branded (phantoms mc #2)

thirty-four: in which she makes a split-second decision

"I promise not to ever be bad again" –Empara Mi, No More

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When I was seven, my mother almost died.

Zeus tried to protect us from the worst of her addiction, but on that day, I was the one who found her. I remember how fascinated I was by how waxy her skin had been; by how blue her lips were turning. That had been my first real experience with death – well, near-death, if we were being technical – and it had probably changed me forever.

Death, and everything that came with it, just didn't faze me.

You're so fucked-up, and you don't even care.

The voice in my head was always so insightful.

I cut the engine and climbed off my bike, pulling my helmet off. Unease made my skin crawl, and I couldn't shake the sinking feeling that this was the worst plan we could possibly have come up with.

There could be a dozen Cursed, just waiting in the shadows.

My chest ached. I wasn't used to not having the upper hand, and the last time I'd been at Lover's Leap? I sure as hell hadn't had any hand. Crow had come pretty damn close to killing me, and now, I was putting Ghost and Sin in the same kind of danger. Selfish.

"Hey," said Ghost, his deep voice instantly centering me. He took my hand in his calloused one. "It's not too late. You can turn back."

I shook my head. "We talked about this. He won't like that. You know he won't."

"Then let's just get this over with," said Sin.

The walk up into the clearing in the woods seemed to take forever, but probably only took a five minutes. Every step we took was punctuated by crackling leaves and twigs. I breathed a sigh of relief once I saw the two figures standing in the clearing. It was just the two of them, the pair of fucked-up brothers.

"So you're not Sasha, and you're not single?" Lincoln called out to me, sounding aghast.

"Are you kidding me? That's what you choose to focus on?"

Ghost gave me a look that told me, in no uncertain terms, to shut the fuck up.

"Lying bitch," was Lincoln's parting shot before Crow snapped at him to shut up. He went to lean against a tree a few steps away from his brother, lighting a cigarette.

"Where is my property?" Crow asked, his arms folded across his chest. He wasn't even looking at Ghost or Sin. No, his chilly gaze was isolated on me, and only me.

"She's on her way," I told him.

"That wasn't what we agreed upon." Crow's voice was just as icy as his eyes. He folded his arms across his broad chest, turning his attention to Ghost and Sin. "And what are you supposed to be? Her bodyguards?"

That millisecond was all I needed.

Sin's earlier words roared in my ears as I drew my gun and pointed it at Crow. The bullet hit him somewhere in his torso, but he didn't go down like I'd thought he would. His eyes were wide pools of green, but he stayed upright.

Is this fucker human?

I fired again, and this time, he went down.

"What the fuck, Catalina?" came from somewhere beside me, but I couldn't think about Ghost right now.