Chapter 22
I smile like a complete idiot as both Celine and Abi giggle. I haven’t even told them anything. They seem so excited for me, and that makes me so damn happy I could burst.
“I thought he kidnapped you,” Abi says.
“I wouldn’t even have minded.”
“You have it bad,” Celine says, and all three of us flop onto my bed.
“I love him so much, and he’s incredible.”
“Did you blow up his walls?” Abi asks.
“Only one remains, but what he went through… it broke my damn heart.”
“How bad is it?” Abi asks, her eyes glistening.
“Bad, but I can’t tell you more. It is his story,” I say. Maybe one day he’ll be comfortable enough to tell them too.
Both Abi and Celine nod in understanding, and I sigh, relieved.
“Where is Bailey?”
“Locked in her room, trying to find something,” Abi says.
“And Hunter is losing his shit by the minute. Those two are going to clash,” Celine replies.
Just then, the door opens, and Bailey walks inside. Bags lie under her eyes, and her hair is pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. “I found a lead,” she says.
“You’re freaking incredible,” Abi praises, clapping her hands.
“Let’s go,” Celine says.
We all go downstairs, where the guys are standing around with stiff postures.
“Don’t even think about it.” Celine looks at Kaden, and after they share a silent conversation, he nods.
“Nope, not one word,” Abigail tells Dane, who closes his mouth.
Blake comes to me, tucking me to his side.
“I have your back.”
“And I will have yours,” I reply, and he leans in to brush his nose against my cheek.
“I’m coming with you,” Bailey announces.
“The fuck you are,” Hunter snaps, and they do that weird eye battle thing.
“I guess the vote is redundant,” Kaden says, then adds, “Let’s go. Cassandra is waiting for us.”
We take two cars. I am with Blake, Abigail, Dane, and Bailey while the others are in Kaden’s car. We have to keep Hunter and Bailey separated because no one wants to deal with their passive aggressiveness toward each other.
As soon as we park, Samuel leads us inside Cassandra’s office. Cassandra, Sebastian, and Cillian are waiting for us in front of the bookshelf that hides a set of stairs leading to the tunnel entrance. After Felix and Caleb escaped, Cassandra closed the other exit on the property. Now, she has total control and access to the tunnels through her biometrics: retina scan and thumbprint.
Descending the stairs, we reach the tunnel leading to the underground chambers. We walk down the long corridor, the lights flickering above with every step, until we stop in front of a metallic door.
We walk inside the weapon room, which is a candy land for weapon enthusiasts. Combat gear is neatly arranged in large glass display cases along the back wall.
Cassandra gestures toward a long table. “Take a seat,” she says.
When we do, she adds, “There’s no need for you to go on this mission.”
“With all due respect, Ma’am, we are the ones responsible for continuing the legacy. It’s our duty,” Kaden says.
Sweeping her gaze over us, she offers us a strained nod. “I had little hope to convince you, but you will go with a team of our trusted men. No one knows about the mission except for the people in this room and them.”
We all nod, and she continues, “It’s a scouting mission. But the moment security feels like you’re in danger, they have my full authority to remove you from the perimeter by any means.”
Our group exchanges a look, as if to say, They could try , but none of us voice it.
“A cargo plane is waiting for you. Pick up your gear and choose your weapons.”
We each fill a duffle bag with ammunition, guns, rifles, grenades, and knives.
As we exit the tunnel, two black vans await us in the heart of the forest. The security chief, Maxim, jerks his chin in greeting and says, “Five of my men will go with you. So who’s riding in which van?”
“We’re not splitting up. Go in the van with your men. We’ll follow you to the airport,” Kaden says.
Maxim opens his mouth, surely to protest, when Kaden adds, “That was an order.”
Dane hops into the driver’s seat with Abi next to him in the passenger seat, and we move to the back. I wave at my father, who shakes his head at us. I shrug. We’re a team, and we’ll always return to this formula.
When Blake slides the door close, Kaden says, “Let’s survey the map and split the teams.”
On the plane, we all change into bulletproof combat gear so we can blend in.
An hour later, the plane lands on a secluded tarmac. This place is in the middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania. The area is surrounded by snow-topped mountains and dense forests. We hop on ATVs and drive away from the plane, with security in front and behind us.
