I saw him hesitate...and then throttle back. I powered forward and came alongside him, but we were still doing almost eighty. “Your brakes!” I yelled over the wind. “Someone messed with your brakes!”
I saw him squeeze the levers...and the sick dread on his face when they did nothing at all. I looked ahead. The next bend was a sharp left-hander and there was no way we were going to make it at this speed. I could brake but Ox would plow straight off the road and into one of the massive fir trees.
There was only one thing to do. “Bail!” I yelled. “Bail!” At least he might have a chance.
The trees were rushing up to meet me. I slammed on my brakes and Ox seemed to shoot forward, out of my reach. Bail! I thought. But he was staying on as long as possible, trying to lose speed before he jumped. Only a few seconds from the trees, I finally saw him heave himself off the back of the bike.
I winced as he hit: at that speed, you basically become a sack of meat with nothing but physics to determine your fate. He had his arms up, protecting his head, but he was bouncing and rolling with sickening speed. His bike slammed into the trees, its momentum carrying parts of its mangled frame ten feet in the air. Meanwhile, Ox was rolling and spinning off to the side. I screeched to a stop, jumped off my bike and ran—
And saw him slam to a stop as his head hit a tree.
35
Annabelle
Within seconds of Carrick blasting past the start line, I’d yelled to Mac and Hunter what was going on and we were all tearing down the mountain in pursuit. I don’t know if Hunter had expected a passenger but I leapt on the back of his bike before he could argue. I was scared for Ox but I was terrified of what risks Carrick might have taken to save him.#p#分页标题#e#
I had my phone back, now. I whipped it out and called 911, yelling to be heard over the rushing air. Maybe someone had gotten word to the Sheriff and they’d already called an ambulance, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
We found them almost halfway down the mountain. The first thing I saw was Carrick’s bike, slumped over on its side in the middle of the road. Then I saw the remains of Ox’s bike, mashed into trees just ahead of a bend.
And then I saw Carrick, on his hands and knees over Ox’s body. As one, we ran to them.
“No,” Carrick was saying over and over. “No, no, no!”
Ox was lying on his back, arms battered and bloody from where he must have scraped along the road. His head was against the trunk of a tree and a lake of blood was spreading out from under it.
“Get—Get an ambulance,” said Mac, his voice catching.
“On its way,” I croaked. I couldn’t take my eyes from Ox. He was so still.
A siren wailed in the distance. Carrick looked up and his eyes caught mine. I could see it in his eyes: this is my fault.
No, I thought bitterly. It’s mine.
36
Carrick
Annabelle and I rode with Ox in the ambulance with everyone else following on their bikes. Ox was rushed straight into surgery and the waiting room gradually filled up with black leather as members arrived. A few moments later, Mom screeched up in her station wagon and my chest went tight as we told her the news. Mac, Hunter and I gathered her into a hug as she began to sob.
Volos. Volos did this. All I needed was two minutes alone in a room with that motherfucker. I didn’t care how much money and power he had. But all of my rage had nowhere to go. I still had no idea where to find the guy. Sheriff Harris and every one of Hunter’s contacts had drawn a blank, too. The guy was a ghost.
Hours went by with no word on how the surgery was going. I needed air. I marched towards the exit. Annabelle grabbed my arm.
“You did everything you could,” she told me. “If you hadn’t chased after him and warned him, he wouldn’t have even stood a chance.”
I nodded, but without much feeling. This was all on me. I should have ended this at the Blood Spiders’ bar, in Teston. I should have killed every one of them and Volos, too. Then this never would have happened. The guilt was eating me up. “Give me a minute, okay?” I said.
She nodded and stepped back, but she kept hold of my arm until the very last second. The realization hit me with a sickening lurch just as I pushed through the exit doors: Shit. That sounded like I was brushing her off. I hadn’t meant it that way. She’s upset, too. I cursed and shook my head. I’m no fucking good at this relationship stuff.
I looked over my shoulder but Annabelle had already turned away. I promised myself I’d apologize as soon as I went back inside.
It had started to rain: lightly, for now, but it was gathering pace and the whole sky was turning gray. I turned my face up to the heavens and let it soak me. Why Ox? I asked whoever was listening. He was a part of the club in a way I could never be because he relied on them. His whole life was the club—he and Mom held it together like glue. I’d die for the club but I’d never been able to trust it with my soul. That’s what Mac didn’t understand. I let them lean on me but I couldn’t lean on them because….