Chapter 44
FORTY-FOUR
Water crashes violently against the rocks below me, hammering the coastline as I stand on the tall cliff and look out over the Atlantic Ocean.
It seems to go on forever.
I scan the endless stretch of water, where the sea folds into the sky, and massive rocky cliffs rise on either side of me. It feels so big out here, where everything is wild and open… and I’ve never felt smaller.
“Alright, we’re ready to go.” Kurt steps up beside me, but pauses as his eyes land on the view before us as well.
I glance back at my brothers as they all get their helmets on and settle on their bikes, ready to ride up the coast to St. John’s.
“I’ll call you when it’s clear for you to come up,” Kurt says, still watching the waves.
Then he lets out a breath, shaking his head.
“But clearly, the Wraiths have pull with the cops here. So far, they don’t seem to give a shit you got into a full-on shootout with the Wraiths out in the fucking open. ”
I nod. “Got us in. That’s all that matters.”
He chuckles. “Yeah. Guess so.” Then he pulls in a deep breath. “This is fucking happening.”
The corner of my lips twitch. “It’s fucking happening.”
And I still can’t quite believe it. I knew this plan would work…
but I wasn’t sure if the Wraiths and the Tides would be ready for it, or if we’d have to watch them burn before they saw what was coming.
I thought we might have to fight harder and prove more.
But once I got in with the Wraiths, and Kurt spoke to the Tides, it was clear they were already on edge and were already looking for a way to stop the Sons from pushing in. And we gave them one.
Atlantic Canada may be small and quiet, but we roar when we fucking need to.
“Black Tides should be here by tomorrow,” Kurt says. “Once we’re all in, we’ll meet and sort out first steps to get this plan off the ground.”
“Sounds good.”
Kurt nods and starts to turn back to his bike, but hesitates. Then he turns back to me. “Maple’s worried.”
I huff and keep my eyes on the waves crashing over a jagged rock just offshore. But the usual flare of anger and resentment doesn’t come at the sound of her name.
Instead, I see her wild, frantic eyes locked on me from under the table, and feel her hand on my arm, begging me not to run into gunfire.
“She’s worried about you,” Kurt continues.
“I’m sure,” I mutter.
“She is,” he says firmly, and turns to face me.
But I don’t look at him. “Losing your dad was hard on all of us. But she lost her father… and then had to watch her brother step right into his shoes, and risk the same thing, every day. It was harder than she let on, because she knew she couldn’t stop you.
You were born into this and built for it.
So she did the only thing she could. She put on armour to protect herself. ”
I turn my head to meet his eyes and see the weight of truth in them.
“Her biggest fear is losing someone else she loves,” he says.
“So she hates me instead?”
Kurt just shrugs a shoulder.
I roll my eyes and turn back to the water. “I get that,” I mutter.
But my gaze shifts towards the coastline, where the forest meets the sea. A mix of evergreens and hardwoods clings to the edge… but it’s the maple trees that catch my attention.
Resilient fuckers. They’re stronger than they look, which is evident in the way these ones are growing among rocky soil, exposed to wind and salt, with nothing but the open ocean in front of them.
And yet, given the worst conditions… they still grow. And they still come back, season after season.
“We have to go,” Kurt says, turning towards his bike. “Lie low until you hear from me. You’ve got the burner phone?”
I tap my pocket and nod.
But Kurt narrows his eyes. “You know how to use it?”
“I showed him,” Mac calls out as he swings a leg over his bike. “And I put a fun ringtone on it for you, too,” he says to me with a smile.
Kurt rolls his eyes, then steps in and pulls me into a hug.
I wrap my arms around him and hold on tight. I didn’t realize how much I needed this… for a few reasons.
“Proud of you,” he murmurs, then he pats my back and pulls away, hand gripping my shoulder. “It’s working.”
I nod, giving him a smile. “It’s fucking working.”
I watch as he climbs onto his bike, and the others follow.
One by one, engines roar to life, drowning out the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below.
Each of my brothers gives me a nod or a wave as they pull out, heading up the winding road through the trees, hugging the edge of the coast, and I watch until they disappear.
Then I turn back to the water and pull in a breath.
Everything is sliding into place.
Almost everything…
I watch the seagulls circling over the rocks, drifting and diving, as I try to clear my mind and just take in this place. And try not to worry about the other thing taking up all my thoughts.
But when my pocket starts buzzing, my heart thumps.
It’s not the burner… It's my phone.
And only one person has that number.
I grab it out of my pocket, flip it open, and hit the green button, hoping that’s the right one, and I didn’t just hang up on him.
“Cade?” I press the phone to my ear.
“Hi,” his voice comes through the speaker.
But when it’s followed by a sniff, all hope I had drains out of me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, locking my eyes on a rock just offshore as waves break over it again and again, like it’s being punished.
“I didn’t know if you would have your phone,” he says, his words slow and slurred.
I close my eyes as my heart drops. “I brought it in case you need me.”
Silence stretches between us, but I can hear his ragged, uneven breaths between muffled sniffs.
“I need you.”
My eyes lift to the sky as those words make me wish I could leave everything and go to him right now.
“Where are you?” I ask. He’s clearly drunk, and I need to know he’s somewhere safe.
“Home.”
He pulls in a shaky breath, and the sound damn near rips my heart in two.
“What’s wrong?” It’s fucking killing me not to be there with him when he’s like this. And I hate that I put him in this position. I left when he was falling apart. I knew I couldn’t leave him alone… and I did.
“Everything.”
Fuck.
“I think I’m going to lose my job,” he says with slurred words. “And I’ve lost my family… and—”
“You’re not losing me.” I cut in, needing to stop that thought before it even begins.
His breath shudders softly… and then it breaks. I hear the hitch of his restrained sobs, with short, broken bursts between shallow pulls of air, as if crying hurts too much but holding it in hurts worse.
I rub my hand over my face, hating that all I can do is listen while he breaks apart on the other end of the phone. I’m doing what I have to do to protect him and everyone I love… but it doesn’t feel like enough.
“And you didn’t lose your family,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. I saw the look in their eyes when I took him away. They’re not giving up easily.
His job, though… I don’t know what’s going on. But since he’s home on a Thursday afternoon, drunk, I can take a wild guess.
“Magnolia cares, you know,” I say.
Cade doesn’t say anything, so I keep going.
“They’re pretty and gentle… but strong as hell under the surface. And they know how to balance their softness with their backbone. They stand up against a lot… and they’re always ready to lean on.”
“I don’t have a magnolia tree,” he says quietly.
I smile. “Yes, you do.” Then I pause and draw in a breath. “And I think it’s time to let her help you.”
Cade is quiet for a moment, and I listen as his breaths even out, and his sniffling slows.
“I don’t know how to do this,” he says.
I nod, staring out at the horizon where the sky meets the edge of the water and seems to disappear.
“Not yet. You will.” I draw in another breath of the salty air.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’m hoping it’s only a few more days…
but when I get home, I’ll be there for you, baby.
Whatever you need.” Then I pause. “On one condition.”
“What?” he asks
“You still have to be bad.”
A small, watery chuckle sounds through the speaker, and my heart thumps a little harder.
“Only if you be worse.”
I smile, letting my own chuckle out.
He’ll be ok.
He has to be.