(Angel's POV)

I was having a shit night. I knew I should be happy, what with the win with the rebels and Gallindo, the fact that the shit with EZ was done with and I had been voted in as the club's secretary, but my mind was forever stuck on Hope.

I knew I had fucked up.

Yeah, she had lied to me. That shit was all on her and I was pissed. But after killing KJ today… I realised what lengths we are all willing to go to for the ones we loved. Hope had been dragged into this shit, this life, and I was a part of that. I should never had encouraged it. I loved her, there was no doubt about that. Which is why, as much as it hurt, I had to let her go.

That's why I slept with Adelita. I knew I had fucked up in that regard too. I should never have slept with her, knowing I felt nothing for her, whilst all I could see were Hope's bright eyes and mane of hair. But I knew it was the one thing… the one betrayal that she would never forgive.

It still felt fucking shitty though. I knew she had been influenced by EZ and my pops to keep quiet. She didn't understand how shit in this life worked, so she had followed the guidance of people she should've been able to trust. I was pissed that she hadn't told me the truth when she found out but, I realised very quickly after our argument, that I would've done the same thing in her shoes. It didn't make it hurt any less though. I hated to admit it, but Adelita had been a good temporary distraction from the shit pile that was currently my life. A bit like the blonde currently sitting in my lap, sewing my new patch on.

I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of the chair next to me being pulled out, as Bishop took a seat. I had had several drinks by this point and didn't resist when the girl in my lap kissed me hard before making herself scarce. I sobered up instantly when I saw Hope across the lot, witnessing the whole exchange. She turned away, but not before I saw the hurt look on her face and her eyes fill with tears.

I was officially the world's biggest asshole.

One look over at Bishop told me he had seen it all too.

"What's going on there?" He asked and I shrugged. I had to be careful with what I said; I knew Bishop had formed a soft spot for Hope. We all fucking had. That was the problem.

"It's nothing," I answered, trying to sound casual.

"Hope doesn't think it's nothing," he commented, and we both watched her hurry away from the party. Fuck.

"Man, I don't think that shit is going to work out. She fucked up with something. I fucked up with something. I don't know," I tried to explain. Translation: She kept something from me because she thought she was protecting me. I responded by fucking another girl. AKA I don't deserve her.

Bishop seemed to have a different perspective on it though.

"So… what? You're gonna fuck up some more?" He asked, indicating the piece of ass who was in my lap 5 minutes ago. "Whilst her brother is in town? Shit brother, that is fucked up. Hope is one of a kind. I fucking thought she was gonna be our first old lady. Would've made a damn good one too," he commented, shaking his head as he drunk his beer.

I've got nothing but respect for my president, but I wished he would shut up. Truth is, I was starting to think she could've been the one too, before all of this fucking mess. The comment about Happy got my attention though. I didn't realise the reaper had already arrived. That just showed how much attention I had been paying tonight.

"We don't know Hap's her brother," I commented, though it sounded hollow even to myself. She had a temper when she needed to, and his balls of fucking steel. "They even talked yet?" I hoped not. I'd promised I'd be there when she met him. Even though we were so fucked up it wasn't even a joke, I still wanted to keep that promise.

"I thought you didn't care," He smirked and I didn't comment. "You and I both know they're family."

We sat in silence for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"You earned that, brother," he told me, pointing at my new patch.

"Thanks Pres," I answered, sincerely, before another thought entered my head. "My brother talk to you?" I knew I could never give EZ up; he was my brother. But he betrayed me and I wanted him gone, before he could ruin any other part of my life up.

"Yeah," he nodded, and I felt relieved. I would miss EZ. I had really wanted him to be a part of the club with me. But he had betrayed everything we stood for as family.

"It makes sense. We'll add it to our bylaws. Blood can't sponsor blood," he continued and I looked at him, confused. What the hell was he talking about?

"I don't understand," I said, echoing my thoughts. Bishop glanced at me, his eyebrow raised.

"Well, that's why your brother asked me to sponsor him… said the family shit was fucking with both of you," he explained and, instantly, I was fuming. The treacherous little fucker.

"Yeah, yeah it is," I responded to Bishop, not wanting him to catch wind of what was really going on inside my head. I was going to kill my little brother.

Bishop nodded to me, signalling the end of our conversation, and I immediately stood up to search for EZ.

