Page 4 of Only Fools Rush

“I swear to God, if you hurt yourself trying to save me, I’ll never kiss you again.” I bit my cheek against the sob threatening to burst from my throat. I wouldnotlet him hurt himself. Not for me. Especially not after I caused this mess.

He gaped, but that shut him up.

Ryuji snorted. Wynn exchanged a glance with Obi.

Cas would make me pay for that later, but right now, we had to get out of here without things getting worse.

“I’m okay.” I sighed. “Just help me up. Ciel?”

Cas and Ciel pulled me to my feet, and I swayed. My leg screamed, but it didn’t seem broken. My head still swam, so I had to lean against Cas’s body to stay upright. The others led us through the rubble of Club Thunder. The entire structure wasblown out, with the back wall gone. Chairs and furniture were overturned and destroyed. The bar where Konstantin Makarov, the head of the Bratva, and I had sat only an hour ago was split in two. How the hell had we survived at all? And how had Max? Was he somewhere underneath the wreckage?

My gut said no, but a girl could hope.

“Where’s Makarov?”

“Went after Volpe,” Ciel responded, voice clipped.

They practically drug us out what used to be the back door, all the way to Ciel’s van. We piled into the back while Obi slipped into the driver’s seat to start the engine. Ciel sank into his computer chair, furiously typing.

“Ciel?” Obi asked as he threw the van into drive. Wynn climbed into the passenger seat. Ryuji leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, blood trickling down his face. Cas held me so tightly I almost couldn’t breathe, but his touch spread calm through my veins.

“Can’t go the normal route. Take 10th south instead.”

“Done.” The van squealed around a corner.

“Where is Max?” I grimaced when we hit a bump that caused me to fall against Cas’s chest. His good arm tightened around me, and I hated the sight of his wrecked fingernails.

Ciel tapped on his phone before holding it up to his ear. “Makarov? Any update?” He paused, listening. “Fuck. O—okay.” His fingers flew across the keyboard. “Shit. No, I see you.” A grainy image of the big blond came up on Ciel’s screen before he switched windows. “It’s fine. All right, I’ll let them know.” He pressed the end button, then dropped the phone into his lap with a scowl.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Makarov tracked him a few streets away, but then lost the trail. The footage disappears,” Ciel said. He took a second to rub his eyes, then got back to work. He clicked through so manydifferent tabs and windows, I could barely keep track. How the hell was he making sense of anything? “But I’m working on it. He won’t get far.”

“Find him,” Cas grumbled, voice rumbling against my back.

“Iknow,” Ciel snapped.

I squeezed Cas’s wrist in warning.

“Give him a break,” Ryuji said, wrapping a makeshift bandage around his head.

“If we lose him, he’ll disappear,” Cas replied. “He’ll go underground. We’ll never find him again.”

“I said, I’ll fucking find him,” Ciel hissed.

My eyes went wide at my shy hacker’s tone. I’d never heard him so upset.

Fuck, this was not going well. First, our plans went to shit, and now the guys were at each other’s throats. What was I supposed to do? Step in? Let them figure it out?

“He couldn’t have gotten far,” I offered, trying to keep the peace despite the growing tension. “Keep driving. We can catch him.”

Obi’s eyes met mine in the rearview in the same moment another wave of nausea rolled through my body. I pressed my hand against my mouth to keep from throwing up all over the van. Addthatto my growing list of fears, because that would leave me even more mortified, and I’d never be able to look these guys in the eyes again.

Obi’s hand clenched on the wheel. “We’re going home.”

“No.” I breathed through my nose to tamp down a gag. “We can’t let him get away.”

“Leona.”