CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
DOM
Just as he promised, Damon put everything into motion. After classes let out for the day he reached out to Garrett, telling him that after so many years of bad blood with the Kings, he would never join us. He wanted to align himself with Project X against us. They had no reason not to believe him.
Damon told Garrett that he would use Noah to lure me and the rest of the Kings out to the graveyard where Project X would take care of us. Put an end to all this and take over the city. Project X believed they would be lying in wait for us. In actuality, we would be there first waiting for them.
We arrived more than an hour early. Keeping our cars out of sight by travelling together in one vehicle and parking it at the end of a farmer’s driveway down the road. Noah and Damon would be arriving with Project X.
Seeing the church in ashes was infuriating.
The fire department had put out the fire, but it had been too late to save anything.
The structure was a goner. Once the weather got better, they would likely have the rubble cleared out.
Although we could still do business at the graveyard, we no longer had the church to get us out of the elements.
“Motherfuckers.” Rebel kicked a lump of snow, breaking it apart with his boot. “Garrett is a fucking dead man. It’s the only way.”
The rest of us nodded our agreement. The only way to truly settle this was to take him out. One of his followers may take over as leader of the group, but he would likely never step foot in our city again. An example had to be set.
“Jesus Christ, it’s so cold. That asshole needs to die simply for destroying our shelter and my space heater.” Auryn briskly rubbed his hands together before jumping up and down in an effort to stay warm. “I hate to say it, guys. We may have to huddle together to warm up.”
“We haven’t been out here that long. And it’s not nearly as cold as it could be for this time of year. Stop being such a wimp.” Stray gave him a shove, laughing when Auryn almost fell on his ass in the snow.
“Screw you, Stray.” Jerking out of reach, Auryn shot Stray a nasty glare.
“Stop dicking around,” Rebel snapped. “They’ll be here soon. We need to retreat into the trees.”
As we ventured through the graveyard toward the forest that surrounded it, the snow grew deeper. We trudged through, having no choice other than to lose ourselves within the trees. We needed the element of surprise.
The cold drove us close together. Standing in a group, we waited. As the clock ticked closer to go time, I began to worry. What if this didn’t go according to plan? Even though I didn’t want to let myself think it, part of me wondered if Noah might actually sell me out after all.
As if reading my thoughts, Auryn suddenly asked, “How much do you trust Noah, Dom? I know you’re into him, and the two of you are a thing now, but is there any chance at all he might screw us over?”
Casper smacked him in the arm before signing, “Don’t say shit like that.”
No wonder Casper was one of my best friends. Even though I knew he was thinking the same thing, he would never say as much.
The rest of the guys wore guilty expressions. They were all thinking it too. I hated that I had been as well.
“Honestly, I don’t know. This is all new. We spent so much time beating the shit out of each other. I don’t know what comes next. I don’t know if I can trust Noah. I guess we find out tonight.” I checked the time on my phone. They should be here any minute.
“Let’s say Damon and Noah prove themselves,” Rebel said, shuffling back and forth to keep warm. “What then? Do we make them part of the Kings?”
The thought of Noah becoming one of us made me feel both exhilarated and nervous. What if things didn’t work out between us? We would be forced to work together. However, there were benefits to having our numbers grow. More manpower was always a good thing.
Stray shook his head. “I’m not sure about that. We can’t forget everything they’ve done.”
“Growth is a good thing in a business like ours,” Auryn pointed out. “Especially if people decide to keep coming for what’s ours. We need a powerful front. As much as I hate to admit it, those two may prove to be a valuable addition.”
There was some division among us. Auryn and Rebel saw the benefits while Casper and Stray weren’t convinced.
When they all looked to me for my stance, I shrugged.
“I don’t know what you guys want me to say.
In a perfect world, they would join us, and everything would be great. In the real world, I’m not so sure.”
“Let’s see how things go tonight,” Rebel suggested. “It’s a discussion worth having with them if they prove themselves to be trustworthy. It’s only the two of them now. They would benefit from joining us too.”
When twenty minutes from the time they were scheduled to arrive passed, I started to worry. What the hell was going on?
“This isn’t looking good,” Casper signed. “Something is up.”
