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Though I was worried about my brothers, I knew they were more than capable of taking care of themselves. Addie, on the other hand, was oblivious to the horrors of this world. Maybe oblivious wasn’t the correct word, but naïve. She understood that there were monsters in the world, but she failed to recognize them until they were directly in front of her. She would mistake a gun for a flower until the bullet had shot through her heart and killed her. There was no distinction between black and white; instead, she perceived the world as shades of grey.

I feared that her innocence would lead to her death.

And her death, more so than anything else, I would not be able to survive.

I already decidedIwouldn’t live past Atlanta. What I had to do…

Shaking my head, I focused on the three figures before me. Asher was coated in blood - not his own, I knew - and Fallon looked positively feral. He was a scary man on the best of days, but just then, he appeared murderous. A beast trapped too long in a cage.

They were talking amongst one another, but I didn’t bother trying to read their lips.

Tamson was with Addie, I knew that. And he would protect her with his life. Ronan and Ryder were together. I was even worried about the little bastard, Tommy. He had grown on me like a fungus. Granted, I didn’t like the way he looked at Addie, but I reminded myself she wasn’t mine in the first place. She was Calax’s.

Not mine.

Fallon’s head whipped towards the garage just as the door was pushed open. Elena ran in first, her coat wet from windward rain, but her skin surprisingly unharmed. I felt nothing but relief when I saw her.

Glancing over her shoulder, I strained to spot Addie and Tam.

Lilly was there. And Samantha. And the others...wait. Not all of the others.

Fallon turned towards her and said something. I wished I could hear his words, for Elena’s face paled drastically. She looked exhausted, heavy bags under her eyes and cheeks stained from what appeared to be tears.

Calax’s expression contorted with an almost incandescent fury, a mirror of Asher’s. Fighting off my agitation at being left in the dark, I focused on Fallon just as he pressed Elena into the wall. His hand wrapped around her throat, and her eyes widened. Samantha charged forward, but stopped when Lilly put a restraining hand on her arm.

I knew Fallon could kill Elena. And he would, too, if Addie wouldn’t have seen him as a monster. The man never hesitated to kill someone if his family was in danger, male or female. It was just one of the reasons why he was the respected and feared team leader.

Noting my quirked brow, Asher hurried to sign,

“The bitch left them there to die.”

My body thrummed with a blistering rage. I had never been the type to want to hit a female, but just then I wished my fist accidentally connected with her face. She was a petty female driven by jealousy and lust.

Fallon said something else, something that made Elena cry, before he released her. Without a word, he stormed towards the garage and the cars.

“Come on boys,” Asher signed, a cheerful smile on his face. The man was a closeted psychopath. “Rain or shine, we have to get our girl back.”

“And Ryder and Ronan?” I inquired.

“They can take care of themselves,” Calax injected. His face was glacial, almost as if it was carved from stone. I wondered what Elena had said to cause all of them to behave so aggressively.

A problem for another time, I supposed.

Right now, I had to focus on saving my girl.