Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“I need one promise,” I whisper.
“Name it.”
“When it gets ugly—and I know it will—don’t let me push you away to protect you.”
His answer is immediate. “You can try,” he says, and his smile is gentle, unmovable. “I won’t let go.”
I believe him. I think that might be the wildest part.
He’s quiet a beat, then: “River?”
“Mm?”
“I love you.”
The words don’t detonate. Instead, they bloom. Warmth unfurls through me like sunrise under my ribs. I don’t flinch. I don’t run. I’ve already arrived.
“Good,” I say, because truth deserves truth. “Because I love you, too.”
He exhales like he’s been underwater and finally found the surface. He kisses my hair, my temple, the corner of my mouth again like he’s learning the cartography of yes. We tuck into each other until the line between us feels hypothetical, not actual.
“Tomorrow we hunt,” he murmurs against my skin. “We sharpen the knives. We tagged Helena. Now, we bring Psalm88 into the sun.”
“Bossy,” I mumble, smiling.
“Trained by the best,” he returns, and I feel the grin against my cheek.
Sleep comes like a tide, and for once there’s no undertow. No doors left unlocked. No shadows in the corners. Just the steady thrum of his heart under my ear and the certainty—bone-deep and bright—that when morning comes, we’ll face it together.
No masks. Only us.
THIRTY-EIGHT
GAGE
River’s body is curled against mine, her skin warm and soft under the covers. The light from the window is just starting to break through the curtains. I want to stay like this—want to press pause on everything outside this room. Just her. Me. And the steady rhythm of her breath against my chest.
She said I love you last night, and my mind is rapidly thinking about our future.
My phone vibrates on the nightstand breaking me from my thoughts. Then again. And again.
I groan softly and reach for it, squinting at the screen.
58 unread messages.
What the hell?
The first one is from Arrow.
Did you see this?
There’s a link. My gut clenches. I steel myself, expecting another deepfake. Another nightmare someone at Cathedral has cooked up to ruin River’s life.
But this is worse.
Way worse.
“Three Found Dead in River Following NovaPlay Party,” the headline reads.
Benny. Alan. Ryan.
Their names are burned into the article.
My pulse spikes.
They were the assholes harassing River last night. The ones I threatened.
I shoot upright in bed, the blood draining from my face.
River stirs beside me. “Gage?” Her voice is thick with sleep, and it kills me to wake her up with this.
I shift to face her. “Hey,” I say gently, brushing her blue hair back from her face. “Baby, I need you to wake up. Something happened.”
Her eyes flutter open. “What is it?”
I hold up the phone, the article open. “Benny, Alan, and Ryan. They were found dead this morning in the river. It looks like gang violence. Some kind of setup after they left the after-party.”
Her eyes widen, and she sits up. “What? No. That’s… are you serious?”
I nod. “Arrow sent it to me just now.”
She reads the headline and gasps. “They were horrible to me last night, but—Gage, this can’t be a coincidence.”
“It’s not,” I say, already half out of bed, pulling on my jeans. “This is connected. Has to be.”
My phone buzzes again. It’s Arrow calling.
“Yeah?” I answer.
His voice is tight. “We’ve got a problem. Cops are looking for both of you. They want to question you about the incident. They think there might’ve been some kind of altercation before the guys left.”
I curse under my breath. “They harassed River, I confronted them. That’s it.”
“I know that,” Arrow says. “But word got around that you nearly decked them. Someone reported you looking aggressive. It’s not great optics, man.”
River’s already scrambling to get dressed, her face pale. “What do we do?”
“We head to my place,” I tell Arrow. “We’ll meet them there, let them question us in a controlled setting.”
“Copy that,” Arrow says. “Knight and I will run cover. You’re not going in alone.”
I hang up and turn to River, who’s slipping on her jeans, fingers trembling.
“Hey.” I move to her, pull her close. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I didn’t think it would escalate like this,” she whispers. “It’s all unraveling so fast.”
I press my forehead to hers. “We’re going to get through it. I promise.”
We head out of Riverside, keeping it low-key. I drive us straight to my place—neutral territory, somewhere we can control the narrative before the cops twist it.
Arrow and Knight are already there, sitting in my kitchen with laptops open and phones buzzing.
“Cops are on their way,” Arrow says, standing. “They want to ask a few questions, but we’ve arranged to have Dean Maddox, head of Maddox Security looped in.”
“Thanks,” I say, and glance at Knight, who’s already pulling up street cam footage from last night. “Anything?”
“Working on it,” he mutters, eyes scanning the feeds.
River sits on the edge of the couch, her arms wrapped around herself. She’s quiet, and I can see the gears in her mind spinning—connecting things, calculating the fallout.