I pulled out my phone, thinking about calling Noah. I didn’t want to do anything to give him away if he was with Garrett right now. Maybe I should wait longer.
I paced a path in the snow, packing it down beneath my boots. Instinct told me that something was wrong. Finally, I gave in and called Noah. The call went straight to voicemail.
“I think we have a problem,” I said. “Straight to voicemail. His phone is off.”
I didn’t have a way to get a hold of Damon. I would have to go to their house.
“Maybe they’re delayed,” Auryn suggested. “Should we wait a bit longer?”
Part of me knew without a doubt that something had gone wrong. Yet another part of me worried that Noah really had screwed me over. There was only one way to find out.
“I need to go to their house. I need to make sure he’s okay.” Nobody questioned me or tried to talk me out of it. They were all on board when I rushed back to the car.
Casper drove, which was a lot safer than if I’d been behind the wheel. Impatience took over, making me irritable and desperate to get there. My mind raced with the many possibilities of what might’ve happened. None of them good.
“Breathe, Dom.” Placing a hand on my shoulder, Rebel did his best to reassure me. “Everything will be fine. I’m sure there was some kind of delay. Maybe his phone died. There has to be a logical explanation.”
He had to be thinking the worst as well. We all were. I appreciated his efforts, even though they didn’t help much.
When we finally turned onto the street where Noah and Damon lived, my heart leapt into my throat. The sinking sensation that something bad had happened grew stronger. Unshakable.
That feeling only intensified when we pulled up and found the front door hanging open. Nobody in their right mind left the door open in the heart of winter like that. I shot out of the car, almost slipping on some ice in the driveway. The guys weren’t far behind me as I burst through the open door.
“Noah.” I shouted his name several times. No answer. The house was deadly quiet.
I ran through the four-level split, searching every floor for him. There was no sign of Noah anywhere. Rebel called my name from somewhere else in the house. I found him standing in the doorway to the bathroom on one of the lower levels. Damon lay on the floor, a bloody, bruised mess.
Casper tried to rouse him, gently tapping his face while checking him over for serious injuries. Crouching next to Casper, I called Damon’s name. His eyes fluttered open.
“Dom?” He struggled to focus on my face.
“Yeah, it’s me. What happened to you? Where’s Noah?” It was pretty obvious to me that someone had beat the shit out of him.
One eye was nearly swollen shut. Blood had started to dry on his forehead from a cut near his temple. He started to sit up, groaning with pain before lying back down on the hard tile floor.
“Garrett and his guys were here,” Damon said, holding his ribs as he winced. “They knew it was a set up. They took Noah.”
“Took Noah?” I repeated, unable to believe what I’d heard. “Where did they take him? Why?”
“Garrett said he knew you guys were going to kill him. If you want Noah back, you can trade yourself for him. He knows the only way him and his crew will get out of town alive is if they take one of the Kings as a hostage. But they want you, Dom.” Damon tried again to sit up.
This time Casper helped him, making sure he didn’t fall back to the floor.
“That motherfucker is smarter than I thought he was,” Rebel muttered.
Stray helped Casper get Damon back onto his feet. “What do we do now?”
There was only one thing to be done. I had to do whatever it took to get Noah back.
“I trade myself for Noah,” I said, matter of fact.
Rebel didn’t look convinced. “And then what? Even if they use you to get out of town without us coming after them, it doesn’t mean they won’t kill you. We can’t take a chance like that.”
“You’re not taking that chance. I am.” I wasn’t going to argue about this.
It was nobody else’s decision but mine. “They have no reason to kill me. That would only encourage the rest of you to come after them. They don’t want that.
This is their desperate attempt to find a way to run back to their own town with their tails between their legs. ”
Casper and Stray helped Damon out of the bathroom and onto the couch in the living room. He looked like he might need a hospital. When Stray suggested as much, he immediately shot that idea down.
“I’m fine,” Damon insisted. “Don’t worry about me. We need to get Noah back.”
He and I shared a look then. We were both willing to do whatever it took. We both loved Noah. Right then I was grateful that he had a friend who cared so much.
“This is the plan,” I said. “Let’s get Garrett on the phone.”