*** MAYANS MC *** MAYANS MC *** MAYANS MC ***

(Hope's POV)

I had walked away from the party some time ago, not wanting to witness Angel getting his face eaten off by some sweet butt. I knew he felt betrayed and he had every right to be mad, but I couldn't believe he'd thrown our relationship in the trash the way he had, and then run straight into the arms of someone else.

First, he'd gone to see Adelita. I didn't need to be told to know that something had gone on between them, and now I'd witnessed him making out with one of the club skanks. Angela was right when she said I couldn't trust any of them. Whores.

I walked through the scrapyard, wanting to be as far away from the party at possible. My head was swimming with emotion, both from the events o the past 48 hours, but also with the trepidation of eventually speaking to Happy. I could've approached him the second he arrived, but now I was glad I hadn't. He clearly wasn't in any rush to meet me. His conversation with Taza had made it abundantly clear that his priority for visiting Santo Padre was not to meet his sister, but to get completely hammered. But I was fine with us not speaking tonight; I had no intention of talking to him whilst he was drunk and I was already dealing with enough shit today, without having to add that to my plate.

I ended up at the far end of the scrapyard, full of burnt-out cars and vehicle shells. I pulled open the door of a rusted car lacking wheels, pleasantly surprised to see the backseat was still intact. I crawled inside, deliberately avoiding thinking about the history of the car and who had potentially laid in here before me. I was suddenly exhausted, desperate for sleep, and I had no intention of going back to the clubhouse and potentially running into my brother or, even worse, Angel and his latest conquest. So I dragged myself into the back seat, closing the door behind me and I curled up into a ball.

There was a hole in the roof of the car. I watched the stars for a few minutes, thinking about how quickly things had changed since the night I had first arrived in Santo Padre, and Angel had taken me to see the stars. It was the last thought I had, before allowing exhaustion to take hold of me.

*** MAYANS MC *** *** MAYANS MC *** *** MAYANS MC ***

(The next morning)

I woke up the next morning, stiff from sleeping in the car all night. Looking around, I was surprised to see one of the blankets from a bed roll covering me, and a bottle of water on the seat next to me. They definitely weren't there when I fell asleep, which meant someone had found me at some point during the night. Plucking my phone out of my pocked to check the time, I noticed I had a text, from Creeper of all people. This surprised me; Bishop had made sure from day one that we had all the guy's numbers, in case of emergency, and vice versa, but Creeper and I weren't exactly on the texting level. To be honest, I hadn't had much communication with the quieter Mayan, though I certainly had nothing against him. I opened the text, my curiosity getting the better of me, and was surprised by what I read:

C: Figured you had a good reason for not wanting to stay in the clubhouse. You looked cold, so I covered you up. You can put the blanket back on your way inside – Happy is still here. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me – I told Prez you got up early and went for a walk. Don't know how much you drunk so…hydrate. Ps. Cheers for the heads up with Izzy. I was getting rolled.

I had to chuckle at that, before smiling at his thoughtfulness. It suddenly occurred to me that, whilst he might not say much, Creeper was certainly aware of things that were going on around him. It also showed me that, whilst he might not be as openly friendly as say… Gilly or Bishop, he was still accepting me as one of them.

Not allowing myself to panic at the prospect of finally coming face to face with Happy, I dragged myself out of the car with Creeper's bed roll in hand and headed back to the clubhouse. Thankfully, the yard was empty, allowing me time to put the blanket back without being spotted.

Luck was still on my side as I entered the clubhouse, with only Chucky and Creeper awake and at the bar. Chucky grinned when he saw me, handing over a steaming mug of coffee and a lemon muffin.

"You are my favourite man," I declared, grabbing my breakfast from him.

"I accept that," he smiled, nodding, before heading back into the kitchen.

"You're up early," I spoke quietly, not sure if Creeper wanted to be disturbed or not.

"Perks of being the only T-total Mayan in Santo Padre," he joked, surprisingly friendly. I didn't know what to say; I'd never noticed that he was sober.

"Thanks for the blanket," I eventually answered, smiling.

"Don't mention it," he replied, before glancing at me. "The guys will start stirring soon, so you might wanna get changed."

"You're right," I grimaced, looking down at last night's clothes. "Thanks again Creep."

I took his suggestion running into my thankfully empty dorm room. I opted to take a shower, prolonging the inevitable meet with Happy. Something in my gut was telling me this wasn't going to go well.

