Freeing Souls (Beautiful Souls #4)

Chapter One

Grayson

“ H oly–” Shit. I exhale roughly and lean back against the closed door. I let my eyes fall shut, my fingers ghosting over my lips still tingling from Ry’s kiss. When he offered to walk me back to the tech room after we finished lunch, I really just thought he was going to be overbearing about not working too hard.

I even mentally prepared a response as we walked, planning to explain to him that I need to stay this busy to keep my mind off everything else. The last thing I expected was for him to send my heart into overdrive.

Whatever is going on with Nerds, I worry for him, especially not knowing what’s happening. All the victims we saved and helped get away… It’s amazing, and I am so insanely thankful we could rescue them. But how many more are out there? Oakley, one of the girls we saved, is staying at the club right now, and she mentioned having information about the Black Night Ball. That means there are probably countless other victims out there.

And then, there’s Tammy. She just freaking disappeared off the face of the Earth, and we have no idea where she is or what her plans are. I had planned to spew all this at Ryker and make it known that I won’t be stopping and relaxing until we get the answers we need, but then the man of my dreams blew my mind straight into the gutter when he murmured, “I’m going to kiss you now.”

When I kiss Harley, it feels like a homecoming. She brings me so much peace and comfort. She doesn’t just own my heart, she is my heart. Without her, I wouldn’t survive. But then when Ryker kisses me, he throws me off balance in a good way. I’ve never felt so explosive while also feeling so calm. I wanted to grab his hand and yank him into the room with me, locking the door, and then—shaking my head, I scrub my hands down my face and sigh. “Slow down, Grayson,” I whisper to myself. We have other things we need to focus on right now.

Finally pulling myself away from the door, I head over to Nerds’ desk and take a seat. Turning on his multiple screens, I look over at what I had been working on. We have the web address for the Black Night, but I don’t have a way in. Nerds wasn’t sure either and was attempting to teach himself how to hack in without leaving a trail. I don’t know how far he got with that. I’m good, but I’m not that good yet.

Vance, leader of the Brooks Family and the Kings of Hearts, has a tech guy who was around when we were taking down the warehouse, and I kind of want to see if he can help. It’s something I’ll have to ask Rage about.

Moving away from the Black Night, I bring up Tammy’s car tracker just to make sure it still hasn’t moved. We also bugged her house, so I open the cams and audio to check them over as well. All the footage and audio is saved to a backup server, but Nerds, being the smart guy he is, also has it so any movements or sounds get flagged instead of having to go through hours of tape to check ourselves.

Finding a few red dots on the cam footage, I begin to click through them. The first is a deer wandering across their driveway, the next the mailman. Per usual, there’s nothing here. No one has come or gone from their house since the day they left, at least that we know of.

Suddenly, lights flicker in the room at the same time that everything shakes, a loud boom coming from outside the door. It sounds a lot like a bomb going off. My heart races and my palms grow sweaty as a bad feeling settles in my stomach. Rising from the desk chair, I grab my phone and head over to the door. Slowly pulling it open, I don’t see anyone in the hallway, so I walk toward the main room. The windows in the living room facing the front of the club are wide open, and the stench of smoke hits me first before I see the almost black swirls rising outside.

Picking up my pace, I jog to the front door right as Rage and Brielle come running out from the kitchen. “Gray? What was that?” Rage asks.

“Something must have blown up in the garage!” I respond as I swing the front door open. Then, one thought hits me hard in the gut. “I think Axe is here and just went out to the garage. I’m going to go out there and talk to him about the bikes,” Ryker had said after lunch.

“Ryker!” My voice sounds hoarse and foreign as my heart leaps out of my chest with fear. No, he’s fine. He’s okay. Don’t be dramatic.

Rounding the corner to the garage, I stumble to a stop, almost slamming into part of a crumbled wall. Part of the club is above the garage, where our rooms are. Glancing back at Rage, I notice a few others have stumbled outside with me. “Someone tell anyone upstairs to get outside, now!” I yell as my eyes frantically scan everyone, searching for Ryker.

“Who was out here?” Rage almost growls, but fear coats his features as his eyes frantically roam the carnage.

Tears fill my eyes as I say, “Ry—Ryker.” Exhaling roughly, I tell myself he’s fine, to keep it together. “Um, uh, Axe too. Ry said he was out here.”