When Kaden lifts his palm, we stop, hop off the ATVs, and cover them with tarps. Bailey and I are next to each other. While I fly the drone, she analyzes the live feed.
In a gap surrounded by smaller mountains, I spot a cement structure that perfectly blends in.
“No guards,” Blake says, pursing his lips.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Hunter says.
“Something is wrong,” Bailey says, her hands flying over the keyboard as she watches the thermal imaging. “I got some heat signatures from inside.”
We walk the remaining mile on foot, and Bailey stays behind with a guard. With guns drawn, teams A and B split up.
I am on team B with Blake, Abi, Dane, and four guards. We’re taking the left side of the building, which appears abandoned. Team A, with Celine, Kaden, Hunter, and the rest of the guards, heads to the right.
We regroup with the others at the front door.
“Clear,” Kaden says.
“Clear,” Blake replies.
Kaden walks in, followed by Blake, ready to shoot at any threat, but the building is empty.
“Get out!” Bailey yells over the comms, and both teams sprint toward the exit. A deafening boom erupts, the ground rumbling under our feet. As soon as we’re outside, the building explodes behind us, and we’re thrown to our backs like swatted flies.
My ears ring, and when I open my eyes, Blake is on top of me.
“Are you okay?” he asks, cupping my chin and scanning every inch of my face and body. I nod, still unable to hear anything but constant ringing.
Panic hits me, and I look around. Blood gushes from Abi’s hand, and Dane rolls out from under some rubble, grunting. He quickly rips his sleeve off and wraps it around her injury.
Celine cries out for Kaden, dropping to her belly in front of the thick of the rubble. She tries to drag him out, but two cement blocks keep him hostage. We all rush to help. It is pure luck that the blocks formed a triangle over his body instead of crushing him.
When he crawls out, Celine jumps into his arms, sobbing as he holds her tightly against his chest.
“I am fine. Sky, look at me.”
All my friends are alive, and the guards appear in good condition. I can finally breathe again.
We trudge back to the meeting point, and Bailey says, “I’m so, so sorry. I should have known. I…”
Hunter grips her chin, and whatever he says to her, it calms her down.
The drive back is spent in silence, all of us deep in thought.
“That was a trap, and I fell for it,” Bailey says once we reach the plane.
“You couldn’t have known. This is not your fault,” Celine tries to console her.
“It was a diversion. We need to touch base with the compound to see if it was attacked as well,” Kaden says as we move inside.
“Fuck.” Blake roars, smashing his fist into the wall.
The security chief gets in contact with his man at the compound, and he confirms the attack.
“We had casualties, but Ma’am is safe; she was brought into the bunker.”
As soon as I’m seated, my feet bounce up and down in the rhythm of a ball of anxiety rolling through me. Blake puts a hand on my knee, and his touch is enough to ease my frayed nerves. Everyone around me is so stiff, you’d think we are expecting someone to attack us. The flight back is so tense that we all hurry out as soon as the door opens.
The moment we drive through the gates of the compound, the blood and bullet casings paint a picture of carnage.
“We stopped them,” one guard says as we get out of the van, but what he doesn’t say speaks louder: For now. They will try again.
Samuel lets us inside the estate, and when my father sees us, he rushes over, holding Hunter and me to his sides. Christine cries softly, patting Kaden’s chest as if wanting to make sure he’s all right.
Sebastian hugs Celine, but Cassandra just watches her before sweeping her gaze over all of us. She keeps her role as the matriarch intact and does not have favorites.
“It’s war. It’s them or us,” Cassandra says. “I’m sorry I can’t protect you from that.”
“They want a war, they will get one,” Kaden says, jaw set in a hard line.
“They want the estate. That means they can’t be far away and will remain in the country. And that’s our first lead,” Blake says.
As she rubs at her temple, she exhales a deep sigh. “I don’t even know where you would be safe.”
“Ma’am, as long as we’re together, we will be fine. None of us will abandon our home,” Celine says.
We all nod in agreement.
“I will increase the security on land and in the air. The college wasn’t attacked.”
Of course not. They want to conquer the seat of power first.
“You could remain here,” Cassandra suggests.
