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Sweating, Roman staggered to his feet, his cuffs digging into his wrists as the chains snapped taut, and peered through the window guards.

The skeletons of three squad cars were burning.

Three of four. Only Paxton’s remained.

And it was Paxton’s car that was now idling about a mile back, walled in by two muscle cars that belonged to Shadowmasters.

Chains rattled as Shay came over to stand at his side.

Their hearts raced as they watched and listened.

The front doors of the van opened. Footsteps clapped on the pavement as the two cops fled for the barren land on either side of the interstate.

Shots popped through the air.Pop. Pop. Pop.

Bodies hit the ground with dull thuds and muffled cries.

More shots came from behind them—near the car that held Paxton.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

Roman’s wide eyes snapped to Shay’s face. She wasn’t breathing, and neither was he.

Thick smoke from the burning cars had swallowed the road. It veiled the windows and kept them from seeing what was happening outside. Where Paxton was.

Where his father was.

Roman’s heart quaked in fear as Donovan’s tall, broad-shouldered silhouette materialized in the smoke.

His pulse quickened. Beating dizzyingly fast as he watched that too-familiar silhouette approach the van with that cocky gait he so hated.

This was it. His dad was going to execute him, right here on this road. Force him to kneel on the pavement and shoot him in the back of the head, probably. He’d make Paxton watch as his big brother’s blood pooled across the ground.

It would break him. His funny, selfless, kind, and loving little brother… His life would be shattered.

“Roman.” Panic choked Shay’s voice. She tried to back away, tried looking for a weapon, but there was nothing and nowhere to go.

The doors shuddered with a bang.

Roman backed away, his heart jumping into his mouth.

Shit.Shit shit shit.

“Oh gods!”Shay panted, pressing against his side. “What do we do?”

He didn’t know. He was going to faint?—

The left door swung open. Then the right.

Sunlight flooded the van. Roman instinctively threw a hand up to block it.

He blinked.

Blinked again.

“No way,” he breathed. His knees shook—not from fear, but relief.

The man standing before him smiled. A real,genuinesmile, the skin at the outer corners of his eyes crinkling.