As I was drying myself off, I heard noise coming from my bedroom. I froze for a second, praying that it wasn't Angel waiting for me. Peaking around the door, I relaxed when I saw Izzy perched on my bed, rummaging through my makeup bag.

"You know, you have own makeup that you could use," I teased, coming out of the bathroom and heading to the dresser to find some clothes.

"Yeah, but where is the fun in that?" She grinned. "Besides, you have better colours… and I wanted to find out what the hell happened last night?"

I slumped down next to her, resisting the urge to cry for the umpteenth time.

"Oh no," she said, taking one look at my face. "Ok, tell me everything. Right now. I know I said I didn't want to get involved with the drama, but I'm not letting you go through this alone. Tell me, so I help you. That's what friends are for." By the time she was finished, I was crying again and she pulled me in for a hug.

"There was a secret," I started, trying to tell her as much as I could. "A secret EZ was keeping from Angel. I found out about it and I wanted to tell Angel, but I couldn't. It would've put him in danger,Iz, and EZ made me promise not to tell. Anyway, Angel found out that EZ was lying and then he found out that I knew too."

"And he's mad about that?" She guessed and I nodded.

"But it gets worse than that. Yesterday, after Angel left, he met up with a girl he used to have feelings for. And then last night, I saw him kissing one of the trashy hang arounds," I sobbed and she gasped.

"Fucking asshole," she growled, stroking my hair as I cried. "You don't deserve this Hope. You can't beat yourself up when you were just trying to protect him. As far as I can see, that's not a crime. That's what you do when you love someone. If he wants to be mad about the lies, then fair enough. But that doesn't give him the right to act like an asshole, make you cry and cheat on you!"

"I don't think it counts as cheating if you say the relationship is done 5 minutes before," I sniffed and she tutted at me.

"Honey, a love like yours doesn't just end because he's got his panties in a twist. It's still fucking cheating. And what a time to do it, when you're about to meet your brother for the first time! How did it go? You never introduced me?" I sighed.

"It didn't. It hasn't happened yet. I saw him last night. He said to Taza that his priority was to get wrecked and deal with me in the morning," I said bitterly and she whistled, pissed.

"What the fuck is wrong with these people?" She asked, sounding appalled.

"I don't know but, honestly? I'm over it. Maybe it's time we just went home," I said, feeling utterly defeated by everything. I didn't have the strength to fight everyday.

"Oh no, not a chance lady, that's just your fear talking," she scoffed, shaking her head. "Look, maybe Happy is your brother and he's just as nervous about fucking this up as you are. Maybe he needed the drink for a little dutch courage. Maybe he's super nice and we can spend the next few months with him, wherever he's from."

"Charming," I supplied and she grinned.

"See? It even sounds perfect," she nodded and I sighed, wishing life was that easy.

"And if not?" I asked.

"If not, then we put a deposit down on an apartment with Leti. I'm serious! You deserve a fresh start and I'm not going anywhere. Besides, I think I really quite like Gilly," she confessed, blushing and I grinned.

"You two have seemed rather cosy lately," I smiled, genuinely happy for my friend.

"Yeah but we're not talking about me right now," she said, poking me in the nose. "If Angel wants to be an asshole that's his loss. But you've got bigger things to deal with right now. So, wipe your face, and let's go and see what Happy has got to say for himself."

Izzy was right, as always.

I took a deep breath, wiping my face of all traces of my mini breakdown, and then finished getting ready. I put some basic makeup on, as it always gave me a boost of confidence, and then I was finally ready to face the day.

We walked back into the clubhouse together, arm in arm. I knew even if Angel couldn't keep his promise and have my back today, Izzy sure as hell did. I stopped in the doorway, noticing Bishop sitting at the table in the far corner, with Taza and Happy. I could tell it was Happy because I recognised him from the night before, though his back was facing me. Bishop spotted me looking and nodded, though their conversation continued. I took that as a sign that they were still conducting business, and so I sat at a table on the opposite side, with Izzy, Gilly and Coco.

"You ok?" Coco asked, after a tense minute of me tapping my foot anxiously.

"Yeah, sorry," I apologised, "just don't know what to say."

"Just be yourself, Chica," he responded, taking a drag of the cigarette in his hand. "You ain't got nothing to worry about. We got you."

"Thanks Coco," I whispered, smiling at him.

"Yeah, and if he's an asshole, I got no problem punching him in the face," Izzy said cheerily, making me snort and Gilly wince.

