Chapter 4
FOUR
REV
The second my phone lights up and I see Princess on the screen, something in my chest goes cold and sharp all at once, like somebody just shoved a blade between my ribs and twisted.
I answer before the first ring even finishes. “Princess? What’s wrong?” My thumb hits the speaker button on reflex, like my body already knows this isn’t something I’ll be handling alone.
The room goes dead quiet. Every damn person in here knows exactly who I’m talking to, because there’s only one person I ever answer like that, and the look on Blade’s face tells me he already knows this is bad. The kind of bad that makes your blood turn to ice.
“Rev, I need you. He… he hurt me, and I ran.” Her voice comes through thin and shaking, nothing like the woman who sells houses and runs her life with iron control.
The steady edge she always carries is gone, replaced by something fragile and exposed that makes my chest tighten and my vision narrow.
Everything in my body locks up. Blade’s already on his feet, chair scraping back so hard it nearly tips over.
Bella’s hand flies to her mouth, eyes going wide.
Switch doesn’t move, but his whole posture shifts, shoulders tightening like he’s coiling for something.
Bri looks like all the blood just drained straight out of her face, one hand grabbing the back of the couch like it’s the only thing keeping her upright.
“Where are you,” I say, and my voice dead calm, because panic won’t help her and rage I can deal with later. “Baby, I need you to tell me where you are.”
“I… I don’t know,” she sobs, and I can hear wind on the line, hear how exposed she sounds. “We were at some overlook, there were trees and I ran into the woods and I think he left, but I’m scared he might still be here looking for me.”
Blade’s fists are clenched so tight I can see the tendons standing out in his hands, knuckles already going white.
“Princess, listen to me,” I say, slow and firm, because she needs steady right now, not the violence that’s climbing up my spine and trying to take the wheel. “I’m on my way. I need you to send me your location, and then I need you to stay where you are, you hear me?”
I’m already moving, grabbing my jacket off the back of the chair.
I hear her fumbling with her phone, her breathing hitching, and then my screen lights up with the pin.
“I sent it,” she whispers. “It’s so cold and my face hurts and I don’t have my heels.
They were my favorite pair, Rev. The black Jimmy Choos,” she cries.
Fucking heels. She loves those damn things. The thought hits me straight in the chest, way too close to something breaking open. “I’m coming,” I growl, already pushing for the door. “Don’t move. I’m gonna find you, and you are not alone right now.”
“I’m so scared,” she whispers. The sound damn near drops me to my knees.
Bella steps closer, voice soft but urgent. “Brooke, sweetheart, you still with us?”
“Yeah,” Brooke breathes. “I’m here.”
“Okay. Good,” Bella says quickly, like she’s anchoring her. “Just keep talking. Rev’s coming to you right now, and when he gets there, he’s bringing you straight back here. You hear me?”
“Okay,” Brooke whispers again.
Bri leans in, eyes glassy. “We’re gonna get you warm and fed and settled, okay? You don’t have to think about anything tonight. Just get back to us.”
“I’m scared,” Brooke says, the words thin and shaky.
“I know,” Bella answers gently. “I know, baby. But you’re gonna be okay. You’re not by yourself.”
My hand tightens around the phone. “You hear them, Princess? We’re coming to get you and bringing you back here.”
“Okay,” she says, barely louder than a breath.
That’s all I need. “Princess, stay with me,” I murmur into the phone as we move. “You still hidden, yeah?”
“Y-yeah,” she whispers. “I haven’t moved.”
“Good. That’s real good. Just stay right there.”
Blade’s already looking over my shoulder. “Where is she?”
“Scenic overlook off Ridge Road,” I say. “She ran into the woods.”
Switch’s jaw tightens. “That’s fifteen minutes out.”
“Maybe less,” Blade says. “If we don’t give a damn about tickets.”
Switch doesn’t even hesitate. “I don’t.”
As we hit the door, Blade pulls his phone out and dials without slowing down, then flips it to speaker.
Ghost answers on the second ring. “What’s up?”
“I need you and Riot at Switch’s place,” Blade says. “Now.”
Ghost doesn’t ask questions, not with Blade’s tone like that. “On our way.”
Blade ends the call and turns back to Bella. “Lock the doors. You don’t open them for anyone but Ghost or Riot. You hear me?”
Bella nods, eyes shiny but fierce. “Just bring her back.”
“We will,” Blade says.
Bri grabs his arm, voice breaking. “Blade, please,”
He cups her face, forehead pressed to hers, voice rough but steady. “We got her. I swear to you.”
