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Brianna

A short, sharp rat-a-tat-tat mercilessly dragged her from her sleep. Bri groaned as she awoke, arriving back in a body that felt like it had been through a meat grinder. She glanced around, having a vague recollection of Koa depositing her on a sofa following her seizure, but where and when that was remained a mystery.

She struggled to rise, realising the inside of her cheek was chewed up worse than one of Jasmine’s old toys. The open doorway told her she was in one of the rooms off where she and Reina had entered earlier. Blue light flickered on the floor, telling her the wall of screens were still on.

From out in the main room, Mom’s snarl had her spine straightening. I guess Mom is still here too. “Of course I’m goddamned sure. The only person who knew this address was you .”

“If I was the leak then the Wraiths would have already been here waiting to pick us off as we arrived,” Reina shot back. Both of them were out of sight, but the open doorway allowed Bri to hear clearly. “The moment you sent out that emergency text, everyone had these coordinates, not just me. Pull your head out of your ass before you start throwing around accusations you can’t prove.”

Bri’s eyes went wide at the sudden burst of automatic gunfire from somewhere above her head. The distorted echo of the same sound came through speakers in the main room, along with Koa’s voice. “We’re surrounded, Vivian. Our estimates on their numbers are way off.”

“Shit.” There was a click. “All of the cameras on the eastern side are down. Tell me what’s happening over there,” Mom responded, her voice twisted by something Bri had never associated with her mother before.

Fear.

I should have stayed in that fucking boba shop . Mom had been right. Bri had nothing to do with this. She should have taken the chance to run whilst she could still grasp it.

And now she was trapped in the middle of nowhere between two rival gangs. And I think I know who’s losing.

In the midst of her fear, Bri’s focus fell on something familiar. The light from the screens in the main room was just bright enough to illuminate a briefcase resting against the foot of the sofa—the same briefcase Koa had put her phone in earlier.

“I can see some of the Wraiths getting picked off by the traps out by the road, but it’s not enough to stop them,” Koa’s voice said from far away.

Bri gingerly unclasped the briefcase, trying to muffle the noise of the metal clasp with her hand. With a start of relief, she snatched her phone out and turned it on, holding it below the blankets to conceal its light.

Click. “Give me something useful to work with, for fuck’s sake,” Mom snapped over heavy gunfire. “I can’t reach Miller or Epps on the radio. Can you see them?” Click.

A distorted gunshot came through the speakers, and she heard Reina gasp. “Another camera down,” Reina reported.

Texts started coming through immediately. A whole lot of them. Most were from Aldous, but there were some from Roman too. Despite the threat to her own safety fast approaching, she took comfort from the fact that the texts were after her seizure.

Whatever emergency had Koa shepherding her and Reina here hadn’t involved Aldous or Roman.

“The last time I heard Miller’s rifle going off was about ten minutes ago. Either he ran out of bullets or the Wraiths brought snipers of their own,” Koa bit out a harsh response, harsh enough to have her eyes widening. “Feel free to come up here and take his place, Vivian.”

Click. “Do your goddamn job, Koa. Or we’re all dead.” Click. “You load the guns, Reina. I’ll try and get these cameras working.”

Over the combined sound of gunfire and Reina trying to persuade Mom to be nicer to Koa, Bri wrestled with what to send to the group chat between her, Aldous and Roman. Her first instinct was to send her location, but she decided against it almost immediately.

It wasn’t safe for them here. What was Roman going to do against a gang renowned for their brutality? He was one man.

From above came the deafening roar of something exploding. She sucked in a breath as its shockwave shook dust loose from the cracks overhead, shaking the walls and rattling the sofa she rested on. Bri’s gaze shot to the ceiling above her, fearful that it would come crashing down.

But would that be so bad a death, if the Wraiths are waiting for me upstairs?

She swallowed, trying to drown out the chaos drifting in from above. Bri was slow to type out the message, knowing it might be the last she ever sent.

I love you both. I’m sorry.