Chapter 35

West

“Three things of popcorn, three large drinks, and candy. Lots of candy. One of each.”

As Bram went over the selection with the clerk, I smiled over at Everleigh. Bram couldn’t believe she hadn’t tried any of the sweets. He seemed to know maybe she hadn’t when he began asking her each one, but he was quickly making up for what she’d lacked in the past. And me, I was soaking it in. Watching every little move my best friend made. Moments were important like that. You had to pay attention and soak in the details if you were going to grow as a person. If you were going to remember an unforgettable night …

“Anything else? Cotton candy? West, you want anything specific?”

“No, I’m good. I think we have enough to last a lifetime.”

“Or at least until after the other movie tonight. Two movies in one night.” He shook his head, still smiling. “I haven’t watched one in years, and now, two. Why haven’t we watched more movies?”

My smile faded as I took in his question. It stirred something in me almost making me question if the plans I’d set into motion were the right ones. Here I was trying to fool him, yet he was fucking with my head. Or was he? Was he pretending, like me? I just wasn’t sure anymore.

“I don’t know. Work?” I said, shrugging. “We’ve been so busy since we got out of school. Hell, even before then. I can’t remember the last time where we just relaxed. It’s always been something. One dilemma after the next. And they’ve gotten tougher each time, haven’t they? More

challenging or time crucial? Is it just me?”

Bram handed over my drink and shook his head. “No, you’re right. Every time, every year, it grows tougher. I used to think, it can’t get harder than this, but it does. It always does. What do you think would have happened if we would have just walked away? Just put up our hands and said fuck it, we quit?”

My smile was completely gone as I let his question simmer. “I don’t know. That’s not us. We’ve never run from anything.”

“Nope.” Bram grabbed the bag holding all of the candy and handed Everleigh her drink. “We never run. We never call it quits. Duty is who we are. It’s what we were bred to take on.” We. Not he.

My brow creased with confliction. He had been born and bred to take over Whitlock, not me. Yet, he put us as one. The significance meant more to me than I wanted to admit. I’d always thought Bram kept me at his side because I was just another duty, a routine ingrained in him. It didn’t sound like it when he’d said that. Brothers. We had always said we were.

Somehow I’d never really believed it.

We weaved through the crowd, handing the attendant our tickets as we broke into the hallway. Darkness engulfed us as Bram held open the first door for me and Everleigh. Goosebumps tightened my skin and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Perhaps I wrong? Or … maybe I needed more time? He needed more time?

“We should do this more often,” Bram said, letting the door close behind us. “Maybe once a week? Every Saturday night or something?

That’s when new movies come out, right?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “I can find out.”

Lower and lower my voice dropped. My mind was racing, my pulse, damn near exploding at the force it was pounding.

“West, you okay?”

Bram came to a stop short of the turn that would have led us seating. His face was illuminated by the previews on the screen and everything felt so surreal. My legs wouldn’t even walk any further. They couldn’t. They were meant for this exact spot—all of my life—all of these years. “West?”

I glanced at Everleigh’s concerned face, forcing myself to breathe.

“I’m suddenly not feeling so well.”

“Even in the dim light, you look pale as shit. Here, let me help you.” Bram took my drink, putting it on the ground as he wrapped his arm around mine to keep me steady. We broke for the doors and light was enveloping us once again as we made it just outside into the hallway. But the light held no sense of hope for me. I gestured toward the bathroom, forcing my weight in that direction, still not able to speak.

“Hold on,” Bram whispered to me. “Everleigh, stay. You, guard,”

Bram called out. “Watch her. Don’t let anyone near her.” He turned back to me, wrapping his other arm around my back as he walked us faster. “It’s okay. Are you going to be sick?”

“I think so.” And maybe I was right. Even though excitement was pumping through my veins, I couldn’t dismiss the sickness that was coming with it. I knew it would fade. I knew it was only a matter of time before I looked back at this day with relief and not regret. It was just going to take time.

Bram pushed open the bathroom door and the moment the room opened up, I was jerked at the impact of him being caught off guard. I spun to the side, catching myself before I fell. The stabs were so fast that I barely righted myself before Bram’s legs were buckling.

“Cut off my hand, you son of a bitch! How do you like that!”

Eli met my eyes, letting his arms slide out from where he had Bram restrained, dropping him. I didn’t wait. So many emotions were rolling through me that I lunged forward, grabbing Billy’s blond hair and twisting his neck, hard. He thought he’d be helping us, and he had. But not like he assumed.

“You were just in here going to the restroom. Get the guard by Everleigh and tell him to ring the alarm. The Master’s been attacked. Take her back to Bram’s. I’ll meet the both of you there. Don’t let her out of your sight for any reason.”

“Got it.”

“And, Eli?”

He turned in his fast retreat.

“Touch her in any way, I’ll kill you.”

He laughed. “Are you going to get me to do it, myself?”

“Don’t underestimate me. I have no one to hide from now. Meet

Whitlock’s new Master … me.”

“You son of a … bitch.” Groaning left Bram as he tried to roll to his side. But he couldn’t. He was fighting to even breathe. “I’ll … k-kill you.”

Blood was soaking through his gray shirt and crimson sprayed from his mouth as he began to cough. I felt nothing anymore. No guilt or remorse. Nothing but the need to end this as soon as possible.

“Kill me? You can’t even move. Sleep sweet, dear brother. I’ll take good care of her you. I promise.”

My leg came back and I kicked Bram in the side of the head as hard as I could. No more pain. No anger. No more possible fear of death for him.

Peace. I’d given him a gift. Luckily, he gave me more.

“Go,” I growled to Eli.

Within seconds the guard was bursting through … but not before Everleigh. How she’d managed to make her way around Eli was beyond me. All I knew was that scream. It pulled me from staring into Bram’s unconscious face as I kneeled over his body. It sent the hair on my arms standing, and my rage boiling.

“Get her out of here!”

“Bram! No!” She was a foot from reaching us when Eli’s arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her back. The guard was still yelling into his radio as he slid to a stop at Billy’s body. Screams, they were echoing around everywhere, amped by the tile walls surrounding us. Harder Everleigh fought, scratching and trying to claw at Eli. The pure determination on her face to make it to Bram was like nothing I’d ever seen. “The high leader is in the field. He’s calling in the surgeon now.”

The guard lowered, letting his hand hover as Bram’s chest as he pushed the button to speak again. “Three stab wounds centered in vicinity of the chest. One seems to be right around the heart. Maybe over it. That’s all I can see right now.”

Within moments more guards rushed in. The high leader was almost right behind him, panting as he pushed the others back and began ripping off his gear to remove his shirt.

“You, you, and you. Help carry him as I apply pressure. The chopper should be here shortly.”

“Chopper?”

I stood as he moved me out of the way and took his place next to Bram.

“That’s right.”

“What’s wrong with the hospital here?” I asked. “They can get to him sooner. They can help him.”

I knew the moment I met the leader’s eyes that something was off.

He knew things. Things I couldn’t begin to guess.

“Mr. Whitlock warned this may happen. He’s to be taken out of here and moved to a civilian hospital.”

“Civilian hospital? Which one?”

His eyes shot up to mine as he pushed the shirt down onto the wounds.

“That for only me to know.”