“What do you mean, ‘when we’re ready’?” Kaige demanded. The veins on his neck looked ready to pop. “Don’t you see what they’re doing? Those monsters are trying to give drugs to literal babies.”
“The kids don’t look all that impressed,” Rowan said reasonably. “They’ll probably turn it down.”
Kaige smacked the dashboard. “How smart were you at that age, huh?”
He had a point. Curiosity might get the better of them, and who knew what other bad choices that could lead to. That was exactly what the dealers were counting on. Get them hooked before they had enough experience to know better. My fingers tightened around the back of the seat, my knuckles whitening.
“It’s not our problem,” Wylder said in a strained voice.
Then one of the kids stretched out his arm, and the dealer moved to put the baggie in his hand.
“Fuck this!” Kaige shouted, and threw the door open. Before any of us could stop him, he was charging into the skate park.
“Shit,” Wylder mumbled, fumbling for his own door.
“Kaige!” I yelled after him, but he didn’t even slow down.
Rowan and I scrambled out the back. Kaige was bearing down on the drug dealers, who’d jerked apart from each other, staring at him.
“Fucking cowards, what do you think you’re doing giving drugs to kids?” Kaige yelled. “I’m going to break every bone in your bodies one by one.”
The men must have been able to tell they didn’t stand a chance against Kaige’s hulking form, even two against one. Their eyes widened, and they took off in opposite directions. The preteens gaped as Kaige barged through their midst, chasing down the guy who’d offered the baggie to the kids.
“Get back here, you fucking animal,” he hollered. “You’re a big enough man to ruin people’s lives, but not to get what you deserve?”
We raced after him. “Kaige!” Wylder snapped. “Let him go. You’re going to ruin what we’re trying to do here. This isn’t how we stop them.”
Kaige just pounded on across the park in pursuit of the dealer. I sucked in a ragged breath, pushing my legs harder, and added my own voice. “Kaige, please, listen to me. It’s over. The kids are okay. Just—stop. Please.”
My final plea penetrated whatever haze of rage was gripping him. Kaige slowed and came to a stop. He stared after the dealer, who’d vanished around the side of one of the ramps, and then back at us, his expression almost bewildered.
I caught up with him and grabbed his arm. “Thank you. It’s okay. It’s over.”
He peered down at me, and his voice came out choked up. “He was going to—”
“I know,” I said. “But he didn’t, and he’s gone now.”
“And now we’ve got to get out of here before he brings a ton of his friends down on us,” Wylder added from beside me.
I tugged Kaige’s arm, and he came with us back to the van. The kids had fled, leaving us alone. Kaige’s jaw worked, but Wylder raised his hand. “Don’t say anything. You fucked up our whole plan.”
“I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing!”
“Yes, you fucking could. For once in your life—”
Wylder cut himself off, stopping in his tracks. As Kaige and I followed his gaze, Kaige froze too. My heart stuttered.
We’d almost reached the sidewalk, but down the street, half a block from the van, an all-too-familiar car had just come to a stop. I recognized Axel’s tattooed scalp through the windshield before he climbed out.
“Hello, boys,” he sneered, his gaze fixing on me. “What do we have here?”
Wylder grasped my elbow and yanked me close. “Mercy,” he said, low and more urgent than I’d ever heard him. “Get the fuck out of here. Now.”
I stared at him, every particle of my body protesting the idea of leaving them to face the music alone. “But—”
“Go!” he repeated as Axel strode toward us. A couple more guys were getting out of the car behind him. “I don’t know what will happen if Axel manages to take you back to Dad.”
I couldn’t mistake the fear in his voice. He knew his father and Axel way better than I did. Maybe it should be his call.
My hands clenched at my sides, but I was afraid of what Wylder might do if I stayed and he felt he had to defend me right here and now. Shit.
I gave him and Kaige one last, apologetic glance, and just this once, followed Wylder’s orders. Spinning around, I took off in the opposite direction as fast as my feet would carry me, regret burning a hole in my gut.