Chapter 55
CHAPTER 55
Heath
When the ambulances have finally arrived to help take care of the wounded and bring them to a hospital, I head upstairs to see where Silas has run off to. There’s ruckus in the weaponry, and when I peek inside, he’s throwing all the knives and guns into two big bags.
“What are you doing?” I ask, clutching the doorjamb.
“What the fuck does it look like?” Silas replies. “I’m gonna rescue Ivy.”
“What about Cora?” I ask. “Does she even need to be saved? Whoever has her must’ve taken her back to her real parents. That’s why they came for her.”
He pauses and looks at me like I’m the one being weird.
“Ivy stole her from that Stefano guy,” I add.
“I don’t fucking care what she did.” He stands up and looks me dead in the eyes. “Ivy belongs to me. Not him. And I’m taking back what’s mine, with or without anyone’s help. End of story.”
I frown. “But what are you gonna do with Cora? Leave her there?”
“I’ll figure that out when I get there.” He grabs his bags.
“Wait.”
“Why? So you can try to convince me to stay?”
“No, I—”
He pushes me aside. “Then get out of my way.”
I follow him down the stairs, unsure of what to do. I’m torn since I found out she stole Cora away from another family. Was she ever even truthful to begin with, or was everything, including us, a lie to keep them safe?
The medics downstairs are busy tending to the wounded, with Max aiding them as best as he can. Silas’s father has arrived along with a bunch of cops, keeping the scene free from curious onlookers, as well as marking down the scene of the crime.
“That’s a lot of people who got injured on your watch, Rivera,” a cop says.
“Trust me when I say it won’t fucking happen again,” the dean growls back. “I’ll run by each and every one of my guards to see where the weak point is.” He cracks his knuckles. “These fuckers slipped through the cracks.” He focuses his gaze on the cop. “I’d appreciate it if you’d let me solve this, Foley.”
Agent Foley scoffs, “Not a chance.” He opens his notebook. “This is going on the record. All of it.”
The dean seems pissed, but I’m far too busy figuring out what I need to do now to be worried about some cops flooding the Skull and Serpent Society. Dean Rivera will no doubt handle it well.
I walk out the front door, where Elliot Fletcher is being lifted into a van so they can cart him off to the hospital.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m okay,” Elliot says. “Besides, Mom’s going to be there.”
Max nods as he follows the cart out. “Are you sure?”
“Take care of the others,” he says. “And find her.”
Max nods.
Find her.
His words reverberate in my ears until I get so sick of it, I punch my own fucking head to get rid of it.
“What’s wrong?” Max asks me.
“What are we gonna do?” I mutter.
“I know what the fuck I’m gonna do,” Silas growls as he waltzes past us.
But his own dad stops him and grabs the bag. The long-drawn-out sound of metal cling-clanging against each other as he shakes the contents makes everyone pause.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going with that?”
“To get Ivy. Don’t even fucking try to stop me.”
His father furrows his brows, the pause before he speaks as deadly as the look in his eyes. “Those fuckers you left for dead on the street came to get payback. This is on you.”
Silas grinds his teeth. “Get out of my way.”
“Or what? You’re gonna kill me too?”
“Jesus,” one of the other students mutters.
“Family feuds,” I say, shrugging at the guy to defuse the tension.
“Who is Ivy?” his father asks.
Silas lowers his gaze intently. “ That girl.”
His father’s eyes twitch, and his nostrils flare. Then he closes his eyes and says, “Do you need my help?”
“I can handle it,” Silas says, walking right past him.
I’m amazed at his brazen courage against the only man who could quite literally make him stop with just one finger. Or maybe he just needs her so much it negates any and all reason.
My eyes widen.
That’s it.
I bolt past his father too and follow Silas outside to steal the bag.
He snarls, “You’d better have a good reason to—”
“I’m coming with you,” I interject.
He stops and looks me up and down. “Why? I thought you didn’t trust her anymore?”
I shrug, smirking. “I changed my mind.”
An arrogant smile spreads on his face. “And here I was thinking you got too butt hurt by her betrayal to your sappy little heart.” He opens the car door. “Fine then, let’s fucking go.”
“Wait for me!”
We both turn around to look as Max runs out of the Skull and Serpent Society, breathing wildly.
“I’m coming too,” he says.
“Thought you were busy in there taking care of the wounded,” Silas says.
“The medics are here now. There’s not much I can do anymore, and I wanna help.”
“You wanna help?” Silas pulls something out of the bag before he throws it at him. “Carry this for me while I figure out how we’re gonna get inside.”
“Inside? You know where they’ve taken her?” Max asks as we all hop into the car, me behind the wheel, Silas in the front, and Max in the back between all the weapons, which he cuddles like they’re his kids.
“Not yet.” Silas grins as he puts on the red purge mask, and then hands me and Max one too. “But we know a fucker who does. And Heath knows just where to find him.”
Ivy
Her body is a mangled mess, full of scars and bruises, as she lies in the bed like a porcelain doll, surrounded by bleeping machines. She’s dancing the balance between life and death, but nothing about her feels alive.
He left me alone with her so I could bear witness to the power he holds and feel small. Unimportant. Insignificant.
Just like anyone else who gets in his way.
The last laugh he gave me before he waltzed out and sealed me in here with her sealed my fate.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
And something in me snaps.
I walk to the machines and rip out the wires one by one until nothing is left, and the beeping fades into a never-ending one.
Just like the hatred in my soul.
Tick. Tock.
The clock moves on.
And so will she.
Tears run down my face for minutes before it’s finally over.
The door is slammed open.
“What have you done?!” Stefano barges inside and shoves me away from the machines.
“Too late,” I mutter.
He grabs the wires and tries to reattach them, but it’s no use. She’ll never return to him.
