Page 50 of The Burdens We Share (Satan’s Angels #3)

“I don’t have much time. I really need to go,” I rush the words out. I don’t even know how much time I’ve wasted with her.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll walk inside that house and tell Dallas exactly what you’re doing,” she threatens, menace in her voice.

My jaw drops, “You wouldn’t.”

She winks at me, “I so would and you know it.”

I weigh out the consequences. Aria running back inside and telling Dallas what I’m doing is more of a problem than me disobeying orders from my stalker.

At least if I tell her I still have a fighting chance at getting Brody home.

I take a long breath, “Fine. You win,” I start.

“I got a phone call a couple hours ago from my stalker.”

Her face contorts into confusion, “How? He’s in jail.”

I shake my head, “Apparently the wrong guy got locked up. He was just biding his time letting me think he was locked up, but he was free the whole time, watching me and waiting.”

Aria looks as though she comes to a sudden realization as her eyes widen in fear and her skin pales. “He took Brody,” she whispers as if afraid to say it any louder.

I nod, “He said he would let her go if I gave myself to him, so that’s what I was going to do. I had to sneak out because he threatened her if I told anyone or if I didn’t come alone.”

She covers her mouth with her hand, “Oh my God,” she mutters into her palm, the words coming out muffled.

I give her a long, sad look, “So this is why I need you to go back inside, okay? Please. Do this for B.”

She shakes her head, lowering her hand, and suddenly, rage fills her eyes. “No. I’m going with you and we are going to get our friend back and then we’re going to get that motherfucker locked up where he belongs.”

“If he sees you-”

“He won’t,” her voice leaves no room for question. She’s so confident in her words, that I almost believe them myself.

I shake my head at her, “It’s too risky.”

She laughs, “When have we ever not done anything risky in this band?”

Again…valid point.

I know she’s right, yet I’m still afraid.

I’m afraid for Brody’s sake, but I know if she were in my position and I was the one that was taken, she would do everything in her power to get me back, and Aria would be right by her side.

What the three of us have is rare. We’re best friends, but more like family.

We have an unbreakable bond and even after all the fucked up shit we’ve done and been through together, we’re still standing.

While the world beneath our feet has changed, the only thing that remained constant was our friendship. And I refuse to lose that friendship.

I know it’s reckless and definitely stupid, but I raise my chin as I say, “Fine. Let’s go get our drummer back.”

Dallas

MY EYES ARE ON fire. I swear if I stare at this screen a second longer, they’re going to melt and pour out of my head and I’ll never be able to lay my eyes on my beautiful little devil again. I can’t have that so I close the laptop and rise from my seat.

Harvey glances up at me in question and I briefly explain, “I’m going to take a quick break and check on Ivory,” before I head upstairs.

As I walk away I hear Slater add, “I should check on Aria. She’s been in the bathroom a while.”

I make it up the stairs and to my bedroom, anticipation growing in my chest as I start to feel lighter with each step.

As I get closer to her, I feel my unease start to settle, replaced by this swell of an emotion I’m unsure of.

Part of me knows what it is, an emotion more complex than just four little letters, but I can’t voice them to her yet.

I want to voice it when the time is right, and while her friend is missing, it isn’t exactly the best time.

I open the door and step inside, flicking on the lamp on my side of the bed.

I expect to find her curled up in my sheets, a pink blanket I got just for her wrapped around her like a cocoon, but my stomach falls when I find the bed empty and the blanket folded on her side of the bed.

“Ivory?” I call out into the room, loud enough for her to hear me if she were in the bathroom.

No response.

Unease settles in my gut and I stop breathing as I focus my gaze back on her empty side of the bed as if I can will her there.

The only thing on her side is her phone.

I kneel on the bed, pressing my hand on my pillow for support as I reach for the pink case, but stop when I hear a crinkling sound that sounds a lot like paper.

It came from my pillowcase. I lean back and grab the pillow case, opening it and peering inside.

I find a folded-up piece of paper and already feel my chest splitting in half, my heart tearing free. Something is wrong.

I unfold the paper and read Ivory’s familiar scrawl:

Dallas,

I don’t know how to start this, because no matter what I say, it won’t be enough. It won’t make up for the fact that I didn’t get to say this to your face. It won’t make up for all the moments I let slip through my fingers, too scared to admit what was right in front of me.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance to tell you in person, but I love you.

I should’ve said it a hundred times over.

