Page 61 of Twister's Salvation

Silence settled for a beat.

Then Britta straightened and grabbed her drink.“Well, if someone tries to throw a brick throughthisbar, I’m grabbing the bat from the back office and breaking knees.”

Swift smirked.It was subtle, but it was there.

“I mean it,” Britta added.“Try me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, and the tightness in my chest eased just a little.

The world was still uncertain, and danger hadn’t backed down.But I wasn’t alone in it.Not anymore.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Twister

Leaving Tempi never sat right with me.Not even for a minute.

She was still tucked in her bed, curled up like the past few days hadn’t changed everything.But they had.For her.For me.For all of us.

I watched her for a second as the morning light leaked around the edges of the blackout curtain.Her hair was a mess.My shirt was slipping off her shoulder.And all I wanted to do was crawl back in beside her and pretend like the world outside didn’t exist.

Instead, I pulled on my cut.

Tempi stirred, her lashes fluttering open.“You leavin’ already?”

“Yeah,” I said softly.“Church.”

She pushed up onto her elbows, blinking through the fog of sleep.“Is it about the brick?”

“Yeah.”

Tempi’s gaze flicked toward the window, and I could see it then, plain as day.She was scared.

Not shaking-in-the-corner scared.But the kind that got into your bones and made your stomach twist.The kind that came from knowing shit was out of your control.

I crossed back to the bed and leaned down to brush her hair back from her face.“I’ll come back, doll.I always come back.”

She caught my wrist.“What if they don’t stop, Twister?What if this just keeps getting worse?”

“They’re trying to rattle us,” I said.“Push us out.That’s all it is.”

“But they hurt me.”Her voice was barely a whisper.

My jaw clenched.“I know.And I should’ve seen it coming.”

“No, you’re not—” she shook her head.“You’re not responsible for that.I just...I feel like it’s only going to escalate.”

I bent and kissed her slow, pouring everything into it I didn’t know how to say out loud.“Plug’s outside,” I murmured against her lips.“He’ll hang out ‘til I’m back.”

Tempi let out a soft, frustrated sigh.“I should be upset that I have to have a babysitter, but I’m not.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want you getting a brick to the head either.”

That earned a half-smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

I kissed her again, shorter this time, then headed down the stairs.Plug was already parked at the curb like a silent sentinel, his arms crossed, sunglasses on even though the sun was barely up.

“Keep her in your line of sight at all times,” I told him.