“And Sugar!” someone hollers. “He came out to talk with Axe.”

“Everyone split off. Some go search the rest of the property. The rest of you get your asses over here and help!” Rage demands, his normally bright blue eyes darken as he takes everything in.

A loud gasp sounds from behind me, and I spin to see Harley standing there, wide eyed. Her frantic eyes move to meet my own, and she sucks in a breath. “Ryker,” she murmurs. “Ryker. Ryker!” she screams and darts forward.

I follow her, and we begin to lift pieces of debris, everything from bike parts to pieces of the wall to concrete. The idea that Ryker or any of the others are under any of this is so debilitating, I have to force myself to move forward and search. This isn’t the time to freeze up and panic. Find answers first, Grayson.

“Move things carefully!” Rage yells.

I hear Brielle say, “I’m going to call Doc and get supplies ready. If anything, you all are going to have smoke inhalation.” Harley and I keep moving, pulling things away from the large pile as others work from other points.

My brain is fogged and confused, and I can’t comprehend the idea of Ryker potentially being under all the rumble. He’s not. He’s just not.

Neither are Sugar or Axe. Everyone is fine. “It looks like something exploded from the shop garage door and just blew everything farther in,” I mumble to myself as I look around. The garage doors are half intact but blown in. The shop is completely destroyed, with a large pile in the center. It looks like the beams towards the back of the shop are still standing, which is good for our upstairs, but we need to get out of here sooner rather than later.

The denial sets in, and I’m able to continue looking without completely losing my shit. Harley is more frantic, moving quickly, sweat dripping down her face.

“Sugar! Axe! Ryker!” Rage hollers as he carefully works his way through the piles of broken pieces of wall and bike equipment.

Someone coughs, and we all freeze. I can hear it to my right, closer to the entrance of the room garage, so I work my way back that way. “Hello?”

“H–here,” someone tries to yell, but they just end up coughing.

“Over here!” I say as I move closer to the sound and pull back a table flipped and cracked in the center. “It’s Axe!”

I can hear people moving closer as I pull back the table and then lift a piece of a bike engine from his leg. “Can you move?” I ask him.

“Jackson? Jackson! Oh my God! Are you alright?” Presley’s cries grow louder as she approaches and gasps in horror at the sight of Axe. He is still half buried under debris, with smoke, dirt, and blood splattered all over him.

Axe coughs harder and then shakes his head violently, “Get her back.” He glances at someone else behind me. “Get her away from this shit,” he growls.

I focus on my task at hand, trying not to think about how badly he might be hurt and how we still don’t have Ryker. I know it has likely only been minutes since the explosion even happened, but it feels like hours as I continue to pull crap away from Axe.

“Don’t you dare touch me, Rage!” Presley screams at him. There’s a grunt from Rage, and then Presley’s pleas and yells slowly fade as she is pulled away.

“I think I have some broken ribs.” Axe grimaces as he slowly moves his hand to his stomach.

“Okay. Can you move? Or should I get some guys to carry you?” I ask.

“I don’t need to be fucking carried,” he huffs and very slowly sits up. Placing my hand on his back, I help guide him as he curses and holds his stomach every time he coughs more.

“Move slowly!” Brielle yells as she approaches my side. “If you can walk, just go slow. Did you pass out?”

He nods slightly. “Yeah. Hit my head on something really fucking hard. It’s pounding.”

“Okay. We called 911, so you’ll have to go to the hospital.”

Axe huffs again and then asks, “The others?”

“They’re still looking for Ryker and Sugar. Let’s just worry about you right now,” Bri explains.

“Bri–” Axe hesitates.

We each take a side of him and help guide him over the rubble and out to the parking lot where he can wait for the ambulance. “What?” she asks, furrowing her brows.

“Atlas...” Axe breathes heavily.

“He’s not here right now. He and Linc went out. Linc is back and helping look for the others, but Atlas isn’t back yet.”

“Bri–” Axe coughs and shoves away the water Bri tries to give him as he takes a seat on the ground. “He came back, Bri. He’s in there.”

“What? No. His bike isn’t here.” Bri glances around the parking lot again.

“His bike was at the front. It’s probably ruined under all the shit that fell.”