A smile forms on my face.
THWACK!
The first punch lands the hardest, and I’m knocked back onto the floor.
“How fucking dare you?!”
His voice booms through the room.
THWACK! THWACK!
Still, I can’t stop laughing.
He grabs me by the throat. “You kill her, and you’re laughing?”
“She’s free.” I smile. “And I will be too soon.”
“I will fucking kill you,” he spits.
“Go ahead,” I murmur.
“You think I won’t do it?” he growls.
“Do it. Before they’re here,” I whisper.
“Who?”
I grin. “The boys hunting me.”
For a moment, he stares at me in disbelief.
And all I can do is laugh.
“Fine, you want to play rough? I’ll play along,” Stefano growls, and he rummages around in a drawer until he finds what he’s looking for, fishing out a dangerous-looking handmade device. “I knew you’d try to rope others into your little scheme, so I came prepared.”
My eyes widen as he pulls out a rope too.
But before I can crawl away, he kneels on top of me, punching me so hard I nearly lose consciousness.
He rips the earpieces from my ears, leaving me in silence.
Each punch fades into the other as I lie woozy on the floor.
Everything is spinning.
I’m not sure I care.
My vision is blurry, and I’ve lost track of time.
All I know is that this ends with me.
Silas
The moment Ivan spots us as we approach his usual spot where he sells his drugs, he tries to run back to his car, but I swiftly chuck one of my knives at him. It lodges into his back, and he cries out in pain as he tumbles over his own feet and falls to the ground.
He attempts to crawl away, but I grasp him by the shirt. “You think you can get away with what you did?” I growl as we haul him off the ground and shove him against the wall.
“Not so tough now, are you?” Heath growls.
“Heath, we’re buddies, aren’t we?” Ivan says, trying to butter him up. “I sell you my best stuff.”
“You’re just in it for the money, and I’m not your buddy, you fucking rat,” Heath growls.
Heath smashes his face into the wall.
“Fine, I blackmailed her. So what?” the guy growls. “I helped her escape, and in turn, she helped me. Big deal.”
“Bullshit! You didn’t fucking help her, you used her!” Heath growls.
“Stefano has her now. It’s no use anyway trying to hurt me. It won’t get her back,” he says.
I lean in and growl, “I will rip each and every one of your fucking fingers out of your fucking hands and shove them up your own fucking ass if you don’t tell me where she is right now.”
“You think you can save her?” Ivan laughs.
Heath grabs his hand and pushes it to his back, side-eyeing me, so I tug at the guy’s index finger and cut it off cleanly.
He cries out in agony, immediately pissing his pants when I hold the finger up in front of his face.
“I gave you an opportunity to tell me right off the bat, but you chose the hard way instead,” I say. “I’m gonna enjoy listening to you cry for death instead of ten of these going up your ass in one go without lube.”
Heath rips down his pants.
“No, no, no, please! I’ll tell you,” he begs, shivering from sheer terror.
“Speak up,” I say, contorting his wrist the wrong way so he’s in misery.
“She’s at Stefano’s house …” he whimpers. “Please, don’t do this, let me go. I swear, I won’t blackmail her anymore. Or anyone else. I’ll stop. I swear.”
My nostrils flare. “Give me the address.”
“It’s in my phone,” he says, sweating profusely as he eyes his own back pocket. “In there.”
Heath plucks his phone from his pants. “How do we unlock this fucker?”
I grab his thumb and cut it off. His yelps are like music to my ears.
I throw the thumb to Heath. “Try this.”
“Why’d you have to cut it off?!” Ivan cries out. “I would’ve opened it!”
“Because you need to learn a lesson or two about what it means to steal my girl from me,” I reply, grinning against his ear. “We have a special trophy case to display our enemies’ limbs.”
His pupils dilate. “What?”
I cut off his pinky for good measure, and the wail that follows is so goddamn satisfying.
“Got it,” Heath says, holding up the phone to show me the address.
“Perfect. Let’s tie him up and stuff him in the trunk.”
Heath grabs the rope and wraps it around his wrists and abdomen, sealing him in.
“Why? Please, let me go. You don’t need me,” Ivan begs.
“No, you’re right, we don’t,” I reply, watching Heath do what he does best.
When he’s secured, I slap Ivan on the cheeks. “But I know someone who does.”
“Who?” he asks.
“Let’s deliver Stefano a nice little package.”
“No, no, no, please!” Ivan begs as Heath drags him all the way back to the car, and we each grab one end of him and throw him in the trunk, then seal him shut before he can whine some more.
“What the fuck was that?” Max asks as he lowers his window. “Did you just put Ivan in the trunk?”
I put my finger to my lips. “Just pretend you didn’t see.”
“But I can hear him,” he replies.
“Then ignore the screams. Simple,” I reply.
Max looks disgusted. “There’s blood all over your hands. It’ll get on the car.”
I shrug. “Risk of the trade.”
“I’ll turn this baby inside out and clean the fuck out of it after we’re done,” Heath says.
I slap the top of the car. “Let’s go.”
“Did you get the address?” Max asks.
Heath hops inside and turns to grin at him. “Yup. And I think it’s time we paid Stefano a little visit.”
“Wait, you mean … actually going to a drug lord’s house to ambush him?”
I smile too. “Sounds about right. You in?”
“Will Ivy and Cora be safe?”
I tilt my head. “You think I’ll let anyone touch her and live to tell the tale?”
Slowly, a smile spreads on Max’s lips before he fishes a gun from the bag and loads it like he’s a goddamn expert despite the fact that I’ve not seen him hold a gun since I met him. “I guess it’s time for me to dust off the skill set my mom taught me a few years back and finally put it to good use.”