Chapter 27 · Mom's Still Breathing

Kyle hit the brakes so hard my shoulder slammed into Darius's chest.

"We're here," he said.

Nobody moved.

The old meatpacking plant sat across the street behind a chain-link fence and a busted security gate. Half the windows were boarded up. The other half looked black, like somebody had painted over them from the inside. There were no cars in the lot except a white cargo van with no plates.

My mother's van.

I knew it before I even saw the faded dent near the rear door.

My breath caught so hard it hurt.

"That's hers," I said.

Darius's hand closed around my wrist before I could grab the door handle. His fingers were warm. Too warm. His eyes had gone gold again, bright in the dark truck cab.

"Isla." His voice came out low. Rough. "You stay behind me. No matter what you see."

"My mom is in there."

"I know."

"Then don't tell me to stay in the car like I'm twelve."

Kyle checked the magazine in his gun. Click. Click. His jaw was tight enough to crack teeth.

"Nobody's staying in the car," he said. "But we don't run in there screaming either. Vivienne wants that.