Chapter 24 Mads
Mads
My fist connects with the mask; the plastic splits under my knuckles. He grunts and stumbles, and I don’t give him time to recover. I drive him into the dirt and swing again. There’s a sick pop—his jaw slips out of place—and blood drips from beneath the mask, running down the side of his neck.
All I can think about is Blake. Her laugh in the dark one second, gone the next.
Too many minutes have passed for her to still be anywhere near me. This fucker blindsided me, and his buddy bolted after her.
If either of these pieces of shit lay a hand on her, I’ll kill them both a thousand times over.
He throws a wild punch, but adrenaline is pounding in my veins.
I catch his wrist, twist until he yelps, then drive my knee into his ribs and let the full weight of me fall on him.
The air whooshes out of him. I straddle his chest, and rain blows down until the mask splinters and his face is a bloodied mess beneath it.
“If your little friend so much as touches a hair on her head,” I snarl between punches, “I’ll put you both in the motherfucking ground.”
His head lolls to the side, body limp. Out cold.
My hands shake as I push off him, chest heaving.
I rifle through his pocket for his phone, thumb fumbling the screen, and call 9-1-1.
My voice is clipped—man unconscious, bleeding, woods…
somewhere. Hopefully they can ping the location.
I give the dispatcher only what they need.
I drop the phone before they can ask another question and let it hit the dirt beside him.
Then I move. Fast. Quiet. Every nerve on fire as I scan the dense trees, ears straining for any sound of her.
I’ll find her. And when I do, God help the bastard who decided to fuck with my girl.
Branches whip against my arms as I tear through the trees, lungs burning, every snapped twig underfoot sounding like a gunshot. I force myself to slow, to move quieter, even though every instinct is screaming at me to sprint until I’ve got her in my arms. If I blow this and he hurts her—
No. Not an option.
I run so far I reach the edge of the forest, the break in the trees opening into an entirely different neighborhood.
I saw her run this way. She has to be close.
Then the thought hits me—what if she’s not even in the woods anymore? What if they’ve already dragged her off somewhere else?
Then I hear it: muffled voices. I angle toward the sound, crouching low, edging around trunks, every step careful despite the adrenaline making my hands shake.
Closer.
Closer.
And then I see them.
Blake pressed back against a tree, her chest rising and falling too fast. A mask looms over her, one hand fisted in her hair, the other holding a knife against the pale line of her throat.
My heart stops. Panic slams into me so hard I nearly stumble out of cover.
Every muscle in my body wants to charge him, tear him off her, break every bone in his hand one by one—but the knife. One wrong move, and—
My stomach twists. I can’t risk it.
I lean on the tree beside me, forcing myself to breathe through the rage clawing at my chest. I have to think. I have to be smart. If I spook him, if he sees me before I’m ready, it’s Blake who pays the price.
But I’ve never felt more out of control in my life.
The knife is too close to her skin. I’m ready to risk everything when Blake’s eyes flick over his shoulder. Right to me. Just for a heartbeat. Then she straightens, fearless, her voice steadier than I could even consider forcing mine to be right now.
“You really think this is going to work?” she asks, disdain dripping from every word. “You’re pathetic—hiding behind masks just so you can get off on hurting people with your creepy little frat-boy murder club.”
The guy jerks her hair hard, but she doesn’t flinch. If anything, she leans into it. She fucking laughs.
Wow, okay. My dick is hard.
Now is not the time, buddy.
“What’s the plan, Jonah?” she asks. It’s a guess, but the rough jerk on her hair when she says his name tells me she nailed it.
That hand. The one in her hair. I’m starting with that one. He will not be leaving here with any of his fingers intact.
“You gonna slit my throat, dump me in the river like you did Miles? Bet that worked out real well for you, considering we’ve got your faces on video, fresh out of the masks you were wearing when you killed him.”
He stiffens, his grip faltering for just a second. That’s all I need.
I burst from the shadows and slam into him with everything I have.
Blake twists free, dropping to the ground as I drive him sideways.
The knife flashes, grazing my arm before I wrench his wrist to an unnatural angle.
He snarls, stronger than I expected, and we roll, trading blows. Still, he won’t let go of it.
Pain explodes across my ribs when his fist lands, then again as the blade rakes my other side. Hot and sharp, it barely registers under the red flooding my vision.
I swing harder—fists into jaw, into temple. He bucks; the knife flashes and bites my forearm. Blood runs in spurts from my split skin, but I don’t stop. I can’t.
Blake shouts something—my name, maybe—but it’s lost under the crash of us hitting the ground.
One off move, and suddenly he’s beneath me, arm pinned.
The knife jolts, his grip slips, and his own weight drives the blade home.
The wet sound of it turns my stomach. His eyes go wide, mask half-cracked, before he slumps with the knife buried in his chest.
I climb off him, half stunned, half relieved. Blake is at my side in an instant, her hands on my face, steadying me.
Guess he won’t be needing his hands after all. No point breaking them now.
Red and blue lights strobe through the trees as sirens wail closer. Shouts carry, flashlights slicing through the dark.
I pull Blake into my arms, wrapping myself around her like I can shield her from everything, even now. She trembles against me, buries her face in my neck.
“I’ve got you,” I whisper, holding her tighter. My voice cracks, but I don’t care. “You’re okay. You’re safe. I love you.”
Her breath hitches, shaky and uneven. I press a kiss to her hair and let my eyes fall shut, sinking into the feel of her instead of everything else.
“We’re okay,” I repeat, softer this time, as if saying it might make it true.