Chapter 11 Kaylor
KAYLOR
The SUV waited just ahead, its black paint absorbing what little moonlight filtered through the ancient oaks.
My eyes were struggling so hard to stay open, and between heavy blinks, I spotted Grayson’s silhouette in the driver’s seat, his shoulders tense, one hand gripping the wheel while the other rested on the gear shift.
The engine rumbled low, waiting to take off.
Kreed carried me across the uneven dirt, each step sending small tremors through his chest, but his stride never faltered. The plantation was a hellscape of shattered windows and smoke, orange light dancing across its crumbling facade as fires consumed the house.
I didn’t know how or when the fire started, but it didn’t take the flames long to become a roaring blaze.
Kreed’s body was a wall of protection against the heat.
I buried my face in his chest, his heart beating beneath my ear, strong and fast but steady.
The scent of him, a mix of gunpowder, smoke, sweat, and something uniquely his, filled my nostrils and made my chest tight with relief so profound it felt like drowning.
Kreed’s body was solid against mine, and for a breath, I let myself think maybe we were already away. Maybe I was finally waking up from this nightmare, until his whole body went rigid. We were almost there. Almost free. Almost—
The unmistakable cock of a gun split the night air. Kreed’s arms tightened around me, and he shifted so his body formed a shield between me and whatever threat had emerged from the shadows. The change in his posture went from rescuer to warrior in the space of a heartbeat.
I was barely holding on to consciousness, the cocktail of drugs still dragging through my system, and my vision swam in and out of focus, the world tilting at strange angles.
Dehydration had left my mouth dry, and I didn’t know how much longer I could fight off the threshold of unconsciousness creeping in, threatening to pull me under into merciful oblivion.
I couldn’t lift my head, yet I sensed danger.
“You have something that belongs to me.” Rusty’s voice boomed from behind me.
I shivered, not from the drugs or the cold, but from terror. This man had murdered my parents, orchestrated my kidnapping, and had planned to sell me. Was I afraid he would shoot me or kill Kreed?
Fuck yes.
I was terrified, more for Kreed than myself.
If Kreed was concerned, he didn’t show it. He took a step back, but from all corners of the plantation, armed men stepped out of the night, surrounding us, guns aimed. One at Grayson through the front windshield. Another at Maddox. A third on Mason. And Rusty took Kreed.
I had no idea where the others were or if Raine, Brock, Micah, and Fynn were even here, but knowing the Elite and the Kreed’s crew, they weren’t far. They wouldn’t have come into a fight half-assed. It was all or nothing with them, which just meant I had more people to worry about.
Kreed pressed his lips together, his scowl deepening. “Actually, I’m taking back what you stole from me.”
“She was never yours to begin with,” Rusty sneered with a gloating satisfaction that made my skin crawl. “Or have you already forgotten what you and your father did?”
My fingers curled weakly into the fabric of Kreed’s shirt.
I clung to him, the only solid thing in my world.
Grayson revved the engine, and my gaze went through the open door, seeing Grayson’s contemplating expression as he stared at the guy daring enough to point a gun at him.
I didn’t know what was going on inside Grayson’s head, but I could tell he was weighing his options.
His lips moved, and I realized he was murmuring.
Mason had his glare locked on Rusty, hatred gleaming in them.
“You didn’t believe I was going to let you walk away with her, did you?” Rusty continued cruelly. “Your little rescue operation was commendable, I’ll give you that. Quite the production. But a bunch of amateurs…you don’t stand a chance. Not against me. Not against what’s coming.”
Kreed didn’t back down. “You’re going to have to shoot me because I have no intention of releasing her.”
My heart stopped at his reply because the monster that Rusty was, he would have no problem pulling the trigger.
The fire crackled and hissed as it scaled to the second story of the house, flames crawling out of the windows like fiery hands. “With pleasure,” Rusty said.
Mason’s gaze flitted past Rusty’s shoulder, a movement so quick and subtle I almost missed it through my drug-addled haze.
I followed the direction of his look with sluggish eyes, catching the faint outline of a figure moving through the cloud of smoke, flames starting to crawl up the walls behind the man who betrayed my family.
