She wasn’t sure when they had fallen asleep, but it came as quickly and deeply, despite the heat, as if they had been drugged. Certainly more of a faint than a sleep, her mind had moved so rapidly into darkness that when the pounding woke her up she had no idea where she was. The room had grown dark with only the streetlight to give any indication of where she was. An urgent pounding filled the house and her heart raced in her chest. Something was coming. Something big.

 

Jess looked around desperately trying to get her bearings. Was she at the mansion? Was everything that had happened just part of a fevered dream and she was still there, covered in the blood of her victim? Was she at Angela’s house? With her mother? What was that knocking, so fierce and demanding? When she looked down and saw Scott, one arm over his eyes, sleeping through the noise, it all came back. Her heart finally start to slow down and her breathing calmed. Seeing him there, stretched out across the bed was like waking up to the perfect gift on Christmas morning. It brought a sense of wonder to her, despite the pounding that filled the apartment.

 

Scott groaned and squirmed as he awoke, blinking into the darkness as he tried to get his bearings. “What the fuck is that?”

 

“I think someone’s at the door.” She had finally placed the noise as the banging of the door at the bottom of the step that opened onto the street, and was digging for something to put on. Whoever it was, he or she was in a hell of a hurry.

 

“What time is it?" Scott asked as he sat up and tried to blink himself awake.

 

“Scott! Scott!” The sound of his name being yelled in a familiar voice set him to action. With the rapidity of a man who was used to being woken up by drama, he grabbed his jeans from the floor and pulled his weapon from the holster that was still attached.

 

“Who is it?” Jess asked, her eyes wide. She was pulling her own clothes on as she headed for the door.

 

“It’s Rick. What the hell is he doing here?” He pulled his jeans on then made his way after Jess, his weapon at low ready. He tried to pass Jess where she stood in the doorway to the landing.

 

“Scott, wait…what does he want?”

 

“Don’t know. Stay up here,” he commanded as he stepping into the dark stairwell.

 

“Not a chance,” she mumbled and pushed past him and down the stairs.

 

“Jess, Goddmanit!” Scott snarled after her, his bare feet thumping on the steps as he banged down them behind her.

 

Jess flung open the door to the street. “What do you want?” she demanded.

 

Scott arrived a moment later to find Rick pacing on the street outside. He was tugging at his goatee, which was never a good sign in his experience. He was pale and jitterier than usual and without the constant glint of humor he used like a shield.

 

“What the fuck, man?” Scott asked, the night air feeling cool on his bare chest after the heat of the apartment.

 

“You gotta get out of here, Scott. Val’s on his way over.” He nodded at Jess, the slightest scowl on his face. “Shit is going down, bro. They are out for you, dude.”

 

Jess felt her stomach drop. They were coming to lock her back up in her tower. “How?” she asked.

 

“Jason,” Scott said softly. He ran his hand through his hair and begun to pace. “Fucking, kiss ass, Jason. That fucking creepy little ginger Irish wop. Trying to secure his spot by throwing me under the fucking bus.”

 

Panic was starting to build in Jess. She had seen Val when he was furious. He was unstoppable. He descended on his enemies like a thunderstorm, a giant wall of rage that burned family homes to the ground, a howling demon that buried men to their necks and let the animals finish them off. He was lawless in his anger and devoid of anything even slightly resembling humanity.

 

“Fuck it,” Scott snarled. “Let him come.”

 

Jess’s panic increased. That dead look she had seen in Scott’s eyes a few nights ago at the bonfire was back, the soft part of him that had held her as she cried long gone. She thought for a second that she was lucky to have even seen it at all. “No.” She laid a hand of Scott’s chest. Despite his blank expression, she could feel his heart beating rapidly. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

 

“No, we don’t.” Scott’s voice was flat and defiant. He looked right through Jess, right through Rick, right through anything that stood in his way.

 

Uncle Val, Jess thought, he looks like uncle Val.

 

“I don’t owe that guy anything. I’d like to see what he has to say. See what kind of impressive toys he brings to the party.”

 

“No, you don’t, man,” Rick spoke up, his voice high pitched with alarm. “He’s bringing a pack with him and they’re looking for your head, man. I swear it. I managed to sneak out so I could come give you a head’s up. I’ve put myself at risk, man. I’m a dead man if he finds me here, too. You have got to get the fuck out of here, pronto.”

 

“I’m not backing off. I haven’t done anything wrong, so why would I?”

 

Jess turned to him, placing her hands on his face so that he had to meet her eyes. She needed to find that special man inside of him again. Drag it out of him before it was too late.

 

In spite of himself and his mounting rage, Scott softened. In the deep blue evening, she was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen. He knew at that moment ] she could make him do anything she wanted, and he wouldn’t care, because he would do anything for her.

 

“You don’t have to back off, Scott,” she said, her black, velvet-painting eyes locked on to his. “And I’ll never ask you to. I will never ask you to back off. But we’ve got to get out of here. Just for a while. He’ll cool off and then we can deal with it. But it’s time to go. We need to lay low, just for a bit, and then we can deal with this. I’ll be right there with you when we do, I promise.”

 

Numbly he stared at her. The world could’ve burned around him and he wouldn’t care. She was a goddess in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She was an ivory figurine with blood on her hands. She was going to make him make so many mistakes and, yet, he didn’t care.

 

“Go get some stuff,” he said at last. He sensed both Rick and Jess’s relief at his decision. Jess immediately turned and raced up the stairs and into the apartment. Scott turned to Rick who was looking at him, wide eyed with honest concern and relief. “You need to go,” Scott said, then nodded his head. “Thanks.”

 

Rick smiled. “Never thought I’d see the day when Prada risked his ass for pussy.”

 

Scott walked to Rick, positioning himself inches away from the guy’s face, looking past that ridiculous face tattoo into the eyes of man he’d known for almost a decade. “I never thought I’d see the day that Jason would sell me out. This ain’t over. Not by a long shot.”

 

He heard Jess slam the door behind him and lock it. She handed him the rest of his clothes, a small duffle in her other hand. He smiled as he finished dressing. She was smart. She packed just what they needed for a couple of days, keeping the pack small enough to strap to a bike.

 

“Thank you,” she said to Rick, offering him a shy smile.

 

Rick shrugged. “You damn well better be worth it,” he grunted.

 

***

 

They rode through the night, the Harley singing the song of freedom. They rode away from the desolate suburban streets, away from the greasy stink of the café, and away from the sound of her mother snoring on the couch. Every mile they rolled was another mile away from empty bottles and ivory towers. They rode past the burned out buildings and collapsing dream homes. They rode under graffiti pocked overpasses and past clusters of men doing deals.

 

Her hair streaming out behind her, her legs and arms wrapped around Scott, Jess felt no fear. For the first time since that night at the girl’s house, she felt whole. She didn’t love Scott, but there was something about him that was healing her. She felt safe in his presence, safe like she never had. She could sense he would never hurt her, and he would protect her from being hurt. And that was enough, for now. She smiled and laid her head against his back. The fact that he could take her to places she had never been in the bedroom didn’t hurt anything either.

 

Holding him, the throbbing of the bike beneath her, she felt free. Given time, maybe they could build something together, no matter what was waiting for them when they stopped.

 

And something would be. Baying at their heels like a pack rabid dogs, her mother and uncle wouldn’t stop. Their fury, built from broken promises, betrayal, and blood, would stalk them until they were stopped. As the world burned around her, a vengeful giant on their tail, she knew only one thing for certain: so long as they were together, they would survive.