Flock (The Ravenhood #1)(71)

“And what if I don’t want to be in on it?”

“No choice tonight,” he says, gunning the gas. He checks his rearview again and I turn and see blue lights flash from a side road behind us before turning our way. “Hold on,” he says as I turn to face him in the seat.

“You’re kidding. You’re going to pull over, right?”

“No can do, baby, they aren’t impounding my shit for thirty days.”

Oh, Fuck. Oh, Fuck. Oh, Fuck. Oh, Fuck.

A phone rings in his pocket, and when he pulls it out, I don’t recognize it. He answers without looking my way. “Yep, someone must have called in… I figured. Better break it up. I’ll take this one.” Sean floors it and my eyes go wide. I turn and see the lights are falling farther behind us, he’s losing them, but every muscle in my body is screaming with warning.

“We’re running from the police. You do realize that?”

I sink in my seat as Sean completely ignores me, his concentration solely on the road.

“Sean, this isn’t fucking funny!”

Calmly, he says to me. “One more time, Cecelia. Can. You. Keep. A. Secret?”

Terrified, I search myself for the answer. “Yes.”

He slows, downshifting and yanks the wheel and I scream, slamming my eyes shut as we veer sideways onto a gravel road. When I open them, I fully expect to catch a glimpse of my imminent death, but I can’t see anything because Sean cut his headlights and we’re now running in the light of the moon.

I’m seconds away from pissing myself as Sean guns the gas, leaving us flying down a gravel road. It’s while the tires crunch beneath and the silent wind whips through the cabin that realization dawns. These men I’ve been hanging with are exactly the type that Mom warns you away from and that Dad is supposed to greet at the front door with a shotgun in hand.

Since day one, I’ve been subtly and not so subtly warned by them to keep my distance—by both them and those who knew of them—and since day one, I’ve done nothing but walk directly into the line of fire. There’s always some basis or truth to rumors. But this? This is so far from what I expected. And it’s in the dark where I see the light. I’ve been running with these secretive devils for the last six weeks, and I’m being baptized in truth in something akin to hellfire.

“Jeremy was serious when he said he’d just robbed someone, wasn’t he?”

Silence.

Sean makes another fast turn, and I have no idea how, because I can’t see a foot in front of his hood, but his quick side-eye confirms everything.

“You spend all your free time crossing invisible lines,” I say, knowing it’s the absolute truth. “Jesus, Sean. How many secrets do you have?”

His reply is another turn before we slide to a stop. He kills the engine as we sit quietly under the cover of a few trees. I twist in my seat but see no sign of the blue light. I’ve never been prone to panic attacks before, but I’m positive I’m having something close to one now.

“It’s okay, baby. We lost him. We were too far ahead. He never even saw the make of the car. We’re safe.”

“Safe?” I pant, trying to even out my breathing. “I don’t think so.”

He watches me carefully as I gather and examine all the red flags that have been piling up in front of me over the last several weeks.

“I didn’t expect this. I knew something was going on, but this? Tyler’s a United States Marine, and he’s a part of this!?”

He nods.

“How far does this go, Sean?”

He bites his lip in contemplation and I glare at him.

I gesture toward the phone resting between his thighs. “That’s not your phone.”

“Never was.” With the quick workings of his hands, he pulls the SIM card out and snaps it in half.

“So, you all are like fucking outlaws or something?”

“Or something.”

“All of you?”

“Everyone with the bird was invited to the party. And they can all keep a secret. If they can’t…they can’t party. And probably never will again.”

I shake my head, unbelieving of the truth.

“I don’t know you at all, do I?”

“You know me,” he swears and moves toward me, but I jerk away from his advance. In the dim cabin, the slight sting of rejection shines in his eyes as he curses and fists his hands at his sides before turning back to me.

“You know me,” the gentle timbre of his voice has my eyes watering. “You know my mind and my heart. You know me. I made sure of it. But this is my world, our world, and if you want in, you have another decision to make.”





Sean speaks up, jerking me out of my reverie. “I can see I’ve blown your mind again. And not in a good way.” His tone is mournful, and I know he sees the battle I’m fighting. He’s put me in a dangerous position with his explanation, but he’s also left the door wide open on the other side of it for a quick escape. The problem is, I can’t even look at the threshold, because it means losing him. Knowing nothing about the party is my saving grace. I can walk away now, no ties. Merely aware of their existence but with nothing that incriminates me.

He runs a knuckle along my wobbling chin, and I look up to see we’re parked in his driveway. I’ve been so lost in my thoughts I didn’t follow his route home.