Reapers and Bastards: A Reapers MC Anthology Read Online Free PDF Page A

toward the road. I followed him, lurching through gravestones in the darkness, hoping I didn’t fall and break my neck.
    When I reached the embankment overlooking the road, I nearly fainted.
    The pickup truck from the party—the one holding the big speakers that they’d used to haul the kegs—had rolled sideways down the bank from the cemetery driveway, crashing across the road below to land in the creek.
    “Dear God . . .”
    Someone was screaming in the wreckage, and I heard shouting all around. Boonie was already climbing down to the shatteredvehicle.
    More boys followed him, falling over their own feet as they ran.
    I slid down the bank on my butt to find Boonie peering inside the cab of the upside down truck. High-pitched, horrific cries came from inside.
    “Jesus Christ,” Boonie shouted, looking up to find me. “Stay back, Darce. You shouldn’t see this.”
    “Who is it?’’ I asked, my throat tight. He shook his head, refusing the answer. The screams turned to a pain-filled keening.
    “
Who is it?!
” I shrieked. “Tell me!”
    “We need an ambulance,” he yelled back. “The trailer park’s less than a mile away. Someone needs to get down there, make the call.”
    “Answer my fucking question—who is it?”
    “It’s Farell,” he said, unreadable emotions flashing across his face. “He was driving. Allie’s in there, too. It’s bad, Darcy. Real bad.”
    ________
    I wasn’t sure if I should go to the hospital—what are you supposed to do when the guy you just broke up with gets in an accident? Even though Farell and I weren’t together any more, when Boonie asked me to come home with him, I said no. My head was too confused, a mass of emotion, guilt, and raw terror that Farell would die.
    I hadn’t been driving the truck, but I knew my boyfriend. Knew how he was when he got drunk. I’d humiliated him publicly and then left the party with his biggest rival—I should’ve seen this coming. Stopped it somehow.
    Instead I’d been busy fucking Riley Boone on a grave. Jesus. What the hell was wrong with me?
    Shanda offered me a ride, which I took over Boonie’s protests. Icouldn’t look at him right now. Not that he’d done anything wrong—I just felt so guilty. What kind of girl sleeps with another guy right after breaking up with the boy she loved?
    We planned to go back to the trailer park but found ourselves driving around aimlessly instead, neither of us sure what to say. Eventually I couldn’t stand it anymore—I had to know if he was all right—so we drove to the hospital in Kellogg. But when we pulled up to the emergency room I wasn’t sure it was the right move.
    “Should I go inside?” I asked Shanda, feeling sick to my stomach. “What if he’s dead?’’
    The thought was almost unbearable. Yes, I’d broken up with Farell—after dating him for
eighteen months
. He was my first and I’d thought he’d be my last.
Oh, God
. . .
    “I’m here with you,” Shanda said, reaching over to catch my hand. “We’ll just check and see how they’re doing.”
    I nodded, unfastening my seat belt. The sliding ER doors gaped obscenely as we walked in together, holding hands.
    Half the high school waited in the lobby.
    I saw Bryce and Erin huddled together along the wall. Both were crying. Clumps of young people I’d grown up with surrounded them, wiping their eyes.
    “Bitch,” someone hissed as I walked past. Shanda spun around, glaring, but everyone looked away.
    “Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up,” Colby said, striding toward me. Wow. Hadn’t seen that coming. He caught me up in a tight hug, and I felt myself start to tremble. Finally I pulled free, and swallowed.
    I had to know.
    “Tell me,” I said. “Are they . . .?”
    Colby swallowed, his eyes red and puffy.
    “Allie is gone.”
    The words cut through me. No. It couldn’t be true.
    “But she was screaming,” I said, shaking my head. “She was
awake
. We all heard her. How can she be . . . dead?”
    My throat