Gangs Aren't My Style (A Black Death Novel)

Chapter 57 - Blood Sheds Tonight

Gangs Aren't My Style

Book I of the Black Death Trilogy

PART THREE :: Cast Your Armor Down

Chapter 57 - Blood Sheds Tonight

Seeing the tear stains on her cheeks had been all Kyle needed to tighten his arms around the woman who now served as his roommate, guiding her head to his chest. Her red-rimmed eyes had called to Kyle's heart, making him want to comfort her. When she had finally fallen asleep, he had placed a single kiss to the crown of her head.

Now, as he lay with Ally beside him, her breathing evening out, Kyle sighed in frustration. Even when he pondered over everything that had happened since James left in his mind, Kyle still couldn't figure out where he had gone wrong. Was Ally still mad at him for locking her in a room to protect her? Was she mad that Damon and he had tossed her into a cold shower in retaliation for her throwing water on them? Was she uncomfortable with him after he'd told her how he felt? Kyle hadn't noticed it before, but then again, they hadn't been alone in a room unless he'd been comforting her from a soul-shattering nightmare.

Running his hand up and down her back, Kyle observed the delicate rise and fall of her sleeping chest. She was so calm and peaceful in his arms, so unlike when she was awake. Maybe it was a good sign that she'd come to him though, even if she said it didn't change a thing. Surely that meant she was on her way to forgiving him for whatever it was he'd done.

The sharp ringing of his cell phone from the stand beside his bed cut through his thoughts. He jumped in response to the harsh, unexpected sound, and scrambled to reach his phone before it woke Ally. In his race to quickly reach the phone, Kyle knocked into the table, his phone and the lamp teetering unsteadily. He rushed off the bed and to his feet, Ally's head falling to the bed as he reached desperately for the stand. His hand clamped onto a corner of the wood at the last second, his phone toppling to the floor.

Kyle held his breath, looking back over at the form on his bed, hoping he hadn't woke her. Mumbling met his ears as she slowly pushed herself up on her elbows, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"What are you doing?" Ally grumbled sleepily, her hair falling into her face as she looked at him through clouded eyes.

"It's nothing, just go back to sleep," Kyle replied softly, bending down to grab his cell phone before slipping back into the bed beside her. Her head immediately moved back to his chest and her fingers fisting around his shirt, as if to make sure that he would not slip away from her in the middle of the night.

When her breathing began to even out, he slowly maneuvered his phone from under that blanket. Still, her was careful not to make any noise or jostle her as he slid it open to check the text message he had just received. The bright screen flashed on, blinding him for a second as his eyes readjusted. As the name above the text focused, Kyle froze, stiffening under the calming weight of Ally's head on his chest. James.

'Tonight's the night to move. I need you to be at the Blood Sucker's territory by two. Bring a team.'

Groaning in frustration, Kyle gently moved Ally's head back onto the bed, placing the pillows he'd been using under her head and beside her. As he backed away, he hoped that she wouldn't wake up while he was gone. She would never forgive him for leaving her in her time of weakness if she were to wake up and find him gone. Any progress he'd made to get her to open up to him would be lost. She would retreat from him again, creating stronger wall than had been there when he had begun.

Tiptoeing carefully away from her, Kyle made sure his footfalls were soft on the carpeted floor. Sliding open a drawer of his dresser, he pulled out a pair of jeans to replace the old sweatpants he'd worn to bed. He watched Ally's face closely as he changed, looking for any sign that she was stirring in her sleep. Sighing in relief when her breathing remained even, Kyle threw the sweatpants haphazardly onto the dresser. Swiping two guns off the top off the wooden stand and grabbing his leather jacket off the back of the chair, he made his way out of the room and gently closed the door behind him, careful not to make a sound.