27. Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Freya
I quickly tap out another text.
Message after message goes unread.
After finding out about the attack on the tracks four days ago, I’ve been trying to get in touch with Kai, but he’s gone MIA.
He won’t answer any of my calls, either.
I’m so close to storming back over to Daringhood, just to punch him in his smug face.
I need to talk to him, to explain that I didn’t choose them over him.
I told him I wouldn’t, but now he thinks I have.
I hadn’t thought he was responsible for the bomb at town hall.
But this train tracks thing?
It does seem targeted at Daringville specifically, and Kai said it himself—they’re going to war.
What if I was wrong about the town hall bomb?
What if my best friend is behind .
.
.
everything?
What the fuck was he thinking, causing havoc like that?
Everything is fucked.
A pillow hits me square in the face, and I look over at Amirah, who’s sitting next to me on her bed.
My lip curls back.
“What the fuck?”
“I’m so sick of you being glued to your phone. Let’s go do something. Anything.” She groans, falling back against her pillow.
She’s not wrong.
I want to do something too.
Maybe we can.
Maybe we can help fix things between the two sides.
“Let’s check out the station. I want to see proof it was the Hood.”
Amirah’s eyes light up, and she jumps off the bed and scurries into her closet.
“This is the best thing you’ve said all day.”
It’s risky going there, but Amirah is right.
I’ve been stuck on my phone or at Hazen’s place for more than a week now, and I’m itching for an adventure.
Sneaking around watching Lucas at the docks the other week gave me that thrill I’ve been chasing, but since then, the guys have been preoccupied.
I’ve only seen them briefly or when one of them rolls into bed in the early hours of the morning.
Amirah comes back out wearing a black hoodie, leggings, and sneakers.
“They won’t see you coming,” I say with a smirk, and she rolls her eyes.
“I wanted to look like you,” she snaps back, and I glance down at Gage’s hoodie, which I practically live in now, and black leggings.
She’s right—we are matching.
“Twinning!” I sing in a high-pitched voice.
Amirah shakes her head, throwing me a black ball cap.
I pull it on over my hair, tucking any loose locks behind my ears.
Amirah opens her door and peers outside, then shuts it quietly.
“Gage is at Hazen’s with him, but not sure if Lucas is there or not. Have you heard from him?”
I shake my head.
“Not since this morning.”
“The best way out of here is the balcony. There are guards at the stairs and front door, and I’m sure they wouldn’t let Princess Freya leave her castle,” Amirah teases.
“I doubt they’ll be up for Princess Amirah prancing down to the tracks, either,” I retort, and Amirah smirks.
“I’ll message Jeremy; he’ll turn a blind eye for me.” She grabs her phone from beside her bed and types away.
I slide off the bed, push my feet into my high-top Chucks, and follow her out the balcony door.
It’s dark out here—a quarter moon sits high in the sky—and my shin smashes into something hard.
I curse, rubbing down my leg.
Amirah turns on her phone light, illuminating the ground and her stupid fucking outdoor lounge chair.
“Bit late for that,” I say through gritted teeth.
She chuckles, moving toward the side of her balcony.
She passes me her phone, and I shine it toward her.
“When I whistle, you follow me. If I don’t, then stay there. Got it?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say quietly.
She peers over the railing before hoisting herself over.
I lean forward, providing as much light as I can.
She scales down the drainpipe like she’s done this a million times before, and she probably has.
Darkness takes her and I pull back.
There’s not much lighting on this side of the house, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t watching.
If I’ve learned anything from being around The Brotherhood, it’s that they have eyes and ears everywhere, even if you can’t see them.
My heart hammers against my rib cage and excitement bubbles up inside me as I wait for Amirah’s signal.
As much as I wanted a life away from Daring with Alec, I would have missed this if we’d gone to college in a normal town.
I have missed putting myself in constant danger just to release all my deep, dark, built-up emotions.
That’s why Gage, Hazen, and Lucas pulled me in.
Danger surrounds them.
They weaved their spiderweb, and I was a fly, trapped to them.
With them, every day I’ll be fighting off some kind of threat, and that’s exactly what I crave.
A soft whistle cuts through the otherwise still night, and I move, turning off the light and shoving Amirah’s phone into my hoodie pocket.
I hoist my leg over the railing, and my feet catch on the little edge on the other side.
I cling to the metal of the drainpipe and maneuver myself over, scaling down like Catwoman.
My feet hit the soft ground, and Amirah reaches out to me.
