chin wobbling. Tears fell from his eyes, clearing tracks through the filth on his face. The dark lines Shay had seen…they were gone, and so was all the black from his eyes. A ragged sob clawed its way through him. “I’m sorry,I’m so sorry!”Another noisy, ragged gasp. “I— I— I didn’t m—mean to?—”

Roman let go of Shay’s hand and stumbled forward. He only made it two feet before he crashed to his knees, his arms opening to Pax. “Come here,” he choked out on a sob.

Paxton sprinted into Roman’s arms.

“It’s okay,” Roman breathed as Paxton collided with him, still in shock, and fully sagged in his arms, weeping softly. “It’s okay, Pax. It’s okay. You’re okay, I got you. I got you. You didn’t do anything wrong?—”

“Ikilledthem!” Paxton wailed. Shay’s heart broke for him. Those horrible men had tried to hurt him first, and yet here he was, crying over hurting them by accident.“I killed them, I killed them! I’m a monster?—”

“Listen to me,” Roman urged softly.“Listen.”He pulled Paxton back so he could look him in the eyes, his thumbs wiping tears off Paxton’s cheeks. “You’re not a monster, Pax. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was an accident, okay? It was just an accident, Pax. That’s all it was.”

Roman hugged him again—hard. Paxton cried on his shoulder, his thin arms squeezing his big brother’s neck tight, fingers curling in his ripped and blood-stained shirt.

A glow caught Shay’s eye. It was a phone—lying on the ground a few feet away.

Shay tiptoed over to it, limping as pebbles and shards of glass dug into her shredded feet. With bleary vision, she peered down at the screen.

The name she saw above the call duration—11:03 and still ticking—caused her stomach to plummet.

“Roman,” she croaked.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Roman turn his head.

Shay pointed at the device with a scraped finger.

Roman stood, wincing. He took Paxton by the hand, and together they came over.

For a moment, they stood there, all three of them. Staring at the phone in silence.

With blood-slick, shaking hands, Roman picked up the phone and lifted it to his ear, holding his breath as he listened. The person on the other end did not speak, but from the look on Roman’s pale face, he knew his father was there. Knew his father was waiting to see if his son would dare to break the silence first.

So that was exactly what Roman did. “Come after us again,” Roman warned in a low, lethal voice, “and you’ll be next.”

He threw the phone to the ground and crushed it beneath the heel of his boot.

70

Angelthene Rec Center

ANGELTHENE, STATE OF WITHEREDGE

Darien barely hadtime to rip his jacket off before he was diving into the pool, water spraying around him like a bomb blast.