Page 44 of The Souls We Claim

“Hey,” Halo says. His hair is now up in a messy man bun.

“Hey.”

“That was a dick thing to say. I’m sorry.” He looks contrite, but then how many times had Patrick bought me flowers the next morning as an unspoken apology?

“It was.”

“My own emotions got the better of me, some shit I hadn’t dealt with bubbled to the surface, and it took over my own clarity.”

I boost myself up onto the metal unit Rae had sat on. “Talk to me.”

“About what?”

“About the shit you hadn’t dealt with.”

He shakes his head. “Not dumping my shit on to someone else.”

“Funny how you keep expecting me to dump my shit on you.”

“Brat.” Halo comes and rests his butt on the edge of the unit and folds his hands across his chest. We’re both looking at the wall ahead of us. “We think we know who killed Dad and Mercy but haven’t been able to find them.”

This is news. I want them caught. “If you know who it is, why can’t you go to the police?”

“Because the evidence is circumstantial. Plus, I want to kill the motherfuckers, watch them bleed out onto the ground for killing my dad.”

I understand the concept of revenge. There have been times when I dreamed of killing Patrick in his sleep, but I’m too scared of getting caught or ending up in prison.

And it’s also a stark reminder of the kind of life Halo leads. Of what this club is all about.

I think about the exercise Rae just made me do. “That feels like the action you want to do. What’s the emotion driving it?”

Halo glances my way. “Revenge. Anger. A lot of shit.”

“What else?” I ask.

“Can’t that be enough?”

I hold out my pieces of paper. “You’re getting off easy. I had to write a list.”

Halo glances down at my sheets, but I snatch them away before he can take them from me and read anything. “Rae?”

I nod. “I like her.”

“Me too. Did she tell you King kidnapped her in revenge for some shit her brother, Saint, pulled?”

“Wait. What? Briar told me Saint was Rae’s brother. KingkidnappedRae. Like, took her without her consent?”

“Last time I checked, the ‘without consent’ part is a critical part of kidnaping. And you can cool your heels. They’re madly in love and shit now.” Halo shoulder checks me gently. “But it’s also why you can’t be running off through the clubhouse on your own. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“You think I’m unsafe here?”

At this, Halo lets out a sigh. “Not really. I guess I just feel the need to take care of you, kitten.”

“You call me ‘kitten,’ but I’m not just a street cat you take in and care for. In fact, it’s the opposite. I need to find my own feet.”

“I believe you. That you’re Lola’s aunt,” Halo says.

“Good. Because that was a really mean thing to say.”