She starts down the road and turns back to the boys, but they’re already moving inside, so I follow.

“I’m fucking beat, bro.” Royce pulls off his hoodie and tosses it on the couch.

“Me too, man.” Cap moves into the kitchen, pulling open the fridge. “Sandwiches and chips cool for dinner tonight?”

“Sounds fucking good to me.” Royce plops down and flips on the TV.

Cap lifts his eyes to mine and when he does, his brows hit in the center of his forehead.

“Raven?”

“Yeah.” I nod, fighting not to swallow. “I’m good with that.”

“Raven.”

I lick my lips. I’m not fine.

Maybell didn’t share all she knows.

“Raven.”

“She’s hiding something,” I blurt out.

They eye me, then each other.

“Guys.”

Royce walks over to me and grips my elbows. “She has a lot of secrets, only spills when she needs to.”

“She shouldn’t hide things from you, it’s not right.”

Royce grins, but it doesn’t meet his eyes, then moves to the fridge for a drink.

“I’m serious. I don’t know if you guys have known many people who’ve been arrested, but my mom was, all the fucking time. You’re in court within a day, sometimes released right after booking with a court date to return. This isn’t normal. He hasn’t called and he hasn’t seen a judge. Something is off.”

“If there is something to know, Maddoc will fill us in tomorrow.” Captain looks up and as soon as he sees the annoying unease I can’t hide, his light eyes soften. “I know things don’t work as easy as they should in our world, but we have to believe the moves made without us serve a purpose. And Raven, I guaran-fucking-tee, if Maddoc could call, he would have, and if there was a problem we needed to worry about, he would force a way. He’s sitting, so we’re sitting.”

“But doesn’t his not calling make you wanna fuck shit up just to be put in there with him and find out why?” I ask and both boys laugh.

Royce walks over and kisses my temple. “We love you, our little scrapper, but one more day, RaeRae.”

I look to Cap for confirmation, and he winks, saying, “If it doesn’t happen how we want tomorrow, we’ll fuck shit up, all right?”

I nod, all fucking for that answer and again they both laugh.

Cap makes quick work of finishing up our food, and we’re done just as quick, each of us disappearing into our rooms.

I close my door, change clothes and slide in my bed. I tuck my knife into my sleep shorts, plug in my headphones, and turn on my flashlight.

I stare at the door.

Here’s to another sleepless night.

The ride to the courthouse feels like a million years, but in reality, it only took a solid fifteen minutes to get to the turn-off. Once we’re within eyeshot, though, it feels way too fucking soon and nerves kick to life making me queasy.

“Raven, make sure your knife’s not on you, we have to go through a metal detector,” Cap reminds me.

“Got it.” I slip my switchblade between the seats and glance out the window at the large brick style building.

Captain finds a spot pretty close to the front and the boys get out, but guilt – an emotion I’m not used to – has me delaying.

My hand is on the handle but unmoving, and Royce is the one that has to open my door.

When he gets a look at my face, he sighs and moves closer. He grips my ankle and wrist and pulls me to the door, wrapping me in a hug.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he tells me. “And knock that shit off. This ain’t your fault.”

My eyes pool with tears despite my best effort.

These boys are turning me into a damn mess.

I don’t cry.

“That’s not true and you know it. You’re both mad at me and we haven’t even talked it out yet.” I pull back to look him in the eye. “Maddoc only went over there to fuck shit up because of what I did.”

Royce moves back a little so Cap can squeeze in beside us.

“No.” Captain shakes his head and reaches for my hand. I let him pull me out and to my feet. He bends down a little to look me in the eye. “Maddoc fucked him up because he did what he did. This week, next week, doesn’t matter. You should already know, if you’d have done what you should have and come straight to us instead of acting brave alone like you’re used to, he would have reacted the same. Maddoc is fucking fierce, Raven. He loves us. Would die for us, but we’re his brothers. He’s never loved before. This? This is what that looks like.”

A breath lodges in my throat and I shake my head.

Cap shakes his right back. “We’re not having this conversation, but I know my brother. Whether you know it, whether he fucking knows it, it’s in there. Maybe not fully grown but Raven you’re inside him in a way nobody ever has been. He will always act in defense first, especially when you’re at the center of the threat.”

I nod, glancing at Royce.

“Fists first, fixes later,” he says.

“Kinda sounds like me,” a laugh bubbles out of me and they grin gravely.

“And we were pissed at you, maybe still are, to be honest, but we understand now. We see what you did and why, and we love you more for it even though you made the wrong move.” Royce’s eyes slide between mine, the honesty of his words hitting me hard and meaning more than I could express if I tried. “Now come on. We still have an hour but let’s get in there, the seats fill up fast.”

Together, three strong, we head inside for our fourth man.

Three fucking days.

They stuck me in a damn cell by myself for three fucking days. Not once did I get let out. No calls. No other inmate interactions, not that I wanted it, but still. Three days of nothing but a fucking guard who would stick a tray through the metal bars. He didn’t even speak.

I have no idea what’s going on at home.

I don’t know if Collins and his lackeys came after my family or if Raven took off again for some stupid fucking reason she cooked up. I don’t know shit.

I have never in my life felt more helpless.

And if I didn’t get a message from our lawyer telling me I’d finally see a fucking judge today for bail, I’d have lost my shit and threw my name around, forced them to feel the weight of it until they told me what I needed to know. But I trusted my dad and waited it out, just fucking barely.

Right now, my patience is being tested again as I’m crammed in a room with seven others waiting to see the damn judge. Shitty part is this isn’t even the only room, so who knows how long this could take.

If I lean forward a little and look to the left, I can see inside the room across from me where more inmates wait just the same.

The officer who led us in here stands in the center of the hall, blocking us from the others. He hits both door frames with his little nightstick to gain attention.

“Listen up!” he shouts, pulling up his belt to cover the potbelly hanging over. “Last names A through H, line up in front of that door. Face forward, no turning or communicating with the inmate in front of or behind you.” He points his toy my way, looking right at me. “You first.”