I blinked, and the figure grew clearer. Micah. Rusty hadn’t heard him, hadn’t sensed him approaching from behind. In the flickering light coming off the flames rising at Micah’s back, I caught the glint of metal as he raised his weapon, then he was consumed with smoke again.
I tried to scream, but everything happened at once.
Gunshots cracked like thunder, vibrating off the house’s crumbling walls and rolling up into the night.
Before the echo had even faded, Mason was moving.
He surged forward, his shoulder slamming into Rusty’s torso with enough force to lift the man off his feet.
They crashed into the house together, wood splintering and cracking from the impact.
Grayson floored the SUV, taking out the guy stupid enough to stand in front of it. The front end of the car hit him with a sickening thud. Grayson then slammed the car into reverse, the tires skidding so that the vehicle was directly in front of us.
It was impossible to keep track of everyone.
Kreed tossed me into the car at the same time two more shots rang out, and I had no idea if any of those bullets hit.
His body blocked the car door, shielding me from the mayhem.
Rusty’s howl of pain was cut off abruptly as the air was driven from his lungs.
Mason’s tackle had been perfectly timed, giving Micah the cover he needed to sprint past the tangled bodies, straight to the SUV.
“Move!” Maddox barked from the passenger seat, his voice cutting through the chaos. “Go, go, go!”
Kreed didn’t hesitate, didn’t look back, didn’t waste a single second on anything that wasn’t getting me to safety.
He scooped me up as he climbed into the back seat, securing me on his lap as if he was afraid that I might disappear if I wasn’t in his arms. Kreed scooted to the far side just as Micah and Mason jumped beside us.
Mason’s feet were barely inside the car, the door still open as Grayson punched it, sending the SUV lurching through the overgrown yard, tires spinning in the soft dirt before finding traction.
The beam of headlights cut through the darkness, weeds and grass spraying the front windshield. Behind us, Rusty’s voice bellowed into the night, raw with fury and frustration. “KAYLOR!”
My name from his mouth sent a shudder down my spine.
Screw him. I bit down on my lip, pressing my face into the hollow of Kreed’s throat as if I could somehow hide from the sound itself.
Kreed’s arms tightened as the SUV sped up, Grayson pushing the accelerator to the floor, gravel spraying behind.
I peeked over Kreed’s shoulder, unable to stop from taking one last glimpse at this place.
I’d never seen it before from the outside, and I was glad I hadn’t because I wanted this to be what I remembered of the house. Burning.
Kreed ran his fingers through my hair in soothing strokes as the SUV finally made it to the road. He pressed his forehead to mine. “Little raven,” he said softly, tipping my chin as he brushed the pad of his thumb over my cheek.
The tenderness in his tone overwhelmed me completely, washing over my battered psyche. It was the voice of the man I’d fallen in love with, stripped of all pretense and armor, raw with concern and relief and something deeper that I didn’t dare name.
I had so many things I wanted to say, so many fucking questions, but I couldn’t get my mouth to form words.
The last of my strength finally gave out, the adrenaline keeping me conscious exhausted.
I collapsed against him, my body surrendering to the inevitable as consciousness slipped away.
My head fell to his shoulder, my breathing slowing to match the rhythm of his heartbeat.
Perhaps it was for the best. Perhaps, finally, I could rest knowing I was safe in the arms of the man who had moved heaven and earth to find me.
The last thing I felt before the darkness took me was his lips pressing softly against my hair and the whispered promise that no one would ever take me from him again.
The hum of the road was the first thing I noticed, a low, steady vibration confusing my foggy mind. I didn’t know where I was, but I immediately knew I wasn’t in that room, the place I’d been held for too fucking long.
I blinked awake slowly, my eyelids heavy, and the world began to focus in fragments. The soft blue dashboard lights. The blur of passing bare trees through tinted windows. And the strong scent of smoke.
For a long moment, I thought I was still trapped in some fever dream, my mind conjuring the impossible to torment me with hope. The warmth surrounding me felt too perfect, too complete, but gentle fingers threaded through my hair and familiar tingles danced down my neck.
Kreed. My body and mind sighed simultaneously.
His chest rose and fell beneath my cheek, and of course, my mind thought this had to be another cruel trick, another way to break me down when I woke up alone, confined to a bed.