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Brysen lifted shaking hands to her e size “You think he’s in there with her?”

I didn’t want to think anything, but if this was another one of Roark’s salvos then anything was possible I was going to openwoman my typical platitudes when Booker stepped aroundstep toward the front of the school I reached out a hand to grab hiuy was built like a mountain and it wasn’t often someone could match me in the physicality department

“Where do you think you’re going? I told you no one goes in until the building is clear We can’t risk it”

He shook me off and his eyes went flat and hard I knew the look well It was the sao fuckI didn’t like

“I’m not a cop and all Roark said was keep the cops out Race paysto do”

There was no point in arguing any further because aside fro to do whatever he wanted anyway And honestly, I wished I was the one that was just saying to hell with it all and storer Booker flipped off a couple more cops that tried to stop hiet directly in his path I sighed because noas looking at charges for assaulting an officer even if he skated around whatever charges I could find to throw at hi a direct police order

“What if she’s hurt or so worse? How can I live with that? It’s my job to keep her safe” Brysen’s voice eak but she was holding herself together surprisingly well She wasn’t crying, at least not yet, and she rong The safety of Karsen and the rest of the kids that hadn’t been tainted by the city yet was my job

It hit me like a ton of bricks So heavy and hard it al thatI cared about the people that still had a shot at ht for the innocent and the young because I often felt like no one else was going to Every person that Roark had hurt, had twisted, had infected in his quest to exact his revenge had been someone I’d sworn I would protect and keep safe

It started with the kid whose neck he snapped and ditched outside of the Pit Just soamble, but he was just a kid and deserved a better end Then it was the club Before it burned to the ground, Nassir had been deliberately lured away and all the victi for so what kids all across the country did every single day After that it was the girl on the dock and the arht up in that kind of life and too young to be dead Two girls I should’ve been able to keep safe And lastly there wasa shot at a good and law-abiding life, but he was still my only family, my blood, and even if I had let him down in the past, I took my duty to keep hi Bax would have served the dual purpose of exacting revenge on the ht was responsible for his father’s death and rubbing salt into the wound I would suffer for being unable to protect him

The realization of how insidious andbrilliant in his evilso hard I almost missed Brysen’s words as she whispered “Soo after anyone anymore”

I blew out a breath and tried to steady ”