Walk Through Fire (Chaos, #4)(70)

Still fading, I murmured, “I gave you them. I gave them you.”

“Baby,” he whispered, the word tortured.

“I gave you up, walking through fire to do it but I did it,” I told him. “I did it in the end. I gave you everything,” I finished, finally, finally fading.

Fading away.

Into nothing.


High

High waited, holding his girl, making sure she was in a place where there was no pain and taking his time doing it.

When he was certain she was resting, gently he pulled away.

Then carefully, he took off her boots, more carefully tugging off her jacket, and he pulled the covers out from under her, dragged them over her, and tucked her in tight all around.

After he did that, he didn’t look at her.

He couldn’t.

He’d climb back in bed with her, which meant he wouldn’t do what he had to do.

So instead, he walked out of the room.

They were all there. Word had gotten out. It did that in times like these. So all the brothers were there. Even Lanie; Elvira; Shy’s wife, Tabby; and Joker’s woman, Carissa, were there.

He looked right to Tack, not missing a step on his stalk to the door.

“She does not leave,” he stated.

“High, you shouldn’t leave either. Not if your shit’s not tight. Snow’s gettin’ bad,” Tack replied.

He stopped, hand on the handle, and looked back to his brother.

“Then do me a solid and get food in ’cause if I get back and it’s too bad to get her to my RV, we’re workin’ the rest of our shit out here and considerin’ what just went down, that’s gonna take some time.”

On that, he walked out into the snow.

He’d taken his truck that morning, knowing the weather was moving in.

So he swung in the cab, started her up, and rolled out of Ride.

The snow was heavy, sticking, but the roads weren’t bad as he made his way to where he needed to go.

He parked out front, prowled up the walk, and pressed his finger to the bell, not pounding on the door like he wanted to and taking his finger off the button only because there could be kids inside.

The door opened, not much, a crack, but she moved into the space and looked up at him.

“Holy crap, Lo—” Dottie started to breathe, eyes wide.

“You didn’t tell me,” he growled, watched her face pale and knew his guess was right.

Millie had shared with her sister.

And her sister did not share with him.

“Logan,” she whispered.

“I wouldn’t give a f*ck and you know, woman.” He lifted a hand to stab a finger her way. “You know I wouldn’t give a f*ck and you let her do it anyway.”

She opened the door only to wedge herself in it and asked, “Did something happen?”

“Millie’s in my bed at the Compound, passed out, f*cked up, gone. She shared, Dot. She told me why she got shot of me. She did it and she unraveled right in front of my goddamned eyes, finally givin’ me that f*ckin’ shit and you f*ckin’ knew and you said shit.”

Her pale face went white and pain entered her eyes.

“She wouldn’t be swayed,” she said carefully.

“So the f*ck what?” High shot back. “You knew and you could have told me and stopped her pain because I sure as f*ck would have stopped her pain and you know it.”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t, Logan. She’s my sister. I love her. You don’t know how she was. I couldn’t—”

“I know how she was,” High growled. “Twenty years it’s been and I got that pain passed out in my bed, Dot.”

“No,” she said harshly. “You don’t know. It was bad, Logan. So bad. I couldn’t go against her wishes.”

“You could have and you should have. And you f*ckin’ know it,” he fired back.

“You both wanted kids so bad,” she whispered.

“No,” he grunted. “I wanted Millie. You knew it. You f*ckin’ knew.”

“Low—”

He leaned away but kept her skewered with his stare. “She live a good life, Dot? Hunh? She move on and find her happy?”

Dottie’s eyes got wet.

High’s gut burned.

She didn’t.

Just like him, his girl lived twenty years blistering in the fire.

“Yeah,” he snarled.

“You don’t know how she was.”

“No, I didn’t. But I found out half an hour ago, woman, which was twenty years too late.”

She flinched.

He liked her, once loved her like the sister she was supposed to be for the rest of his life, but more, he had shit he had to see to.

So he relented.

“I’ll fix it.”

Her eyes got big again.

“Wh-what?” she stammered.

He didn’t repeat himself.

He ordered, “And while I’m doin’ that, you take my back. You get that man of yours to take my back. You get Justine and Kellie to take my back. And you work with me however I gotta maneuver it to guide my girl back to happy.”

A tear slid down her cheek as she stared up at him, lips parted.

When she seemed unable to speak, he prompted, “Hear?”