I see the moment panic sets in—her features tighten as her eyes frantically search the area. She must spot something she recognizes, because she gasps, and tears roll down her cheeks as she prepares to book it back across the lot. Before she can, I grip her around the waist and hold her back as sirens grow impossibly loud.

“Let me go!” she screeches as she fights my hold.

“Bri, just wait. I know, I’m scared too, but we–” My words get cut off on a grunt when Brielle brings her foot down on top of my own, stomping as hard as she can. My grip loosens, and she takes off across the lot.

“Atlas!” she screams. Before I can catch back up to her, a firefighter grabs her and pulls her back. She fights him and screams for Atlas, which draws Linc’s attention from where he was searching towards the back of the garage.

“Atlas?” he questions loudly.

I nod. “Axe said he was out here.” My eyes move away from Linc to check on the others. Cade and Harley are searching under shit while Harley heaves and calls out for Ryker. A few other guys are searching for Sugar, and now we have firefighters coming in to search, trying to pull us away from the danger zone.

I don’t know what this feeling inside me is, this numbness, refusal to accept what is, but I don’t know how to make myself go. Harley needs me. Cade needs me. Ryker needs all of us. But he’s not out here. He just isn’t.

I felt denial when Harley and Cade were taken by David all those months back, but it was nothing compared to this. It all just felt like a dream. Being able to get behind a computer and hunt them all down helped center me, but that isn’t an option right now. Right now, Ryker needs us all out here, searching for him.

But I don’t move.

I can’t move.

I watch Cade haul Harley back as she fights and screams at him. The voices begin to fade away until there is just a dull echo in my mind. I don’t know what to do. Ryker would know what to do. He can help me.

He has to help me. Center me.

Without him, I am being dragged out to sea, swept away by the storm. What do I do? I can’t do anything.

Is this when I break?

Have I only made it this far because of Ryker?

Hazel eyes captivate mine, and like resurfacing from the depths of a dark ocean, I can breathe again.

Harley

Where are you? Where the fuck are you? Sweat drips down my face as my hands violently shake, but it doesn’t stop me. I need to find him. Why has he not called out yet? Where the fuck is he?

Trying to yank a large piece of concrete out of the way, I grunt as I strain every muscle in my body, but I can’t move it. Arms wrap around my middle, pulling me away from the carnage. Shoving at their arms, I scream for them to let me go, but they just keep tugging me away.

We move back to the front of the club, and I’m set on my feet, but before I can move to go back and keep looking, I’m spun around and shoved against a wall. “Harley!” Cade snarls in my face as he holds my shoulders against the wall in an unrelenting grip.

Snapping my eyes up to his, I plan to yell, but before I can, he releases one shoulder and slams his palm against my mouth. “Shut up and fucking listen to me! I’d let you keep looking, but we weren’t making enough progress, and there are firefighters here now who will know how to keep looking safely. We don’t know how much damage happened to the structure, and it could be unsafe. You have to calm the fuck down and take a breath, because you aren’t helping anyone right now.”

“Ryker could be dead. Sugar could be dead,” I gasp, gripping my chest. It feels like someone is squeezing my heart and preparing to rip it out and dangle it in front of me. I can’t handle a loss like this, not when I just found them all. I can’t do it. I won’t do it. It would destroy me. Losing anyone here would have irreparable damage.

Gruff hands grip my face and tilt it up. “Open your eyes, baby girl.” My eyes snap open at the command. “I am terrified too. I understand the fear you feel right now, but look around. Things are a mess, and everyone here is terrified. We all need each other. So I need you to find my badass girlfriend I know is in there and get it together. When the dust settles, we can all fall apart, but that time is not now. You know how to do this. Be strong.”

Staring into his blue and gold eyes, I let him ground me until I can breathe evenly, and then I slowly nod, preparing myself to pull it together the second he releases me. “There’s my girl. Now, Grayson needs you. I’m going to go find out what the next steps are. You go help him.” He gestures with his head to the left, and when I glance over, I find Grayson standing at the front of the garage, but he looks frozen and lost.

Bypassing everyone, I head straight to him and grab his hands. When his wide, terrified green eyes lock with mine, I watch them fill with tears. “Grayson?”

“Y–yeah?” he chokes.

