31. Blaze
BLAZE
Vaughn started laughing again.
Low.
Broken.
Blood dripping from the corner of his mouth onto the tavern floor.
But this laugh sounded different.
Not cocky anymore.
Desperate.
Like a man watching the clock run out.
Thunder cracked outside hard enough to shake the windows.
Nobody moved.
Not me.
Not Wolf.
Not Trigger.
Tate stood near the locked front door with his arms folded, watching Vaughn like he was deciding whether burying a body tonight would actually count as community service.
Flick stayed close behind me.
Close enough I could still feel her hand curled lightly into the back of my shirt.
And God help me?—
that tiny touch kept me steadier than it should’ve.
Vaughn lifted his swollen face slowly.
“You really don’t get it yet.”
I crouched back down in front of him.
“You’ve got about five seconds before Trigger removes your teeth with a bar stool.”
“Tempting,” Trigger muttered.
Wolf pointed casually toward the kitchen.
“There’s bleach back there.”
Ava pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I cannot believe I am working with any of you.”
“You love us,” Trigger said.
“I absolutely do not.”
Normally, that would've earned a laugh.
Nobody laughed now.
Because Vaughn was staring at Flick.
Not me.
Her.
“You should’ve stayed dead.”
Every muscle in my body locked instantly.
Behind me, Flick stiffened.
Tate pushed off the door.
Wolf moved too.
But I got there first.
I grabbed Vaughn by the front of his shirt and slammed him hard into the floorboards.
The tavern rattled.
Vaughn groaned.
“You say her name again,” I said quietly, “and they’ll never find enough of you to identify the body.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Then Vaughn smiled anyway.
Wrong move.
“She wasn’t supposed to survive that cabin.”
The world stopped.
Completely.
Behind me?—
Flick sucked in a shattered breath.
My pulse turned ice cold.
Cabin.
Not apartment.
Not fire.
“Cabin,” Ava said.
“Only a handful of people knew about the cabin. She never went to the cabin. She was moved to a different place,” Ava whispered. “You’ve been working for the cartel all this time?”
And suddenly?—
every instinct I had turned lethal.
Because Vaughn had just confirmed something horrifying. They all wanted Flick dead.
This wasn’t random corruption anymore.
This had been personal from the beginning.