"Please don't," he almost pleaded. "I don't wanna get into it with the Tacoma killer today."

"The Tacoma killer?" I repeated, wondering what the hell kind of nickname that was, and how you earned such a reputation.

"Such up, fool," Coco hissed and Gilly shrugged.

"You wanna explain that to us boys?" Izzy demanded, looking between the two of them.

"Nope," Coco responded, standing up and snuffing out his cigarette into the ash tray as Gilly joined him. "Besides, seems like you're about to have company." He flicked his head in the direction of Bishop and Happy, who had stood up and were heading our way. "We'll give you some space."

"Jeez thanks," I muttered.

"Absolute heroes, those two," Izzy agreed, under her breath. I snorted, but the smile quickly fell from my face as Bishop and Happy reached our table.

"Hope, Izzy," Bishop greeted us both, "this is Happy Lowman." Happy was quiet and serious. My mind wasn't playing tricks on me last night, his eyes were dark and he had a menacing aura about him. His mouth was set in a tight line, and he didn't look happy to see me. My eyes met his, and I thought I saw a momentary flash of recognition, before they filled with anger. There was an awkward silence, as no one wanted to be the first to speak. I also noticed that Creeper and Chucky, who were both at the bar, had gone silent as they watched our exchange.

"Izzy, shall we give these two some space?" Bishop asked, in a not-so-subtle way.

"Not a chance in hell," She responded, catching everyone by surprise. Bishop didn't look too happy at her reply, but I had never loved her more.

"I don't care if she stays," I clarified, look at Happy to see if he objected. He didn't say a word. "I just want to know if you're my brother or not."

"That's easy," his voice came out as a growl, low and gravelly. "I'm not."

"How do you know?" I asked him and he all but snarled at me.

"What makes you think I'm who you're looking for?" He responded, crossing his arms. I sighed, picking at a splinter in the wood of the table nervously.

"My mum… she hired someone to do some digging, when she found out my father already had a child before she met him. My brother's name is Tom Lowman and all they could find out was he has some connections with the motorcycle clubs in California," I explained and he snorted, his eyes darkening even more.

"And what's that got to do with me?" He asked and I shrugged.

"Look, if you're not my brother, it's fine. I'm sorry I wasted your time. But everyone here seemed to think it was a bit of coincidence that, whilst no one knows your real first name, your last name is Lowman and you're part of a motorcycle gang," I snapped, my temper getting the better of me.

"Club," he corrected, equally as angry. We glared in silence at each other, until Taza broke the silence with a laugh.

"Well, if she isn't your sister Hap, you're certainly similar in temperament," he commented, and I looked over at him, thinking. He was right… and it made me wonder if the man in front of me was telling me the truth.

"Are you my brother?" I asked him flatly.

"No. How many times is it going to take for you to get that into your thick skull?" He asked and I swallowed, a lump in my throat growing at how horribly he was treating me.

"Easy now," Bishop cautioned Happy with a look, seeing how upset I was getting. He was lying though. I could see it clearly now, plain on his face. The question was why.

"Ok… so where's your father?" I challenged him. "He wouldn't be in prison by any chance? For…. I don't know…multiple homicides?" Hank whistled at my bold statement, as Happy's eyes flashed with an emotion I didn't understand. Gotcha.

"That's what I thought," I whispered, letting him know I had caught him out on his bullshit.

"You know nothing," he hissed, leaning forward suddenly and grabbing me roughly by the wrist. "You want the truth, little girl? Yes he's in prison. For gutting and murdering a bus load of little children. You really want to be a part of that? Of his life?"

"Get off, you're hurting me!" I cried as my arm twisted painfully. Bishop stepped forward to intervene, but Happy had already let go, sitting back in his chair.

"I didn't come here to find him or be a part of his life!" I screamed, losing my shit. "I came here to find you! You have no idea what I've been through, or what he put my mum through! I just wanted to find my brother. Fuck you if you're going to be like this!" His jaw twitched in anger and his nostrils flared as he regarded me coolly.

"You would've have been better off if you'd never shown up. You should've listened to me when I told you there is nothing for you here, and that I wasn't your brother. Now pack your shit, and go home to England," he growled. I stared at him in disbelief.

"Screw you, asshole," Izzy flared up, but he ignored her completely.

