Free Reclaimed by Terri Anne Browning Page A

house. I wasn’t looking forward to facing them. Sure I’d wanted to talk to Raven earlier that night, had been so desperate to hear my best friend’s voice that I’d actually called her, but talking to her on the other side of a phone was a hell of a lot different than coming face to face with her.
    Hawk was the one I dreaded seeing the most, though. He hadn’t been too happy the one time I’d called him. He’d known what me asking that of him could mean, that if his brother agreed to my favor Jet could be risking the rest of his life—his freedom. Hawk had been so good to me after I’d lost the baby. We’d gotten closer than we’d ever been in the past, but I wasn’t delusional enough to think he had forgiven me for putting Jet at risk like I had.
    “Are you hungry?” Jet asked as he opened the back door and held it for me, letting me go into the kitchen first.
    “No.” My stomach was a nervous mess. I couldn’t have eaten if I’d wanted to.
    “You must be thirsty. I should’ve stopped to get you something.” It was like Jet was talking to himself rather than me. He shook his head and opened the fridge. Pulling out a bottle of water, he opened it and handed it to me. “Here, babe.”
    I took the water and swallowed a small sip under his watchful eye before handing it back since he still held the lid. “Thanks,” I muttered.
    “Come on. I’m sure the guys are waiting up for us.” He caught hold of my hand again and held it carefully in his much bigger one as he tugged me toward the living room.
    I heard the television and then a soft giggle, followed by the unmistakable deep laugh of Hawk Hannigan. Two other deep chuckles joined in.
    “I call bullshit,” Colt Hannigan grumbled.
    “Me too,” Raven agreed. “This shit is fucked up. I hate these paranormal activity shows.”
    “Scaredy-cat,” Raider teased. “Hey! Don’t waste the popcorn.”
    I stopped when I saw them all sitting on the couch and watching television. It seemed so natural, the way they were all sitting around, eating popcorn and teasing each other. No one would have known that this was a rare thing for the Hannigan siblings. They had never done this kind of thing in the past, anyway.
    Raven was snuggled up against Bash on one end of the couch, a bowl of popcorn on her lap that they were sharing. Colt sat beside his sister with Hawk on his other side and a sleepy-looking Gracie Morgan tucked against his chest. Raider was sitting on the floor in front of them, his own bowl of popcorn beside him and a beer in one hand.
    Jet cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention for the first time. Four blond heads snapped up quickly followed by the darker head of Bash Reid and Gracie’s red one. My gaze went straight to Raven, whose eyes—that were so much like her brother’s—were bright with what could only be relief.
    “You’re home,” she cried as she jumped off of Bash’s lap and threw her arms around me.
    She landed against me with so much force that it nearly knocked the air out of me. My arms went around her of their own volition and held on to her as hard as she was holding on to me. The hug surprised me. This was not the girl I remembered, the one who had hated this kind of affection. Raven had hugged me a total of ten times in our entire lives, and that included the hug I was getting right then.
    Pulling back, Raven grinned down at me. “I’m so glad you’re here, Flick. Things have been crazy without you.” Her eyes traveled over my face and then down my body, as if she were looking for injuries or something. “Are you okay? That crazy bitch didn’t hurt you too, did she?”
    I quickly shook my head. “No. It was just Gabriella.”
    Blond brows lifted. “The rocker chick?” I nodded. “How is she?”
    “I’m not sure how she is right now. Last I heard she was in stable but critical condition.” I hadn’t heard much about how she was doing since Emmie had came back to the bus and promptly gone