I take her hand and pass her phone back.
“Now I get why you do all that weird shit, like jumping off the cliff and putting yourself in danger. This is exciting,” Amirah whispers, and I grin, even though she can’t see me in the dark.
“Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”
“There’s so much you don’t know about me . . . yet,” she replies, throwing me off guard.
But before I can ask her what she means, she pulls my hand, yanking me around the side of her house, staying close to the shadows.
We reach the end of the house, and Amirah peers around the corner, letting go of my hand.
I brush my palm over my leggings, attempting to dry off the sweat.
“When I say go, we run, and we don’t stop until we are through the gates to the estate. Got it?” she asks.
“Yep,” I reply, and she peers around the wall again.
“Now,” she whispers, taking off across the well-manicured grass, and I follow.
We move between the trees until we reach the gate.
Amirah lifts out her phone.
The light casts shadows around her face.
The gate opens, and before I can take another breath, she’s off again, running through it.
I follow closely behind her as we step out onto the quiet road.
Amirah tears off down the hill to the neighborhood security gate.
I look over my shoulder at Hazen’s place.
Though I can spot his lights in the distance, it’s too far up the hill for them to see us down here.
She drops into a walk as we reach the security box and one of the guards comes out and opens the door for us without any question.
Amirah waves at him and blows a kiss from over her shoulder and we are free.
As I fall into step next to Amirah, she takes my hand, placing it over her heart.
It pounds fiercely against my palm.
“Holy shit, that was even better doing it with you,” she says, releasing my hand.
“You do this often?” I ask, and she wraps her arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer.
“Yeah, but don’t tell the boys, because it’s the only time I’m free from their hold, ya know?”
I nod.
I get it.
I really do.
“It’s our little secret. Just because I’m with them doesn’t mean I tell them everything.”
“Good,” Amirah says, before stepping out of my embrace.
The cool night breeze pushes my hair off my shoulders, making me wish I was wearing a beanie, not a cap.
It’s doing fuck all to protect my ears from the cold.
My phone vibrates against my leg, and when I bring it to my face, I’m not surprised to find a text from the unknown number.
I really need to figure out how to block them.
I’ve tried, but they keep getting through.
Unknown: Sneaking out when the stakes are high?
You really are the deadly kind.
“How are you doing with everything? I hate to ask this, but—” Amirah stops, grabbing my hands and looking me dead in the eye.
“Are you okay?”
I lock my phone and ignore the text.
Then I burst into semi-hysterical laughter.
Tears fall effortlessly down my cheeks, and I have no idea how to answer.
“Is anyone ever truly okay?” I ask instead of replying.
Amirah pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and squeezes my hands.
Warmth seeps into my palms.
“You’re right, but I want you to know I’m here if you need to talk, escape, or just do crazy shit. I’m here, okay?” She doesn’t look away.
Her mossy-green eyes are very similar to Gage’s, although hers have a tinge of brown in them.
They glisten against the streetlights.
“I know, and thank you. Now, stop being weird, and let’s go before your brother finds us,” I say, pulling away and wiping the tears staining my cheeks.
“You think I’m scared of my big bad brother?” Amirah snorts.
“He even scares me, so, yes, Amirah. If you aren’t, you should be.”
She doesn’t reply, and we continue walking through the streets in silence.
A few cars drive past us, but none of them have stopped to pick us up, which means The Brotherhood hasn’t been informed of our disappearance yet.
We turn off the last street and onto the large open road, sticking to the side in case any cars come past.
The bright spotlights that are usually switched on are black; there’s nothing but darkness up ahead.
Amirah reaches for my hand, and I intertwine her fingers with mine.
“You scared?” I tease, and she looks around the street before giving me a side-eye.
“No. I just need your hand in case we lose each other.”
I scoff but don’t reply, focusing on the road ahead.
Goose bumps tickle my neck.
It’s late—well past midnight.
I’m not scared of the dark, but here, on the brink of both sides of Daring, you have to be wary of your surroundings.
This is the area where people shoot first and ask questions later.
A rustle comes from behind us.
Amirah grips my hand harder.
I turn around and see nothing but darkness.
Footsteps scuffle along the road, and I whirl back to the front, letting go of Amirah in the process.
Pulling out my knife, I hold it tightly in my grip.
“Who the fuck is there?” I yell into the night, and a figure emerges from the tree line.
Anger flares inside me.
What the fuck is she doing here?