Page 96

Caleb appeared in the doorway, his eyes wide with panic. “What the hell are you doing, just standing in here? Do something!”
Hayden stood to his full height, spinning around and going chest to chest with the slightly shorter man. “What exactly do you want me to do?” he snarled. “Waltz out there and give myself up? They’ll kill me before I even get a foot onto the porch.”
“I paid you to protect me!”
“Are you dead? No. Then shut up and let me think.”
“Think faster then, you idiot! Fuck me, this is what I get for hiring trailer trash from Saint View to do anything. You incompetent, useless waste of space.”
Hayden drove his palms against Caleb’s chest and slammed him up against the wall. “How about I throw you out there as a motherfucking sacrifice?”
I voted for that plan.
Caleb pulled Hayden’s gun from the waistband of his pants and shoved it into his stomach. “You ungrateful shit. Get the fuck off me.”
Hayden’s jaw ground viciously, but his gaze slid to me.
I didn’t know what expression I wore, but it was probably something close to pure terror.
Hayden stepped back and took a phone from his pocket instead, ignoring the gun trained on him.
Caleb shook himself and straightened his shoulders now that Hayden wasn’t supporting his weight anymore. “That’s more like it. I’ll accept your apology later. Who the hell are you calling?”
Hayden stared at me, phone held to his ear. “Backup to come get them.”
“What?” Caleb argued. “They’re not going anywhere. The only reason this house isn’t full of bullet holes is because of these stupid sluts and the Slayers’ bleeding hearts.”
Nova glanced silently at the rest of us. Her eyes quietly expressive.
Her message was clear. We should have made a run for it. Taken our chances on the MC with the bad reputation outside.
Maybe we still could.
In a panic, I shook my head no, but Nova turned away, pretending she didn’t see.
Hayden spit out the address into the phone before Caleb snatched it from his grasp and threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a splintering crack and dropped uselessly onto the threadbare carpet. “You’d better hope they didn’t catch that address. Those girls are worth more than your life, so watch me put a bullet in your brain before I give them up.”
Another round of gunfire from the corner of the house lit up the night. Winnie screamed again; her trembling so intense it spread to the rest of us.
Nova pushed to her feet to shout in Caleb’s face. “You can’t keep us here!” She dove for the curtain, ripping it aside. “Help! Help!”
Caleb’s smacked her across the face with the handle of the gun. “Shut up! Shut up! I can’t think with you all screaming!”
Hayden caught her as she stumbled dizzily across the room, her eyes fluttering like she was fighting to stay conscious. He lowered her to the floor beside us.
“Keep her on her side for a minute.”
Vivienne nodded, helping Hayden roll her over while smoothing Nova’s pretty red hair back off her face.
A huge red-purple mark spread across her temple and cheekbone. Her eyes rolled back, and her entire body shook viciously.
“She’s having a seizure!” I hissed at Hayden. “Do something!”
“I already did,” he whispered back. “There’s an ambulance already on its way. When it gets here, you and the baby, and now her, will go with them.”
I widened my eyes at him. “What do you mean? What about the others?”
Hayden glanced grimly at the other women huddled around me. “I’ll do my best to make sure they’re safe.”