Chapter 29

Aro

“What’s the plan?” Nicholas asks me.

Tommy climbs into the back, Nicholas taking the passenger seat next to me, and I hit the gas of his old Nova, speeding back to High Street.

“Get them out of town,” I tell him, “so you two shitheads don’t get arrested, and no Pirates get killed tonight.”

I check my rearview mirror, not seeing any lights yet.

But I will. Hawke will be coming, trying to stop me, I’m sure.

I zoom past trees and dark turn-offs, the sign for their high school ahead, but I jerk the wheel left and head toward the main area of town.

“You love him?” Nicholas inquires.

I try to keep my smile to myself, but I feel it escape. Nicholas is the only “brother” I ever really trusted. Well, I trusted that he never wanted to hurt me, at least. He was always apprehensive when Axel got aggressive, or Hugo tried to coerce me into doing things I didn’t want to do.

But he only put up so much of a fight. Ultimately, he did what he was told, and I was always on my own.

Until Hawke.

“What do you think, kid?” I glance at Tommy in the rearview mirror. “Should I love a Falls boy?”

“I think he wants you bad.”

I squeeze the wheel, trying to contain the flood of warmth and happiness. “He does, doesn’t he?”

Mr. Class President is my everything.

Tommy leans over the front seat. “If he comes to the bridge, you should be his girl.”

“That easy, huh?” Like playing ‘He loves me, he loves me not’?

“It shouldn’t be any harder, that’s for sure,” she says.

I watch the road, her words making more sense than they would’ve two weeks ago. Let us live, since we must die.

Fuck it. If he comes to the bridge, I’ll follow him anywhere.

Two bright circles appear in my mirror, but I turn onto High Street, losing sight of them. Could be anyone.

But as we make our way down the avenue lined with businesses and restaurants, I hear the town clock chime, the echo of the bell the only noise. Fog drifts in, clouding the street, and while I see patrons inside Rivertown, the sidewalks are now empty of al fresco diners, and everything is eerily quiet.

I pull over to the curb and park, looking around. “Does something feel off to you?”

Nicholas and Tommy just look around, but neither respond.

I open the door. “Stay here.”

But Nicholas grabs my arm. “He said to stay with you.”

I jerk away, climbing out of the car. I don’t give a shit what Hugo said. “Stay here.”

I’m not going to run. Where would I go?

Running around the corner, I leap up, grab the ladder, and pull it down. Climbing the fire escape, I run up the three flights, hop over the ledge, and race across. But instead of going to the door, I stop at the edge and look down onto High Street.

Carnival Tower. Whoever they were in that story Hawke told me knew what they were doing. Especially if they were from Weston. A hiding place right in the middle of a rival town with a vantage point to see trouble coming.

This is a great spot.

I turn my head, seeing figures through the fog in the middle of the street about fifty yards down.

Something flies over the banner strung up over the street, and I see the form of a body being hung by the neck.

It’s a mascot. A pirate costume stuffed with filling to look real.

The Rebels cackle and jump back into their car, tossing eggs at vehicles as they pass. I watch them trail past Nicholas’s car and down the street, but then I see it.

The buckets strung up over an identical banner at the other end of the road.

One Pirate on each side climbs the pole, yanks their cords, and tar spills onto the Rebel car.

Shit.

I need to get to the bridge before the police show up to block our exit. This is going to get out of hand.

But just as I turn to head down into the tower, I realize it’s too late. Cops spill down the street just as fights break out and Rebels jump out of the car.

I jerk my gaze back to my car, seeing Tommy and Nicholas get out of the Nova, and I run back to the fire escape, scurry down, and race back onto High Street. Nicholas shoves Tommy back into the car, and I yell, “Keep her in there! Dammit!”

But he barely has time to look up at me and acknowledge before I hear, “Hey! Stop!”

I twist around, seeing a cop heading my way.

Oh, no.

“Aro Marquez,” he says, hand resting on the firearm on his hip.

How does he know my name?

Well, they all probably know my name. Or worse, he works with Reeves and is looking for me.

I shake my head. You’ve got to be kidding me.

I run, diving into Rivertown as Rebels chase Pirates and the cop chases me inside.

“Stop!” he yells.

Not a chance. You can arrest me tomorrow for whatever I did. Not tonight.

I race into the hangout, pushing through people, but commotion breaks out as a noise outside grabs everyone’s attention. People shoot out of their seats, and I push through them, trying to escape through the back of the place before he catches me, but I don’t know where the kitchen is.

Instead, I race down the tunnel.

People pour out of their booths, knocking me in the shoulders as they rush past to go see what’s happening out in the street, and I whip around, looking behind me.