Then we’re moving. Switch’s truck is already running by the time we hit the driveway, headlights cutting through the dark, and I’m in the back seat before the door’s even fully shut, phone still pressed to my ear.
“Princess, I’m here,” I tell her. “We’re coming right now. You just stay hidden and keep talking to me, okay?”
“I’m cold,” she whispers.
“I know, baby,” I say, keeping my voice calm even though my chest feels like it’s splitting open. “I know. Just hang on. I got you.”
Switch slams on the gas and the truck launches down the road, engine roaring, and Blade’s already pulling up the location on his phone, eyes locked and deadly focused.
“Almost there,” Switch says, taking the turn onto Ridge Road way faster than he should.
“Princess, talk to me,” I murmur into the phone. “You still behind the tree?”
“Y-yeah,” she whispers. “I haven’t moved. I can hear cars sometimes, but not close.”
“That’s okay,” I tell her. “You’re doing perfect. Just stay right there.”
My knee won’t stop bouncing, and my hands are clenched so tight they’re starting to shake.
Every bad scenario is lining up in my head, and I’m shoving every single one of them down because I don’t get to fall apart right now.
Not when she needs me calm. Not when she needs me focused.
I can lose my damn mind later. Right now, I just need to get to her.
Switch takes the turnoff hard, gravel spraying under the tires as we pull into the overlook.
“Here,” Blade says. “This is it.”
Switch slams on the brakes and we’re out of the truck before the engine even cuts.
The lot is empty. No cars. No people. Just darkness and trees and the drop-off where the overlook opens up to the valley, wind whipping through the branches like the place itself is breathing.
My heart drops straight into my boots.
“Princess,” I call, louder now, scanning the tree line. “Baby, I’m here. You hear me?”
“I… I hear you,” she says, voice trembling. “I can see lights. Down the hill a little.”
Blade’s already moving, flashlight sweeping the woods. “Brooke!”
Switch splits off the other direction, boots crunching over gravel and leaves. “Brooke! It’s Switch!”
“Rev?” she calls, and even that single word sounds like she’s holding herself together by a thread.
I follow her voice, my own flashlight shaking in my hand as I push past branches and brush, heart hammering so hard I can hear it in my ears. “I got you,” I shout back. “I’m right here, Princess. Don’t move.”
And then I see her. Curled up at the base of a big tree, arms wrapped around herself, hair tangled, dress torn at the hem. Barefoot.
That’s when something in my chest cracks wide open. I’m in front of her in two strides, dropping to my knees. “Hey, hey, hey,” I say, hands hovering because I don’t want to scare her, don’t want to touch her wrong. “It’s me. I got you. You’re safe now.”
Her head lifts and her eyes find mine, wide and glassy and so damn scared it nearly wrecks me. “Rev,” she breathes, and then she’s in my arms, clutching my jacket like it’s the only solid thing left in the world.
I wrap her up instantly, pulling her against my chest, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other locked around her shoulders like I can shield her from everything if I just hold on tight enough.
“I got you,” I murmur into her hair. “I got you, Princess. You’re okay now. You’re okay.”
Her whole body is shaking, little broken sobs catching in her throat, and I feel it in my bones.
Blade crouches in front of us, flashlight cutting across her face, and I see his jaw go tight when he clocks the red mark on her cheek and the way she’s trembling. “Hey, sweetheart,” he says, voice gentler than I’ve ever heard it. “You with us?”
She nods weakly but doesn’t let go of me, like if she does, the world might start spinning again.
Switch comes up behind him, eyes scanning the woods, hand already resting on the knife at his side. “You see anyone else out here?”
She shakes her head. “I… I heard his car leave. He ran back and then I heard the engine.”
Blade’s jaw flexes. “Good. Gives us time.”
I shift her carefully, lifting her up into my arms like she weighs nothing, and she automatically curls into me, tucking her face into my chest.
“Your feet,” I murmur, looking down at the dirt and tiny cuts already showing. “Jesus, Princess…”
“They hurt,” she whispers.
I shift her higher against me, one arm locking more solid around her back, my chin brushing the top of her head. “Yeah,” I say quietly. “They’re gonna hurt. You ran hard. You did exactly what you needed to do.”
Her shoulders tremble once, like the words finally land somewhere inside her.
“You don’t gotta be tough right now,” I add, lower. “You already were.” Her grip tightens in my jacket, just a little, like she’s holding onto that. And I start moving again, carrying her the rest of the way without another word.
Blade pulls his hoodie over his head and drapes it around her shoulders, layering it over my jacket. “Let’s get you warm, okay?”