I slide out of bed, unable to look at myself, horrified by the blood. Mack is staring at the wall again, but the moment I’m out, he turns and walks me towards the hall. With shaky legs, I follow him.

We get out and I see Krypt, Maddox, Santana and Tyke all sitting. Seeing Krypt, it breaks my heart. His face is so broken, so fucking broken. I want to go to him, but I can’t.

“Mack,” I whisper. “What’s . . .”

He spins to face me before I can answer. “I told you to stop,” he whispers.

I reel backwards. “What?”

“I said stop. I said stay inside. I said don’t fuckin’ go out!”

I blink. Maddox is by his side in a second.

“You did a stupid fuckin’ thing.”

Stupid?

I don’t understand.

“I . . . she was hurt.”

“And you could have been killed,” Maddox growls. “Fuckin’ worse, Santana could have been killed, because she was seconds behind you and if I wasn’t there, she would have been out that door chasin’ you. We had a plan, shit was set up—we were goin’ to end it, and you runnin’ out there fuckin’ ruined the lot. You’re not even a fuckin’ Old Lady. You fuckin’ don’t belong here.”

I jerk at his words. “I was h-h-h-helping her.”

“We had a man on it. He was waitin’ for the fuckin’ right time!” Maddox roars.

“Maddox,” Santana whispers, but her voice is so broken.

“You could have been killed,” Mack adds in, his voice like ice. “You ran out, Santana, ran out. Who the fuck was watchin’ that baby?”

I flinch.

“Ash was hurt,” I say pitifully.

Tears burn in my eyes and then tumble down my face.

“Saw you there, blood all fuckin’ over you, thought you were fuckin’ hit,” Mack whispers, his voice now a whip.

“She was.” I swallow, and a sob rises up. “Hurt.”

“A man was goin’ for her,” Maddox snarls.

“I didn’t know!” I scream.

Suddenly, Krypt is up. He shoves past Maddox and when he reaches Mack, he lifts his fist and he punches him so hard, Mack takes two steps back. Then, in a deadly voice, Krypt roars, “Your fuckin’ girl quite fuckin’ possibly saved Ash’s life. She ran into a fuckin’ war to save my girl. She was fuckin’ brave, and beautiful, and fuckin’ amazing. She got her breathing; we might not have had fuckin’ time if we had waited for your fuckin’ man, you selfish son-of-a-bitch.”

Mack looks like he’s going to explode. His fists are clenching angrily, and his face is red.

Krypt doesn’t stop. He turns to me, and hauls me into his arms. “She comes outta this, honey,” he murmurs into my ear, “I’ll owe you for the rest of my life. If she doesn’t, I’ll still owe you. Brave, beautiful girl. Thank you.”

Then he lets me go, and disappears. I turn to Mack, who is staring at me, and I can see the emotion in his eyes. I shake my head and rasp, “She could have died. Nothing else mattered in that second.”

I turn to Maddox, and whisper, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Then I leave the hospital.

It’s the worst mistake I ever make.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

After ensuring Diesel was safe, and finding out he was with Tracy until this blew over, I found Mack’s car keys and took them. I did all this only communicating with Santana, who cried a lot of the time. I need to breathe; I need to gather myself. They blamed me . . . as if it’s my fault Ash is in surgery, fighting for her life.

That fucking hurt.

I make my way out to Mack’s truck, and am barely there when I feel the presence behind me. At first I think it’s Mack, and I turn slowly, not worried. When I see it’s not Mack, but Benito . . . my heart twists. He grins at me, not saying a word. Then he lifts his hand and plunges a needle into my neck. I try to scream, I try, but nothing comes out except a pathetic gurgle.

Then, my world goes black.

~*~*~*~

I wake in a dark, dark room. So dark I can’t see a damned thing. It takes me a solid few minutes to realize it’s not just my eyesight but the fact that I am, in fact, in a dark room with no windows, no natural light, no lamps, nothing. I’m in complete darkness. My throat burns and terror fills my body. I know why I’m here; I know what Benito wants, and I don’t like it.

I curl up, finding that surprisingly, I’m not tied. That either tells me Benito is stupid, or he’s a cocky bastard. I’m going with the second option. He’s probably got this place, wherever it is, surrounded. My eyes burn with tears, and I tuck my legs to my chest. This is without a doubt the worst day in the history of bad days. I don’t know if Ash is okay, and I don’t even know if the club will notice I’m gone.

I drop my head, focusing on my breathing.

I’m busy doing that, so it takes me a moment to hear the locks on the door rattling. I lift my head in time to see the door open, and Benito walks in with a tall, dark man beside him. He flashes me a sick, sick grin, and my skin crawls. How this man is related in any way to Mack is beyond me. He closes the door behind him and flicks on a light. Huh, so there is light.

“How are you feeling, Jaylah?”

I glare at him.

“Don’t be like that. This doesn’t have to be difficult.”

“You’ll pay for this,” I growl, and Benito throws his head back and laughs.