The Wolves and the Vipers

Chapter 32 - Fragile

"Leave one alive, at least. For questioning," I told him.

"Yes, Luna," Luke sighed. Even he couldn't disobey a direct and reasonable order like that one. "How many were there?"

"Two up front, and these two," Zoe replied. "Are you okay, Emma?"

Hearing my name shook something loose inside of me. That, and the way Zoe was looking at me. It was a hard, appraising stare at first glance, but there was a slight crease around her eyes. Was it that obvious? I could feel my body starting to shake - my hands most of all. I didn't trust my voice anymore, so I just nodded my head as firmly as I could manage.

There were men coming out of the houses around us now. Off-duty fighters summoned as reinforcements. One was wearing sweatpants and nothing else. Another dropped a mug of coffee as he came out of his front door. They piled onto the Riverside wolves that Zoe had incapacitated, pinning them to the ground, wrenching limbs behind their backs, and so on until there was no chance they could possibly break free.

But that didn't stop Luke going over and putting a bullet in one's head, leaving the youngest alive and thrashing, like I'd asked. When he came back, I could see the splatter of blood and brains on his cheek. The red made it easy to see exactly how pale he was.

"They were talking about another car," I murmured. I was shaking from head to toe now.

"Well, shit," Zoe said. "Hopefully they bolted when they saw what happened to their friends. But let's get you indoors, just in case."

She looked at Luke for confirmation. All she got was a blank stare and a slightly vacant frown. A second or two later, he dropped like a stone. She managed to catch him before he hit the ground, by some miracle, and she swore like a sailor as she struggled to keep him upright. I rushed towards them, helping as much as I could with my trembling arms.

We dragged him towards the nearest house. The door was swinging in the wind from its owner's wild dash outside. He must have been nearby somewhere, but none of us were waiting for an invitation inside. Luke came around before we had even reached the front steps ... and immediately tried to shake us off.

"I'm fine," he was mumbling. "Zoe. Hey."

Zoe and I put Luke flat on the floor of the hallway. He immediately tried to sit up, but she swore at him until he changed his mind. She had pressed her hands against the parts of him that were bleeding, but I could still see some blood oozing out. There seemed to be two injuries - the bullet had ripped through the meat of his arm and then grazed his chin. He had got very lucky, in my opinion. The only consequences would be a few unsightly scars.

"Is Danny okay?" I asked. He wasn't answering the link. "Was it him lying in the road?"

Zoe bit her lip. "You have to stay in the house."

That wasn't an answer.

"Think they cracked his skull," Luke muttered.

"Then I'm quite obviously not staying in the house," I snapped.

But when I stood up, Zoe was already on her feet. She stood between me and the door and eyed me warily. When I moved left, so did she. When I took a step forward, she took a step backward, until her back was pressed against the door, keeping it firmly closed. I swallowed a growl.

"That is my brother," I told her vehemently. "Get out of my way, Zoe."

Zoe didn't get out of the way. So I turned around. If she wasn't going to move, I would just have to find another way out of the house. Before I could get very far, she grabbed my wrist, bringing me to an abrupt halt. No sooner had her hand touched my skin than she was releasing me again, both palms raised in a sort of apology.