Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
The ground vibrated under my feet, screams and cries instantly ringing out through the air, people rushing for the exit.
The guards behind us darted down the platform, trying to see what happened, while officers blowing whistles and shouting ran from every direction toward the billowing smoke coming from the farthest platform from us.
My head snapped to Luk.
“We got our distraction.” He shrugged, watching soldiers who were unloading the train take off toward the commotion.
“You boys and your bombs.” I snorted, my mind jumping to another man who liked to blow shit up to cause chaos.
“It works.” He motioned for me, heading to the caboose. “And it couldn’t have come at a better time. Come on.”
I couldn’t argue with either of those things. We had almost been caught. A few moments ago, I thought our cover was blown and we’d be captured and thrown in prison. Now we’re back on course, sneaking to the last carriage.
Bedlam reigned around us, but no one paid us any attention since most of it was far on the other side. My focus zeroed in when we came up on the final car, spotting one last crate in the cargo. They had almost gotten them all off and out of reach.
Pushing Luk aside, I leaped into the carriage, snapping into thief mode.
Yanking a knife from my pant leg, I shoved it under the seam of the lid, using it as leverage to pop off the nailed down top.
Only a few tries and the wood splintered, prying away from the metal stakes trying so hard to hold on.
“Shit, that was fast.” Luk breathed in, his head shaking. “Done this before?”
I smirked. If he only knew.
“Watch the door,” I ordered, nearly forgetting he was my superior. I could almost pretend it was Caden and me, when times were innocent and we were carelessly reckless. A lifetime ago. I was a girl who had no idea what was out in the world, what was ahead of her, and what she would live through.
Everything I thought I believed—even who I was—was wrong.
Shoving the top over, I cleared away the stuffing protecting the contents of the box, and my finger hit metal.
Guns.
Picking up the newly made rifle, I tossed it at Luk. “This is the way Istvan sends his love.”
“Damn.” Luk peered at it, flipping it around in his hands. “This is grade-A level here.”
I had a clear idea where Istvan could get these kinds of weapons. The very country Caden’s soon-to-be wife was from.
Ukraine.
“They’re nice, but this is what Leon is sending in his own men to guard? Some guns?” Luk’s confusion twitched his cheek. “Guns aren’t worth deploying in special guards, nor were they worth us risking this mission.”
My gut twisted with what I knew was underneath, my hand digging farther, reaching the bottom.
A false bottom.
“Fuck . . . I see Leon’s guards heading back. We have to go.”
My stubbornness buckled down, my hands clawing at the wood, like the drug was mocking me.
“X! Come on.”
Pain shot through my nerves as I peeled back the plank, my fingers grazing the plastic bags underneath filled with tiny capsules.
I fucking knew it.
“X!” Luk grabbed my arm, yanking me with him, my finger pinching the baggy as I tried to pull one up. The plastic caught on the side, ripping apart.
Neon blue pills spilled across the floor, tapping on the wood planks like raindrops.
“What the hell?” Luk’s brows furrowed together as he stared at them rolling across the floor.
“Hey!” A man’s voice yelled at us, jerking our heads to the guards running for us.
“Fuck!” Luk darted for the back door, bursting through and leaping to the tracks. “Come on!”
“Hey! Stop!” A shot went off, pinging off the roof of the carriage. Ducking, I scrambled toward the back door.
“Hurry!” Luk bellowed for me.
It was a second.
One breath.
An instinct.
My gaze darted down to the pills.
“X!”
I swiped up a few, shoving them into my pants before my boots hit the tracks, taking off after Luk.
Bang! A bullet whizzed by me, a whimper crawling up my throat. I flashed back to a moment—a dark night, Caden waving me on, pain exploding in my back. And then darkness. I should have died that night. I should have died a lot of nights.
Now my boots strummed along the uneven tracks. I tried to pick up my pace as the soldiers’ voices and sounds of gunshots crawled up the back of my neck. The panic and terror clotted my throat when another bullet zinged by, and the sound of boots clipped behind me.
“Kovacs!” A body slammed into me, flattening me to the ground, heavy and warm. A bullet zinged right past where I had been. One more millisecond and my head would have exploded over these tracks.
Inhaling sharply, my eyes shot over my shoulder; aqua eyes and a smirk filled my vision.
“You’re welcome.” He winked, his mouth close to mine.