"So… you were going to let me walk away, letting me believe your lies and believe I've got no family left, because you don't want to face up to our father's mistakes?" I asked, not believing what I was hearing. This man standing before me, playing the bad-ass angry scary biker, was nothing more than a coward. I barely noticed the door to the clubhouse banging open and people entering, and I was too angry to pay attention to who it was.

"I can't be what you want me to be," he said stonily, "and I don't want to be. I never asked you to come and find me. If I wanted a sister, I would've contacted you years ago." His confession hit me like a ton a bricks. Even Izzy gasped at what he said.

"You… knew about me?" I whispered and he continued to glare. "All this fucking time, you knew?" My voice shook with anger and betrayal. He stared me down in silence, until I felt like nothing more like a piece of dirt on the floor. Suddenly, all the fight was gone from my body.

"Well, that changes things," I nodded calmly, getting to my feet. I was unable to look anyone in the eye, ashamed that everyone in the clubhouse had witnessed my rejection – the rejection of the last family member I had left.

"It's better this way," Happy growled, though a little less cold than anything else he had said. "You should go home to your ma." I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. By this point I had guessed that Bishop hadn't passed on the memo that my mum was dead.

That's when I bolted.

I was out of the clubhouse door before anyone had a chance to stop me. I heard footsteps running after me as I tore across the lot and through the gate, and for a crazy second I thought I heard Angel shouting my name. But that was ridiculous; he had thrown me away as easily as my brother had. There was no denying it now; no longer any false hope of having a family that I could cling to. My mum was gone. Angel didn't want me. My father was some kind of deranged child killer. And my brother had known about me all along, and had never wanted anything to do with me.

I ran for what seemed like forever. I was a former cross-country champion in my school athletics team, so it took a lot to tire me out. I didn't stop and I didn't look back. The neighbourhood whipped past me as my feet pounded the pavement, matched by the roaring beat of my heart. I ran down every alley I could find, zig-zagging through the streets of Santo Padre, to ensure that any trailing Mayan would eventually lose my trail. My throat and lungs were burning by the time the town began to thin, the houses becoming less and less frequent until the dusty road led to nothing but desert on either side. I slowed my run to a jog and then to a walk, as my emotions finally got the better of me. I sank to the floor, sobbing, finally letting out all my feelings of betrayal and self-loathing.

Clearly there was something wrong with me. That I wasn't good enough. I had lied to Angel and led him to betray me, when all I wanted to do was love him and protect him from being hurt by the club. My own brother wanted nothing to do with me, even when he knew I had no one else. Maybe I was my father's daughter. Maybe I was a bad person, deep down, and I was better staying away from everyone.

(Angel's POV)

I arrived at the clubhouse, just in time to see Happy emotionally tear Hope apart. My heart broke for her as I saw how devastated she was to find out that Happy had known about her all along, and didn't want anything to do with her. I had a horrible feeling that this was going to happen, and she didn't even know the worst parts of him yet. By the time he had finished talking, it didn't matter that she had betrayed me by keeping Ez's secret. It didn't matter that I was mad at her. I just wanted to be by her side and take her pain away.

I took a step towards them, wanting to show her that we could move past our issues and that I had her back, when all of a sudden she ran past me and straight out of the clubhouse.

"Shit," I swore, immediately taking off after her.

"Hope!" I yelled in an attempt to stop her, but she was already out of the gate by that time. Damn, I had no idea she was that fast.

Suddenly, I was filled with rage. Happy fucking Lowman had made my girl feel like shit and now she had potentially run off into danger, all because of him. I stormed back into the clubhouse, my blood boiling. I went straight for Happy, only to be pulled back by Coco and Gilly.

"Let me go!" I yelled, struggling against them as Happy watched in astonishment. "What the fuck is wrong with you, huh? All she wanted was to know you. You too fucked up to support your own family?" I sneered at him, and his face hardened in anger.

"Don't be a fool, Angel," Coco hissed, knowing that the Tacoma killer wasn't someone you opted to pick a fight with. But I was too angry to care.

"What the fuck do you know about it?" Happy hissed back. "You ever think maybe I wanted to scare her off? To make damn sure my sister doesn't get sucked into this life? She has a safe home, back in fucking England, where she belongs. With her mum, going to a good college and a million fucking miles away so our father can never fuck her up the way he has fucked up everything else."