I should’ve whispered it in the quiet moments when you stood guard outside my door when your hand brushed against mine and you pulled away too fast, when you looked at me like I was the most reckless, impossible thing you’d ever had to protect.

These past few years have been everything—the highs, the chaos, the music—but something was always missing.

And then there was you. You, with your stubborn loyalty and steady hands, with the way you always knew when to push me and when to just be there.

I never felt safe before you. Never felt like someone saw me for more than just the mess I’ve made.

But you did. And it made all the difference.

I can’t tell you where I’m going or who I’m meeting, but I know Brody will fill you in when she gets back.

Until then, can you do something for me?

Tell Selene I loved her, that I always appreciated her killer fashion sense and the way she made every single one of my dreams come true.

Tell Brody I am so, so sorry for what happened on our last tour. She deserved better from me. She always has. And tell her I hope she knows how much she means to me. Oh, and she was right—I did throw out that damn top she got in Japan. It wouldn’t have matched anything else anyway.

Tell Aria I love her, and she better write a killer song about me. Something heartbreaking and legendary. Something that’ll make people feel.

And Dallas… check in on my mom and my brother from time to time, okay? I know I don’t deserve to ask that of you, but it would make me feel better knowing they have someone like you looking out for them.

But more than anything, I need you to know how amazing you are. How much you changed my life. How safe you made me feel, how cared for, how—loved. You made me feel loved in a way I didn’t think I’d ever deserve.

Before I came along, you were drowning in guilt over your mother’s death, carrying a weight that was never yours to bear, but you bore it anyway.

I wish I could’ve stayed longer. I wish I could’ve shared it with you.

I would’ve carried every ounce of it if it meant keeping you from breaking under it.

Maybe in another life, I get to stay.

Maybe in another life, I get to love you the way you deserve.

Ivory

My heart feels like it was ripped clean from my chest right before my eyes and doused in kerosene, flames swallowing the organ alive. Ivory left. She’s gone. And she left me a goodbye letter.

No. I reread her letter again to make sure I’m really seeing what I’m seeing and when I finish reading the second time, I feel panic swirl in my throat. She’s gone. And she said she isn’t coming back.

I refuse to accept this. I just got her, I’m not letting her go that easily.

She told me in this letter that she loves me, but I want to hear the words from her lips.

I want to touch her, hold her, kiss her, all while I tell her how much I love her.

This woman, this small woman with a witty and wild little mouth that’s impossibly stubborn, but unbelievably thoughtful and kind.

Behind her visage of not giving a fuck about anything to everyone else, I’ve seen her for who and what she is.

She has a pure heart and I refuse to let its light fade out.

Someone is responsible for this because she wouldn’t have done this on her own.

No. She would’ve come to me, I know she would have.

She would have come to me and I would’ve protected her and kept her safe.

I would’ve done everything to bring her friend back to her because I love her that much.

I would sell my soul to that little devil if she so much as asked and I refuse to accept that she’s gone.

My pulse pounds in my ears, and my blood rushes fervently through my veins. I need to get my girl back. Now.

I grab her phone and unlock it as I make my way back downstairs to inform everyone of Ivory’s whereabouts.

She left her phone behind intentionally.

She knew I would track it and find her. I quickly open her messages app and find her most recent texts from a blocked contact.

I open it and read, stopping in my tracks. Fuck.

This can’t be possible. I feel the color leech from my cheeks as I shout, “Harvey!” I rush down the stairs and back into the kitchen to find everyone’s eyes wide with shock and fear.

They all look like they’ve seen ghosts. “What?” I ask, breathless.

I can’t handle anything else right now. The only thing on my mind is Ivory and the fact that her stalker was free this whole time waiting for the right moment to go after her.

I’m not an anxious person yet I find myself harping over every possibility, none of them positive. Is she scared? Is she hurt?

Slater’s face looks the way I feel. “Aria’s gone,” he says it in an almost neutral tone, robotic. As if he isn’t really believing the words coming out of his mouth. I know the feeling. And so does Harvey.

“What do you mean she’s gone?” I narrow my eyes at him. Ivory’s note sounded as though Aria wasn’t involved in this.

Slater’s eyes glaze over, “I mean she’s gone. She isn’t here and she didn’t tell me she was going anywhere.”

Harvey studies me, his eyes assessing every line of my face, his brows rising in surprise. He isn’t the kind of man to get surprised by anything. Even if something does surprise him, he’d never show it. “What is it?” He asks, seeing all of my anxiety on my face.

I drop Ivory’s letter on the counter, “Ivory’s gone too.”