Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Resources
Excerpt from Savage Road
About the Author
For all the readers who wrote to me and asked me for his story so many times. For the ones who took the time to answer my questions on my wall in my community. You said he needed a happy ending. You were right, and it took more than one book to do it!
FOR MY READERS
Be sure to go to christinefeehan.com/members to sign up for my private book announcement list and download the free ebook of Dark Desserts. It’s a collection of yummy desserts that we all certainly could use right now. Join my community and get firsthand news, enter the book discussions, ask your questions and chat with me. Please feel free to email me at [email protected]. I would love to hear from you.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As in any book, there are so many people to thank. Brian for competing with me during power hours. Leslee for encouraging me over and over when I didn’t think I could do it. Domini for always editing, no matter how many times I ask her to go over the same book before we send it for additional editing. I really couldn’t have done this book without you. You were amazing hanging in there with me for this one and talking out every problem. Denise for staying up nights and letting me write while she did the brunt of the business I never want to do. I can’t thank you enough.
TORPEDO INK MEMBERS
Viktor Prakenskii aka Czar—President Lyov Russak aka Steele—Vice President Savva Pajari aka Reaper—Sergeant at Arms Savin Pajari aka Savage—Sergeant at Arms Isaak Koval aka Ice—Secretary Dmitry Koval aka Storm Alena Koval aka Torch Luca Litvin aka Code—Hacker Maksimos Korsak aka Ink Kasimir Popov aka Preacher Lana Popov aka Widow
Nikolaos Bolotan aka Mechanic Pytor Bolotan aka Transporter Andrii Federoff aka Maestro Gedeon Lazaroff aka Player Kir Vasiliev aka Master—Treasurer Lazar Alexeev aka Keys Aleksei Solokov aka Absinthe Rurik Volkov aka Razrushitel/Destroyer
NEWER PATCHED MEMBERS
Gavriil Prakenskii
Casimir Prakenskii
Fatei Molchalin
PROSPECTS
Glitch
Hyde
SIBLINGS WITHIN THE GROUP
Viktor （Czar）， Gavriil and Casimir Reaper and Savage
Mechanic and Transporter Ice, Storm and Alena （Torch） Preacher and Lana （Widow）
TEAMS
Czar heads Team One
Reaper, Savage, Ice, Storm, Transporter, Alena, Absinthe, Mechanic, Destroyer Steele heads Team Two
Keys, Master, Player, Maestro, Lana, Preacher, Ink, Code
OLD LADIES
Blythe, Lissa, Lexi, Anya, Breezy, Soleil, Scarlet, Zyah
ONE
Today was the day Savin “Savage” Pajari was going to die. And it was okay. If it hadn’t been for the boy, a part of him would be rejoicing. He was a monster, and monsters weren’t for this world. But there was the boy, and that meant he had to try no matter what. Not give up.
He wasn’t going to make it. He’d been too slow. The truck was too fast. The mother screamed seconds too late to draw his attention. He’d laid his bike down to get to the kid as time tunneled. Slowed down. He scooped the boy up, right out of the middle of the street, and ran like hell.
He sprinted to get the kid out of harm’s way, but he knew his effort was futile. He was just a step too late. All he could do was try to protect the child. He wrapped him up in his arms, tight against his chest, hoping when the truck crushed him, his body would keep the boy alive. He was a big man, heavy on the muscle, so maybe the kid had a chance. He kept running, but it was over, probably for both of them.
As if from a distance, he heard the scream of the brakes as the driver slammed them on, the skid, the smell of burning rubber and brakes, the desperate cries of those on the sidewalk watching the drama unfold. Then the vehicle was there, much bigger as it bore down on them. He kept running, that next step, heart pounding, because there had never been a time in his life that he could give up—and he had that little boy, who deserved to live. Something hit him hard in the back, coming at him from the side, throwing him forward, giving him that last momentum, the speed he needed. That one extra step.
He found himself rolling on the ground, the kid tucked in to his body to prevent him from hitting the asphalt. The roaring in his ears was loud, but not as loud as the distinct and sickening thunk he heard. He knew immediately it was the sound of metal hitting a real flesh-and-blood body. He turned his head to see a woman rolling across the road. Other sounds erupted around him: screams, the driver’s door slamming. He swore, forcing his body to move, getting his legs under him, standing, the boy still protected in his arms.