"She's dead!" I yelled back, seeing red at how fucking stupid he was being. "Her mum's dead, why the fuck do you think she came looking for you in the first place?" By this point Coco and Gilly had let go of me, when they were sure I wasn't going to swing for him. It didn't stop me getting up in his face though. I stood mere inches from him, using our heart difference to my advantage.

"What?" He rasped, searching my eyes for signs of a lie.

"You're the last one she has left in this world. And you told her… that you didn't want her. And now, she's fucking gone! She doesn't know this area, god only knows what could happen. And it's on you, bro. If anything happens to her, I swear to God I'll…" I couldn't finish my promise I was so angry. But I meant every word. I knew I was taking out my frustrations with myself on him, but I didn't care. If something happened to her because we both let her down, I'd kill him.

"You'll what?" He challenged, before tilting his head, assessing me. "Shit… you love her." It wasn't a question, but I tilted my chin back anyway.

"Damn sight more than you do," I threw back at him, letting it settle in that he had put his little sister in danger. We stared each other down in silence, a stand off that I wasn't willing to back down on. I knew I had fucked up. I couldn't believe I had been so mother-fucking stupid as to go to Adelita last night, just to piss Hope off. Then I made it worse by kissing that sweetbutt, whose name I didn't even remember I was so drunk, and now I had potentially fucked up everything. I should've been with her this morning. I promised her she wouldn't have to face Happy alone. I knew he would pull some bullshit like this. Yeah, he was great to have on side, but he was as self-sabotaging and fucked-up as they come. And now, he'd hurt the one thing I was scared to lose.

I was surprised when he took a deep breath and stepped back.

"We're wasting time. We need to find her," he growled, stepping towards the door.

"You're all fucking idiots, you know that?" A familiar voice came from my left, and I looked around to see Izzy standing there, hands on her hips and looking pissed.

"Excuse me?" Happy grunted, and she ignored him at first, focussing on me.

"First of all, how the fuck could you?" She hissed, glaring daggers at me. "And don't play innocent, you know exactly what I'm talking about," she growled, before I had the chance to respond. Then she turned to Happy.

"How fucking dare you talk to my best friend like that? She's travelled half way around the fucking world to find your sorry ass, basically stayed here like a prisoner -no offence Bishop- waiting for you to find a suitable fucking time to see her, and now you've told her you want nothing to do with her?!" She glared round at us all, as if we all had a part to play in this.

"You will NOT go traipsing around the streets looking for her," She sighed. "It'll do you no good. Running away when things get tough? It's a classic Hope move and you won't find her if she doesn't want to be found. YOU should never have driven her away," she aimed that at Happy before turning on me, "and YOU…. If you're not man enough to take care of business, I sure as hell will," she announced, before throwing her fist back and thumping Happy in the eye. He didn't see it coming, and was thrown off balance as we all watched in shock. Happy touched his face as if he couldn't believe she had done it, before taking a step forward with a murderous look in his eye.

Suddenly, Gilly, Coco and Bishop were all standing between Izzy and Happy.

"No, you don't," Bishop told him, authority in his voice. "You've already laid your hands on one woman today and I'll not allow you to do it again. Not in my clubhouse." My head shot up at this.

"Did you put your hands on Hope?" My voice was barely above a whisper, but my tone deadly. No one answered, but Coco shifted guiltily when my gaze turned to him, as if he knew what had happened.

I didn't have time for this. When Hope was back safe, then I would deal with the bastard that was her brother. Until then, nothing else mattered.

"Where do I find her?" I asked, turning to Izzy. She was the only one who truly knew Hope.

"Didn't you hear me?" She shook her head in disbelief. "You won't find her, not if she doesn't want to be found."

"Then I'll search everywhere," I responded, getting to my feet. "I can't leave her out there. I never should've…" I couldn't finish my sentence with everyone else in the room.

"No…you shouldn't," She agreed, still glaring at me. I wondered if I was next on her throw-down list. I would deserve it if I was. She sighed, clutching her hand to her chest. I vaguely wondered if she had cracked a knuckle. She had more of a right hook that I would've bet on. "Give her time to calm down and tire out. Then you'll probably find her wandering the streets. She will run until she's got nothing left to give… but then she'll be lost. If you're lucky, she'll panic and call for help."

"And if not?" I asked, fear in my voice. I knew a lot better than Izzy did about the danger on these streets.

"If not, you better fucking find her. Because this shit? It's all on you," she told me.

Didn't I fucking know it?