He’s not there. Yet.

“Shit,” I whisper.

I back up farther and farther, more and more people heading out, and then I spot him. The top of his bald head as he rounds the corner, just visible over the sea of others.

No, no, no…

I slam into the wall, unable to go any farther. He weaves in and out of the crowd, I search for a way out, but he catches sight of me and pushes through people.

I squeeze my eyes shut, but then I lose my balance, falling backward.

I gasp, déjà vu hitting me as someone catches me, hauls me back into their arms, and the mirror closes, cutting us off from the cop.

“What the f—”

But a hand covers my mouth, and I whimper, squirming in their arms.

Then I stop.

The cop clears the crowd, halts, and looks left to right, not seeing where I was just a moment ago. Confusion spreads across his face, because I’m suddenly gone, and he doesn’t know how.

The person holding me stands as still as I do, watching him. Waiting for him to reconcile in his head that I must’ve slipped past him in the chaos.

He looks to the mirror and approaches, studying it. Placing his hand on the surface, he presses, and we hear the latches creak against the pressure, but it doesn’t give.

I’m in Carnival Tower.

Hawke?

But it isn’t his voice in my ear. “You know why they call it Carnival Tower?” the man behind me asks in a low voice.

Chills spread up my arms. That’s not Hawke’s voice.

“Because freaks play here,” he replies.

I swallow, my heart jackhammering in my chest. Oh my God. Who is it?

The cop frowns, looks around again, but eventually, he just turns and walks away. He disappears around the corner, and I clench my thighs, more scared now.

I almost want him back.

But then the guy behind me whispers, “You’re welcome, kid.”

And he whips me around, spinning me away from him, and I stumble back into the tunnel, nearly falling.

“What?” I breathe out. “I…”

I find him just in time to see a tall figure in a faded leather jacket slip through the mirror, the back of his dark hair moving quickly through Rivertown and around the same corner the cop went.

Gone.

What the fuck was that? Who was that? Has he been in here before? I grip my hair at the top of my head. Son of a bitch…

I don’t have to time to worry, though. I have to go. I run down the tunnel, briefly noticing the portrait of the blonde isn’t on the wall where it was. Hawke must’ve taken it down.

I barrel into the great room and dig out the bag of money Hawke and I had stuffed into a kitchen cabinet. We weren’t sure what to do with the cash, but I’m glad I still have it.

Looping the bag around my neck, I keep my eyes peeled for anyone else lingering in here and race for the bakery. I guess I shouldn’t be scared. He helped me, didn’t he?

It’s just so super creepy. It was kind of fun to believe the mystery that the other caretakers of Carnival Tower were still out there somewhere, their memories still haunting the hideout, but to know he can fucking get in and out anytime he wants… Are there others?

I’ve been naked in the great room. Hawke’s door wasn’t closed when he went down on me the other night.

Mierda…

Climbing through the mirror, I run through the kitchen, out the back door, and into the alley.

“Aro!” someone shouts.

I look left, seeing Dylan and Kade. Dylan flags me down.

Did they drive?

I run to the end of the alleyway and keep going past the fire escape and onto High Street. They follow.

I lead them to Nicholas’s car. “Where’s Hawke?” I ask.

“He was on Kade’s bike,” Dylan says. “We lost him.”

I climb into the car, and Kade whips open the passenger side door. “back seat,” he tells Nicholas.

My foster brother looks at me, and I just start the engine. “We’ve gotta go! Come on.”

Jesus Christ, I don’t have time for this.

Nicholas huffs but steps out and slides into the back.

Dylan scoots in next to me, followed by Kade, their wrists still bound.

I pull away from the curb, take the next right, and then I veer left.

“You drove here,” I tell them. “You could’ve just met me at the bridge.”

But Kade yanks their arms up together. “Handcuffs!”

I snort. Oh, right.

I slip the bobby pin out of my pocket and toss it at him. “YouTube it.”

He scowls, bringing up his phone and trying to concentrate.

“Hawke sped off,” Dylan tells me. “But we saw this car as we passed by, so we stopped.”

Where the hell is Hawke? Is he thinking he’ll confront the guys at the bridge, or cut them off before they even get there?

He needs to let me handle this. I have to do it myself.

I want my freedom from Green Street. I can’t let Hawke take care of this for me.

I rush onto the quiet highway, a dark tunnel lit only by headlights and encased under a canopy of trees. I check my rearview mirror, waiting for something, but I don’t know what.

It’s like I know something is going to happen.

The scattered streetlights of Weston appear to the right, and I look over, seeing a stream of white moonlight across the river. Slowing just a little, I turn right and race across the bridge.

