38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Carson
When we pull up to the cabin, Dad and Jesse are coming out.
I throw my helmet on the ground and run toward them, slowing when I see folded-up pieces of paper blowing from a box on the ground. A butterfly-shaped one lands at my feet.
My dad comes to stand beside me as I pick it up.
Then my eyes land on the blood on the deck.
“Son, she’s okay,” my dad says, rushing forward.
I blink at him. “What happened here?”
More motorcycles pull in behind us. Jackson and the club are here. It takes me a minute to register what is happening.
“Where is she?” I ask as anger surges through my veins.
Dad holds my arm while Cole places his around my shoulders.
“She’s at the house. She’s fine, but she was grazed by a bullet.”
The sound of a thousand winds charges through my ears, making him sound far away.
“Listen to me, son. She’s fine. But …”
Sound suddenly comes rushing back.
There’s a but?
“She’s scared. She’s going to need some time.”
“Where is she?” I ask again, needing him to confirm her location.
“She’s up at the house with Grandpa. She’s in Kelsie’s old room. That’s where she hid,” he says, giving my arm a squeeze as he does.
“In the closet?”
“In the closet.”
“Right.” I tug away from them and walk up the stairs, sidestepping the blood.
My dad follows behind, telling me every detail of what happened.
“She said he followed her here from Cheyenne.”
My brother’s jaw works back and forth as he leans over the bloody knife lying in the center of the room.
“She threw a knife in that little fucker’s shoulder,” Jesse says proudly.
I notice the bag she’s carrying. It’s Luna’s. “What’s that?”
Jesse pulls it higher, turning to my dad to answer.
He runs his hand over his head. “She needs a change of clothes, and …”
“And?”
“She wants to stay where she’s at.”
I hold my hand out for the bag, and Jesse reluctantly gives it to me.
And then I turn and walk out.
No one from the club comes near me, and that’s probably for the best.
I’m trying desperately to keep my shit together.
My dad didn’t even tell me to keep a level head. He usually does.
Does that mean this situation doesn’t call for it?
Or am I just supposed to know?
Anger surges through my veins as I think about the fact that man’s heart is still beating.
It’s had one too many already.
I head upstairs to Kelsie’s room. Luna is nowhere to be found. I walk over and lower myself to the ground. I slip the butterfly origami I made from the ten-dollar bill Serenity gave me under the door.
Her finger brushes against mine as she accepts it.
It takes a few minutes, but eventually she opens the door.
“Hey,” she whispers.
I keep a tight rein on my emotions as I take in the state of her clothes.
“Hey,” I say back. “I heard you’ve been back here taking on bad guys by yourself.”
She smiles at me, and everything almost seems right with the world, but I see the sadness in her eyes. She’d just started trusting the world again, and then someone violated that.
“I brought the stuff Jesse packed for you.”
Her eyes drop to the bag on my lap.
“I’m sorry,” she says, her bottom lip quivering.
“Don’t be. If this is where you feel safe, then this is where you shall be.”
She rubs the butterfly between her fingers. “Are you going to kill him?”
“I am.”
Slowly she crawls out of the closet and onto my lap, wrapping herself around me tightly. “Thank you,” she whispers, resting her head on my shoulder.
I don’t ask her for promises or even a timeframe. I don’t ask her for a fucking thing, because that is not what she needs.
“I’m going to go now, but I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
We continue to hold each other. I’m not letting go until she does.
When she does, I’m almost relieved.
She picks up her bag and then leaves the room, headed to the bathroom. When the water turns on, I rise to my feet.
I’ll have time to think about what led us here later, but for now I need to put that aside.
I calmly walk down the stairs. My grandfather stands and gives me a hug. “I won’t leave her alone,” he assures me.
“Thanks, Grandpa.”
My dad is already sliding into his cut to go with me.
Cole looks up the stairs. “Is she okay?”
“She will be,” I say.
He locks eyes with me, and a silent conversation passes between us.
Our paths have reconverged.
There is a lesson in that, I think.
“You’ll keep me from going too far.”
“Hell, brother, I’m pretty sure you’d jump into the bowels of hell for her. Is there such thing as too far?”
I smile at him, because he has a point.
He laughs and wraps his arm around my shoulders, leading me out.
Yeah, we’re going to be all right.
The club follows behind me as we make our way to the warehouse. Not everyone will join me at the shack, but those who don’t will wait for our return and then we will celebrate.