“He’s going to be okay. He has to be. But in the meantime, we have to pull it together. Ryker would be kicking our asses if he saw us right now,” I tell him, holding back my own tears.

Grayson lets out a choked laugh. “Yeah, he probably would be. I just–” He pinches his lips together and glances past me. “Let’s figure out what to do.”

“Cade went to find out what is going to happen now, but it looks like he’s coming this way,” I tell him when I notice Cade heading towards us. Giving Grayson’s hands a squeeze, I let go of one of them and watch Cade.

“They are stabilizing the structure. It’s not safe for anyone to be in there right now. I know we all want to be in there searching, but we have to let the firefighters make it safe first,” he tells us.

I nod and then frown. “All of them? Axe is out, so it’s just Sugar and Ryker, right?” I ask.

Cade sighs and rubs his hand up and down my arm soothingly. “Atlas too. He got home right before, according to Axe.”

“What?” I gasp, the weight on my heart heavier as I think about the possibility of losing three people who mean the world to me.

I let go of Grayson and rub my chest as everything comes into focus.

I lost my mom, ruthlessly taken from me. She was my best friend. I really thought there could only be evil left in the world after she died, that I was stuck with the Wilsons. Every day, week, year that passed left me hating everything, wishing for something better but knowing there wasn’t anything out there.

After finding Brielle, Atlas, Lincoln, and Ryan, I thought they were too good to be true. There was no way I could ever truly trust them, so I refused to let them fully in, no matter how much they showed me they weren’t going anywhere.

Then, I did a stupid thing and came here, storming in with a gun, determined to kill Gabriel. That one stupid decision changed my life. It showed me that Bri and the guys were really here for me, and they weren’t going anywhere, no matter what I did. It opened doors to discover a whole other family, and then men who love every broken piece of me.

It has been a long few years of discovering myself and learning to trust the people in my life, but one thing that never fully occurred to me is that with this joy, love, peacefulness comes the risk of losing them all. I never want to experience a loss like my mom again, but I know life doesn’t work that way.

But it’s too soon to lose any of them. I can’t do it. I feel like I’ve opened my heart, and now, I run the risk of it being ripped out of my chest and stomped on. I don’t think I could live through that again.

I feel like the only way to protect myself is to find a way to close it off again. I want them all in my life, but do I need to let them into every piece of my soul?

“Here!” An unknown voice shouts from behind me in the garage. Spinning around I spot three firefighters moving some large pieces of what looks like concrete and a garage door out of the way. Cade, Grayson and I move in closer and that’s when I spot them. Sugar and Ryker lying about ten feet from each other, both not moving and covered in debris and blood.

Gasping I go to dart forward but arms wrap around me holding me back as lips graze my ear, “Hang on, baby girl. Let them get them out safely. You can ride with Ryker to the hospital.” Cade tells me.

Not pulling my eyes away from the scene in front of me, I stare at the firefighters as they roll Sugar onto a backboard and then lift him. I can’t tell how badly he is hurt because he is covered in so much shit from the explosion. As they carry him past us tears fill my eyes and I have to blink them away. “Who’s going with him?” I ask quietly.

“I will,” Grayson says. “You stay with Ry. I’ll find you at the hospital.” He croaks with tears in his eyes as he stares at them, putting Ryker’s unconscious body on another backboard and lifting him as well.

“Are you sure?” I ask him, seeing how badly he needs to be with Ryker.

Nodding, he steps back. “Yeah.”

Before I can say more, he is gone, following the guys carrying Sugar to an ambulance. Cade rests his hand on my shoulder, and I glance up to find him staring at Grayson’s back.

He looks down at me once Grayson is out of sight. “Go with Ryker. I’ll get there as soon as I can. I want to help where I’m needed here. Are you going to be okay?”

I nod, reminding myself to lock my heart down.

“Keep an eye on Grayson, okay?”

“I will.” Leaning down, Cade kisses my forehead, and I walk away, following behind them as they carry Ryker to the ambulance.

Climbing in the ambulance, I take a seat on the bench across from the stretcher and reach out for Ryker’s hand, staring intently at the screen where his heart beats consistently.

Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes and just listen to his heartbeat and feel his hand in mine. He’s going to be fine.

But I can’t do this.