Chapter 10 #2
Before either of us can say another word, someone else barrels straight into Kade’s shoulder.
Hard.
A fucking cop.
He staggers back a step, eyes flicking up, and landing on the masks.
On all of us.
On the blood that Kade and I forgot to wash off ourselves in the chaos.
Dark smears across my chest, from the little nic Mark gave me. The dried blood painting my hands from the clean-up.
The cop’s expression shifts instantly.
“What the fuck—” he starts.
Another cop skids to a stop beside him, then another. Their eyes roaming our bodies, taking in the sight of the blood coating our skin as their radios crackle to life all at once.
“Hey!” someone shouts. “Masks off now! Hands above your fucking heads!”
The people in the crowd sense the tension before they actually see it.
They all start backing away, gasps rippling outward as eyes lock onto us with interest. Some people even pull their phones out, wanting to document it, no doubt so they can later post it on some social media site for free views and likes.
Kade moves on instinct, shoving Aeri back a step, his body angling in front of her as the space around us explodes.
“Police!” a voice barks. “On the ground! Now!”
Hands grab me hard from behind before they wrench my arms back, and twist until pain flares sharp and bright. I barely register it over the sound of Aeri screaming my name.
“Kross! No—”
Metal cuffs snap shut around my wrists.
Another set of hands slams into Kade, forcing him forward. He doesn’t fight it, but his head snaps up, eyes locked on Aeri as they haul him away from her.
“Kade! Stop it! Get your hands off them!” she screams, shoving forward, trying to break through the line of cops forming between us. “They didn’t even fucking do anything! You can’t just arrest them!”
A cop steps straight into her path, palms up. “Ma’am, step back and let us do our job,”
She doesn't. Of fucking course she doesn’t. Because Aeri is a goddamn menace. A miniature little firecracker who challenges authority and thinks danger is fucking foreplay.
So, she fights. She lunges for the cop, and thrashes hard enough that her friends barely manage to get hold of her arms and drag her away. Harper’s eyes meet mine for a split second over Aeri’s shoulder.
“Jesus fuck. Get her out of here,” I bark.
Harper nods without hesitation, tightening her grip and hauling Aeri back into the crowd as she kicks and screams.
For one horrible second, I think she’s going to rip free and charge straight at them.
If she does, this turns into a bloodbath. Because if they put their fucking hands on her, I will gut them like the pigs they are.
Kade meets my eyes across the chaos.
No panic. No questions.
Just a silent understanding that he’s thinking the exact same thing I am.
Pure rage, and fucking fear.
Not for us. For her.
They drag us backward through the crowd, shouts following, people scrambling to get out of the way. Someone yells “Oh my god.” Someone else gasps like they can’t believe what they’re seeing.
They shove us into the same cruiser.
Hard, and rough. All elbows and barked orders, metal biting into our wrists as we’re forced down onto the back seats. The door slams shut with a hollow, final sound that echoes through the cab, sealing us in behind cage bars and scratched plexiglass that smells like disinfectant.
The world collapses fast.
No more crowds or lights. Just the inside of the car, the weight of the cuffs, and my breathing coming a little too quick no matter how hard I try to rein it in.
I snap.
My boot slams into the back of the driver’s seat hard enough to make the whole cruiser jolt. “FUCK!”
Kade barely moves beside me. He’s coiled tight, jaw locked, and his eyes forward, “Stop drawing more attention.”
“I don’t give a shit,” I snarl, wrists straining uselessly against the cuffs. “She’s fucking out there still, and in case you didn’t notice, she wasn’t letting us go without a fight.”
“I know,” he says, not arguing, just absorbing it. Then, like this is the only thing that actually matters, he adds, “But there isn’t anything we can do from here that will help her. Not right now. Right now, we have to stay fucking calm and use our heads. We can still get out of this.”
“Oh yeah?” I snap without hesitation. “How the fuck do you think that’s happening?”
That lands between us heavier than the cuffs, because neither of us wants to give up, but both of us know just how fucked we are.
We sit there in silence, letting our rage fester for what feels like hours, when suddenly the driver’s door opens and someone gets in, starting the engine.
The cruiser lurches into motion, tires rolling over pavement without sirens, without urgency, which somehow makes it fucking worse. Like without even questioning us, they already think we’re done. Like they’ve got time.
I lean back, jaw clenched until it aches, staring at the cage bars. “If they find her. If they question her—”
“They won’t,” Kade cuts in immediately keeping his tone low so our conversation doesn’t reach the front seat. “And even if they find her, there's no reason to hold her.”
Silence stretches, thick and dangerous. The car turns onto the highway, heading out of town. Kade and I both look at each other, confusion etched into our expressions.
“Wow,” a voice says lightly, almost amused, “you guys look like complete shit.”
Everything in me locks up.
Kade goes perfectly still beside me.
Slowly, I lift my head.
She’s in the front seat.
Wearing a stolen cop hat, brim tipped low, dark hair spilling out from underneath it, she looks at us through the bars with a grin that’s equal parts smug and electric, eyes bright with adrenaline and something reckless and fearless that makes my heart slam into my ribs.
For half a second, my brain refuses to catch up.
“What the fu—”
She cuts me off by flicking something over her shoulder.
Metal clinks against plastic as it lands in my lap.
Cuff keys.
“And don’t fucking lose them,” she says sweetly. “I’ve got plans for them later.”
Kade stares at her like she’s a mirage, disbelief cracking his control just enough to show the fracture underneath. “You seriously came back?”
She snorts, adjusting the hat like it’s hers. “Please. You really thought I was going to let the two of you get hauled off without me?”
She checks the mirrors—left, right, and rear, calm as hell. Like she didn’t just steal a fucking police car with two wanted fugitives in the back seat.
I laugh.
I can’t stop it.
It tears out of me loud and unhinged, all the fear and pressure and rage detonating at once. “You are completely fucking insane.”
She beams, checking the mirror like she’s admiring her handiwork. “Not sure that means much coming from one of the local serial killers. Pot, meet blood-soaked kettle.”
Kade exhales slow and controlled, like he’s holding himself together with sheer will. “You shouldn’t have done this. They’ll be looking for you now too. You can’t just”—His jaw tightens, the words grinding out harder—“go back home. Go back to your life. You’re friends.”
“I know that,” she says easily, like she’s already burned the bridge and watched it fall.
“We aren’t worth that, Aeri,” Kade says, sharper now. Not angry but scared. “You don’t throw yourself on a grenade for us.”
She meets his eyes in the mirror, unapologetic, pulse-bright, and a little feral in the way only she can be. “You don’t get to decide my worth. Or how much I’m willing to sacrifice to save you both.” Then she smiles, all teeth and trouble. “Besides, I kind of like having you two around.”
I bark a laugh despite myself. “That’s not comforting.”
She tilts her head, fingers drumming the wheel as the streetlights streak past like tracer fire. “Relax. Cupid already fired the arrow. Now I’m just deciding how this part goes.”
Kade scoffs. “This isn’t a game.”
“Oh, it absolutely is,” she says lightly, glancing back at us. “It’s just my turn to play.” Her grin sharpens. “Now that I’m in control, though, I can’t decide—do I kiss you…or kill you?”
My lips pull into a smirk, “Careful, valentine,” I murmur. “You pull that bowstring again and someone’s gonna bleed.”
“Hmm sounds fun.” She laughs, bright and fearless, and hits the gas.
Our final girl.
Our little valentine. She didn’t run from the fire.
She walked straight back into it, arrow fucking first, for us.
To be continued…