I could feel his breath slipping over my lips, his solid physique and his cock pressing into me.
Fuck. He felt so real. To me, there wasn’t any difference, but I knew he was hours away.
“Didn’t think you were the damsel-in-distress type, princess. ”
“X?” Luk shot back at the guards, then grabbed at my arm, breaking the link to Warwick, yanking me up. Both of us volleyed back bullets, dodging and weaving around a train, using it as a shield.
“You all right?” Luk’s looked at me strangely.
“Yeah.”
“It was just . . .” He shook his head. “I don’t know . . . it was like you were tackled or something.”
“Tripped.”
Luk nodded, but his brows still clung together with confusion. Yells and footsteps were circling around us.
“Shit.” Luk’s head bobbed around, trying to pinpoint where more guards were coming from. They were surrounding us. “Little help would be nice, guys,” Lukas spoke into his earpiece.
“We’re working on it.” Tracker’s voice pinged in our ears as six guards came around the back of the train, yelling they’d found us.
“Work faster!” Luk shot back at Tracker, instantly lunging for our attackers, his fist cracking one across the nose, blood spurting into the air.
Yanking a knife from my boot, energy crackled down my spine, with the lust to fight. I charged for another guard, barreling into him so hard he flew back onto the tracks with a thud. Twisting back around, my arm swiped out, slashing another across the throat with my knife.
A third one grabbed me by the neck, yanking me back, forcing the gun in my hand to drop. The barrel of a pistol pressed into my temple. “One move and you’re dead, pretty girl,” the man snarled in my ear, his nose brushing up the curve of my neck. “Or maybe I will find a better use for you.”
I heard and felt the growl before I even saw Warwick.
Whatever cheeky smugness he had a moment ago was gone.
Anger radiated off the legend; his shoulders hunched to his ears, his eyes blazing with hate.
He looked every bit the brutal and vicious beast he was known to be.
Too bad none of these little boys could see him. They’d all be pissing on their boots.
“Bet you’d like that, you fucking kurva.” Whore. Bitch. The guy gripped my neck, yanking me back into him, wanting me to feel how hard he was as he pressed the gun deeper into my temple.
Use your weakness against them. Sergeant Bakos’s teachings came into my head, but when three more guards moved in front of me, their weapons pointed at me, I knew my options were zilch.
By the sounds of thrashing, grunting, and swear words, I was pretty sure the police had taken Lukas as well.
A dozen more guards came around the train, confirming we’d be retained.
I could fight a couple of people at once, but this was far too many.
And unlike my escape from HDF, none of these knew me all my life, and they weren’t afraid to shoot.
I looked up and saw the Wolf towering behind the men surrounding me; Warwick’s chest heaved with fury.
“Use me.” His voice was so deep and gravelly, it took me a moment to understand.
“What?” I blinked at him.
“Use me, Kovacs.” He stomped up to me, his shit-kickers hitting mine, his form looming over me, invisible to all others.
“Maybe before they lock you away in prison, I can get to play with you.” A nasal voice scratched at my ear. I felt fingers digging into my neck, the guard pushing his pelvis into me.
“Use my strength. You’ve done it before.” Warwick growled, nerves pulsating down his jaw. He looked ready to combust, while strangely, his presence centered and challenged me.
My nose flared as we stared into each other’s eyes.
“What the fuck is wrong with her?” The guard facing me waved a hand over my face.
“She looks like she likes this.” The third one grabbed his crotch. “You like being the submissive one, kurva? Finally seeing real men for once?”
Warwick scoffed. “You’re gonna be dead in about thirty seconds, fucker.”
I had no idea how to do it. Nothing about my connection with Warwick made sense, but I knew I could. It happened before. His energy stepped into mine and helped me fight Kalaraja.
“Do it, princess,” Warwick barked at me.
Gunshots rang through the air, yanking the guards’ attention from me for a moment, turning them away.
I didn’t waste any time.
Stepping to the side, my arm swung back, hitting my captor’s groin. With a groan, he bent over as my elbow slammed up into his chin, knocking him onto his ass. Ripping the gun from his hand, I twisted back to the others now coming for me.
I shot.
The first three went down before the gun clicked empty.
The commotion I made gave Lukas the chance to break free, battling the group around him.
More and more came running for us. There was no question I was tough and could fight, but I also understood when reality outweighed my fighting skills.
Between Luk and me, it was eight to one at least.