TESSA
For a moment, I thought Jaxson had been shot.
The sound had torn through the room so violently that my heart simply stopped. The echo still rang in my ears, my lungs refusing to move, my eyes stuck on him like I could will him back if he fell.
But then I saw Damien’s face twist in pain, saw his gun drop to the floor, and before I could make sense of it, Ryder, Cole, and a few of the Serpents burst through the door, shouting, their guns raised. The chaos that followed was so quick it almost didn’t feel real.
Damien’s men hesitated — stunned — and that single second cost them everything. Ryder’s voice cut through the noise, sharp and commanding, and then shots erupted everywhere. The smell of gunpowder mixed with the heavy scent of blood and dust. The men screamed and dropped to th