“No, I think a bit of normalcy will do us good, and if we’re not in class, rumors will start. We can’t let that happen,” I say.
“We won’t give them the satisfaction of being afraid and hiding,” Abi says.
After the doctor for the Family checks us all, we are excused. We dip our heads in goodbye and pile into our cars.
“That was close. I need alcohol,” Abi says as soon as we get inside our house.
“You and me both, princess,” Dane says, going to the bar.
“What about you two?”
“Alcohol doesn’t help me. I can’t feel it,” Blake gives.
“Why?” Abi asks.
I squeeze his hand, encouraging him to open up.
“No weaknesses, right? So Caleb got rid of mine.”
“Fucker,” she says, and Blake grins.
“I’ll drink for you,” Dane says, and we all chuckle.
But we need some levity. I think I am still in shock. It feels like a part of me is still there at the building, crumbling and crashing, pulling us to our deaths.
Blake tugs me to his side, and we go upstairs. When he closes the door to my room behind us, I claw at my clothes, wanting to escape the scent of crushed cement, spilled blood, and the haunting images of rubble and despair. I want to forget that eerie silence that followed right after the explosion.
He wraps me in his strong arms. “I can take any-fucking-thing, but seeing you hurt.”
My body convulses. The only thing keeping me sane is knowing he’s here with me.
“Talk to me.”
“I…” I close and open my eyes. “I could have lost you. We could have all died.”
He puts his index and middle fingers under my chin and lifts my face to look at him.
“But we didn’t. Focus on that.” He places my hand on his chest, his heart beating strongly and regularly under my palm.
When I calm down, we undress and hop in the shower. The water slides down on our bodies, and we wash each other for a long time, as if we need to keep touching each other to be sure we’re both here.
“I need to feel you,” he says, lifting me up by my waist and propping my back against the shower wall.
Our mouths crash together in a passionate kiss. I dig my fingers into his shoulders to leave my mark on his body and confirm that he’s alive and here with me. Desperation drives him, so he’s not gentle, but I don’t mind. He sucks my nipple, dragging the pointed nub through his teeth, then moves to the other. I am so wet and ready, but he bites into my breast, leaving marks.
I grip his hard dick, led by sheer urgency to connect with him physically, and guide him to my pussy with trembling hands.
“I should prepare you better.”
“I need it.” Raw. Hard. Fast. I need that stretch, the sting of pain, and the burst of pleasure––that addictive combination that makes me high.
He thrusts inside of me, and euphoria lights me up. I bite into the place where his shoulder meets his neck to contain my pleasure. He’s so big, my eyes water, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I suck on his neck and feel his blood coursing right under my lips. This potent need to connect is more than carnal; it’s all-encompassing and cellular deep.
“I need to fuck you, baby.”
“Fuck me. Don’t take it easy on me.”
He doesn’t, and I don’t want him to. I want him unleashed for me like I am him.
The shower muffles my moans as my head falls back, plunging into the throes of delight.
“Look at my cock. Tell me where it is?”
“In my pussy.” It’s such an erotic view, his thick cock trying to cram inside of me. He pulls out completely and slaps it against my pussy, only to push back in, inch by delicious inch, making me delirious.
“And what is it doing to your tight little cunt?”
“Stretching it, pounding it, owning it.”
“Yes, because it’s mine to do whatever I fucking want to it. I would kill whoever even dreams of coming near it. Do you know what you did when you chose me? You agreed to be mine. Mine alone. Forever. And I am a madman who would do the unthinkable just to keep what’s mine.”
I shake violently, feeling the orgasm ripping through me.
“You’re mine, too, Blake. You think you’re a madman? I would do even worse.”
Then he pushes into me, filling me completely. I come so hard and long that a stream of moans escapes my mouth.
He explodes inside of me, giving me his cum and his sounds of pleasure before he takes my mouth in a sensual kiss––nibbling, tasting, and licking my lips on repeat, making my toes curl.
He’s always so sweet and tender after he fucks me raw, as if making sure not only my bodily needs are satisfied but my emotional ones, too.
Peppering kisses all over my face, he places his forehead on mine. “I don’t see a purposeto my life without you in it.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips to his. He holds onto me like he would never let me go. I hope he never does.