I roll down the window, dig out a penny from Nicholas’s ashtray and whip it out the window, over the hood, and hopefully over the side of the bridge.

“Why’d you do that?” Dylan asks.

Kade works the bobby pin into the cuffs.

I roll the window up again. “Pay to pass.”

“Huh?”

“Rivalry Week…” I remind her. “The prisoner exchange... You don’t know this story?”

She pinches her eyebrows together.

I shake my head. “Someday, when there hasn’t been a lot of rain kicking up the mud on the river bed and the water is really clear, look over the side,” I tell her. “You’ll see the car way down there.”

“The car?” she blurts out.

I nod, exiting the bridge and turning left.

“Why don’t they bring it up?” she asks.

“Because it’s her grave.”

I can feel her eyes on me, and I just laugh. There really is a car down there, and everyone in Weston knows the legend behind it. I’m surprised she doesn’t.

The Legend of Rivalry Week. Just like Carnival Tower, we have our stories too.

It’s probably not true, though. Just something that happens when people are left to their imaginations. Rivalry Week every October is full of fun that people like to pretend is dangerous.

Maybe it was once. The car is down there, after all.

But then Dylan asks, “Weren’t we supposed to stop there?”

“Not that bridge,” I state. “The train bridge.”

Kade growls, jamming the bobby pin in over and over like more force is the trick.

Kind of like how I play video games, I guess.

“Can we drive on that bridge?” Dylan inquires.

I let out a sigh, glancing at Nicholas in my rearview mirror. He looks back, both of us knowing why Hugo specified that location.

“No,” I tell Dylan. “We can’t.”

She’s going to find out soon enough what’s in store.

The train bridge runs parallel to the main bridge, less than a mile up. The overgrown brush lines the sides of the road, the tar worn and filled with potholes, much less manicured than the Falls’ side.

But still, I like it out here. You can smell the mud in the water, and you can’t buy this kind of wild. Air that you can eat. It’s like a city fifty years after an apocalypse. Rundown warehouses surrounded by tall grass and everything falling apart, because there’s no money.

But everything is alive. Especially at night. In the fall and in the winter.

Pulling over to the side, I park and step out of the vehicle, taking the bag with me.

“Aro!” Kade bites out, and I know he still needs help with the cuffs, but I can’t take my eyes off the bridge.

We walk, and I hear everyone leave the car.

I stop at the start of the tracks, looking across the bridge and see Hugo with his people already standing in the middle. Trees loom on the other side, their headlights lighting up the bridge, and I feel the heels of the boots Dylan gave me dig into the gravel. The balmy August air sits on my stomach. I look around for Hawke.

Where is he? Not that I need him right now, but if he’s not here, then something happened.

We walk up onto the bridge, the wooden planks between each track spaced about six inches apart. The ground appears below, but if I keep going, it’ll be water instead of dirt. Ripples. Light then dark, because it’ll get deeper, and my hands shake. I grip the strap of the bag with both hands.

“What’s the matter?” Dylan asks.

I open my mouth, bile rising instead of words. “Nothing,” I finally reply.

Forcing my feet to move, I step from one plank to the other but keep my gaze ahead on Green Street and my fellow Rebels. Shoulders squared and chin up, I don’t want Hugo to have the satisfaction. He chose this place because he knows it scares me.

We stop about ten feet away from them, and Hugo holds out his hand for the bag.

But I squeeze my hands around the straps. “No.”

He eyes me, waiting.

“I don’t trust you,” I tell him. “What do you want?”

He drops his hand, Axel, Jonathan, Farrow Kelley, and a few others shifting behind him. They outnumber us, four to eight. I’m not counting Nicholas as being on my side as much as he wants to be.

“I want the money,” he states.

“What do you really want?”

His brown eyes gleam. “What do you got?”

I need my freedom. I don’t want to live like this. I can’t go back to Green Street. Not after having Hawke. I love him.

Hugo needs to let me go.

“The video Hawke turned in screwed you,” I point out. “You’re afraid Officer Reeves will roll over on your entire operation to save himself.”

“And?”

“And that won’t happen,” I say.

I’m going to do what was so impossible to do, but it’ll be the one thing that saves me.

I’ll ask for help.

I’ll get Hawke to take me to his uncle, Madoc Caruthers. I’ll get him to not allow Reeves to cut a deal. I’ll get him to protect Green Street.

For my sake.

“Are you connected, girl?” Hugo teases. “Already?”

“Just say okay.”

He stares at me.

My stomach rolls, and my eyes start to sting. “Say okay,” I grit through my teeth.

“Okay.” He holds out his hand.

But I turn my head toward Dylan. “What time is it?”

She pulls out her phone. “A little after nine.”

“What time is it exactly?”

“Why?”

I pin her with a look.

“Um…” She fumbles with the phone. “Nine-oh-eight.”

I look up at Hugo again, hardening my eyes. “I want my freedom,” I bite out, still holding the money. “And I want your word in front of all of these people that I owe you nothing further. You’ll leave my family and me alone.”

“I promise I’ll leave your family alone. And you owe me nothing more.”

I don’t move. That wasn’t what I asked him.

“But I can’t leave you alone, Aro,” he says. “You’re part of my family. I can’t just let you forget that.”

A high-pitched whistle echoes in the distance, and I drop my head.

“What if I miss you?” he taunts.

He could’ve just lied. He could’ve just lied and said he’ll let me go, but he didn’t. I guess I should be grateful for that, at least.

With my heart like a fist in my chest, clenching and unclenching, I step over to the ledge, the river flowing underneath.

I pull the bag off and hold it over the side, locking my knees to keep them from shaking.

His gaze flashes to the bag suspended over the water.

“My freedom,” I demand.

But he just snickers. “You can drop it, Aro. We’ll find it.”

The bag has air in it. It’ll float for a little while.

He doesn’t want me. I’m not family, and he doesn’t love me. This is his pride talking. He can’t let everyone see he let one go.

He can’t let anyone go.

The whistle pierces the air again, and I fight to not look down the track for what I know is coming.

“Tell you what.” Hugo smiles, and I want to punch him in the throat. “Weston versus the Falls. The last one who leaves the bridge wins you.”

“Fuck…off,” I damn-near gasp with a sob lodged in my throat. God, I feel sick. I knew he was going to do this.

“The train will come,” Hugo explains. “The last one—Pirate or Rebel—who leaps into the water wins you.”

“Everyone?” Kade asks.

Tommy passes by, switching sides, and stands with Hugo.

Kade glares at her. “Get…your ass…back over here.” He bites out every word, but I don’t even care. I don’t want any of them doing this for me.

I look down, starting to feel the vibrations of the train as the wind blows the water down below.

Hawke…

My chin trembles.

But then, I tip my head back and look up. And for the second time in twenty-four hours, I feel it.

I’m supposed to be here.

“You can’t swim,” Hugo says.

I tip my head back down. “And you can’t kill me.”

A hand slips into mine, and I know it’s Hawke before I even look.

“Go back to the car,” he tells me.

I look up at him, but I don’t move a muscle. “I didn’t know if you’d come.”

His eyes dance a little. “You all didn’t specify which bridge.”

I almost laugh.

But I don’t.

I should’ve known. He’ll always come.

“I will fight him every day to keep you,” he whispers.

“I know you will.”

But I don’t want you to. I don’t want to fight every day. I want to make his life better, otherwise, what’s the point?

“All of you,” Hugo announces. “Against all of us. Last one standing.”

The bridge shakes under us as the train rounds the bend, ringing its bell to alert people it’s coming. I see it out of the corner of my eye. Lights bright, big and yellow, and my hair blows as I stare up at Hawke.

All of Hugo’s people step up to the ledge, excited laughter going off.

“Go,” I mouth to Hawke, begging.

Please.

But he shakes his head. “No.”

I jerk my glare to Dylan and Kade. “Go. Please.”

Kade looks to Dylan, but Dylan just looks at the water.

Is she actually smiling?

Kade grasps her hand and shoots me a look. “You’re Hawke’s,” he says. “We stay with Hawke. Under a black flag…”

The train powers toward us, everyone stepping onto the other side of the track, and my legs wobble underneath me.

I glance over at the kid. “Tommy, you just jump, okay?”

I don’t want to risk her getting thrown by the force of the train. She doesn’t need to prove anything.

No one has died doing this. We’re off the track and won’t get hit, but the power when it goes past—hell, when it even approaches—is too much force. I’ve seen people do this.

The bridge shakes, and everyone eventually loses their footing, plummeting to the water below.

The bet rests on which crew has the last one standing.

The platform starts to bounce, and I let out a cry under my breath.

Hawke clasps my hand. “Kick hard. Don’t let go of me!”

The train races toward us, rolling onto the bridge, the sound filling my ears.

“Don’t let go of me!” Hawke yells again.

I squeeze my eyes shut.

The whistle blares, the bridge bounces, and I cry out, fighting to keep my balance.

“Fuck this!” I hear one of Hugo’s crew bellow. Someone flies over the edge, falling with his knees bent up and his arms flailing. “Ahhh!”

He enters the water, but we don’t hear the splash. I look down, realizing I’m digging my nails into the back of Hawke’s hand.

“Look at me!” he says.

Tommy crouches down, and I think she’s going to jump, but she straddles the beam instead. Closing her eyes, she holds on.

“Look at me!” Hawke shouts again.

People start spilling off the side, Hugo holds out his hands, widening his stance to maintain balance, and I jerk my eyes to Hawke.

And he smiles. “We’re going to laugh about this someday!” he says.

I gape at him, and he just starts laughing.

“This isn’t funny!” I bark.

“It will be when I get you drunk later!”

I slap his arm. “Hawke!”

What an… I grit my teeth. He’s just like his mom. Trouble is only bad if it doesn’t work out. Blah, blah, blah…

The train charges toward us, my stomach drops into my feet, and I watch as Jonathan, Axel, and Nicholas all dive over the side.

Tommy bobs up and down on the beam, but then she can’t hold herself anymore. She tips over, hitting the wooden plank next to her, and then sinks like a dead weight.

Did she hit her head?

I look at Hawke. “Someone has to go after her!”

But it’s Dylan I hear. “She’s just a kid!” she yells at Kade.

She tries to yank free of the cuffs, but of course, they’re still attached, and it’s no use. Kade just glowers at the water. Frozen.

I look down, not seeing her. I don’t want to jump. I don’t want Hugo to win, but if anyone gets hurt…

I don’t have time to leap, though. Kade takes Dylan over the edge, plummeting into the water below and going after the girl.

The engine fills the air, and I start to shake with the force, unable to stop. I shouldn’t have worn heels. I knew that.

Hugo, Hawke, and I stand on the edge, the seconds like a lifetime as the train rushes, almost on us. Hugo glances to the train and back to us, and I see the light in his eyes and know that look immediately.

No…

He moves toward us, Hawke sees him, but instead of Hugo forcing us both, Hawke grabs him first, and they both fall over to the edge. Hugo drops like a bullet, but Hawke catches the beam. I scream and crouch down to try to help as he hangs there.

But there’s no way I can pull him up.

He gazes up at me, and the train speeds past.

“It’s okay!” I yell. “Let go!”

His eyes hold mine, trying to stay for me, but he falls, crashing to the water.

My hair goes wild, and I hug the bag to my chest, so fucking scared.

But as I look left and then right, I see I’m the last.

I’m the last.

I can jump. It’s over.

But I can’t. I see them below, Kade and Dylan helping Tommy as they swim for the Shelburne Falls shore. Hugo and the others for the Weston shore.

And Hawke there, wet and treading water, waiting for me.

It’s not that far. Maybe twenty feet, but…

The force makes me stumble, but I don’t want to fall. I’m not going to fall.

That’s not how Hugo gets to end this.

“Fuck!” I cry out.

I leap, bag in hand, and my heart lodged in my throat.

I suck in a breath and crash into the river, immediately reaching for something—anything—and thrashing, because I feel like I’m sinking.

But I do what Hawke said. I kick. And kick some more and more until I feel hands grab me. I clutch him, and he pulls me up. I take a breath, but he cuts it off with a kiss.

“We’re teaching you to swim before next summer,” Hawke gasps. “How the hell did I miss that when we were out at the lake? Goddammit.”

I laugh, but I can feel hot tears on my face over the cold water.

“Get on my back,” he says. “And don’t kick anymore.”

I hold onto his shoulders and he swims us to shore. I watch Kade and Dylan climb to their feet on the muddy beach, Tommy walks off, dripping wet, and disappears into the brush.

We reach shallow water, and I stand up as Hawke grabs the bag from me and throws it back into the river. “Go find it, you son of a bitch!” he yells to Hugo on the opposite bank.

I look over at the Rebels and Green Street, some of them smiling and howling, others flipping us the finger.

But we don’t have long to wait. I hear sirens in the distance, and Hawke takes my hand, pulling me out of the river.

I toss the keys to Nicholas, liking him even more now. He chose my side, with Dylan and Kade. “Get them home, would you?”

He nods, looking tired and breathing hard.

Kade tries to pry the cuffs off him and Dylan with the bobby pin again.

I step over, take it from him, and finagle the lock, hearing it give. The cuffs release, and Kade nearly growls with happiness.

“Damn,” Dylan whines. “It wasn’t that bad.”

He just cocks an eyebrow. “Let’s go.”

They run off, and before I know what’s happening, Hawke is sweeping me up into his arms, carrying me into the shelter of the woods.

“I can walk,” I tell him.

But he just replies, “You don’t have to.”

He runs, holding me close.

I’m free.

His.

I bury my face in his warm neck. The first of a million more times I look forward to doing that.