Chapter 39
We get back in record time. After securing Oliver in what seems to be their prisoner holding area, which in reality is just a room on one of the lower floors, Dodge heads back out to clear up the mess and find out what he can.
The other guards watched as Oliver walked through their midst. Everyone was disgusted, and he hung his head in shame. I watch him now as he sits docilely in his bindings. He’s already broken.
Shrugging out of my jacket, I toss it back into the corridor and lean into the wall.
This is their show, it seems, as Kane paces before the man.
I glance at Neo to see him stripping from his suit jacket, and I freeze.
I step before him, and his eyes widen. Lifting his arm, I meet his eyes when he notices it.
The fabric on his bicep is ripped and bloody.
Tearing it open, I check the wound. “It grazed you,” I mutter.
“Guess I didn’t duck quickly enough,” he says, but I keep my narrowed eyes on him.
“Next time, I’ll be faster.” Dropping his arm now that I’m sure he’s not dying, I retake my position as Zayn leans next to me.
It seems a gun fight puts him in a good mood, which it usually does for me as well, but this time, I just have this odd feeling that not even killing a bunch of people can take away.
Strange. It’s usually a good stress reliever.
“I can be injured too,” Zayn offers, nudging me. “Want to check every inch of me?”
When I don’t respond, he sobers. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, but Kane hears and turns to me, his brow arched, demanding I carry on. He trusts my instincts. “Something isn’t right. I trust my contact, so unless they were tracking us or Oliver, they wouldn’t have known. Who would want him silenced or us killed?”
“Maybe someone was just taking their chance,” Kane suggests, trying to reassure me. “We have other enemies, hellion, and some like to pounce when they think we are weak, knowing it’s the only time they would win. We’ll find out.”
I nod, but I still feel wrong. Something is niggling at my brain, but when I try to grasp it, it floats away.
“It was Butcher,” Oliver comments, and all eyes go to him.
“Butcher is dead,” Kane snaps.
The world crumbles under my feet, my stomach dropping. “I killed him. I watched him burn,” I say, my voice a shaky whisper.
Oliver’s eyes land on me, filled with sadness and hopelessness.
“Did you watch him burn to death? Did you stick around until the end? Because I spoke to him yesterday. Butcher is alive, and he’s determined to kill the Sais now.
More so now than ever. He’s . . . feral.
He’s wounded but more deadly than I’ve ever seen him.
Whatever humanity was holding him back before isn’t now. All he cares about is their deaths.”
And no doubt mine.
“How? How did he survive?” Kane roars.
“I don’t know. I think Alexis found him before it was too late and got him out. He’s burnt but alive. He was howling your name while they patched him up and dragged me out to him. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t tell you. They would have killed my sister.”
The guard . . . the one I shot last . . . that’s what’s bugging me. I knew him.
“He’s right,” I croak before clearing my voice.
“I didn’t realize until now what was bothering me.
That last guard, he was loyal to Butcher to a fault.
He wasn’t at the warehouse, but he was there tonight, and we killed him.
He wouldn’t have thought of this alone. This was ordered, and there’s only one person who could control Alexis, and that is Butcher. ”
The sick feeling only triples, and the room suddenly closes in on me. My skin is too hot, I’m sweating, and I feel faint.
I was so sure . . .
“Do you know where he is?” Kane asks Oliver.
I feel his eyes on me, his roared promise as I left him there to burn.
He won’t stop, especially not now. If he was angry before, well, now he’ll be furious.
I can barely breathe, and I can’t even hear Kane’s words anymore.
I slip out of the room, ignoring them, and before I know it, I’m running up the stairs and breaking out into the back garden, gulping in air.
A hand soothes over my back. “Breathe in and out, just like that. It’s just a panic attack. That’s it. Follow my breathing, nice and slow.”
I can’t even tell who it is because my senses are dull.
Blood rushes in my ears, and my vision blurs.
I screw my eyelids shut, trusting whoever it is to keep me safe as I try to copy his breathing.
His soft murmurs are more of a sound than words, but I hold onto them like a lifeline, and when I can finally breathe enough to straighten, I find Zayn.
He smiles sadly at me and opens his arms. Before I know it, I bury myself in his embrace. I don’t scream or sob, but silent tears slide down my cheeks, wetting his shirt. He says nothing, just holds me tighter.
I don’t know how long we linger, but he kisses my head as I settle down. “We’ll find and kill him,” he promises, but it’s not enough.
Butcher has escaped death twice, and both times, I thought I was free. I’m so fucking tired, scared, and exhausted.
When I can’t take it anymore, I step back, unable to meet Zayn’s eyes as I wipe my face in shame. “Find out what you can from Oliver.” I walk away.
He calls after me, but I don’t answer.
I can’t reply over the lump in my throat.
I hide from them. I’ll admit that’s what I’m doing. It’s a big house, but they could find me if they wanted to. They are giving me time.
I take a sip, letting the alcohol soothe my frayed nerves and fear.
I shouldn’t drink because he could come for us again, but I can’t seem to stop.
I clutch the bottle as I walk, finding myself in a part of their mansion I haven’t been in before.
It’s down some steps, but the door buzzes when I get closer, opening for me.
Once inside, I dangle the bottle from my fingers in shock. There are three floors with a giant electron in the middle, all open. Every single brand of bike and car stretches as far as the eye can see. It’s like a car dealership, but of the most elite vehicles in existence, and it’s one of a kind.
Jesus, how much money do these assholes have? I should have asked for more.
It’s an idle thought as I wander through the space.
The rage that helped me survive Butcher is present, but the old fear is back—the one from a child who believed he was immortal and unstoppable. I’d die before I ever let him take me again, but that terror is hard to fight against, and behind it all is sadness.
I thought this was over. I let myself forget and enjoy life.
I was stupid.
I hear the door open and know it’s them. It seems they are done giving me space. I don’t turn to look. I don’t want them or anyone else to see me like this, but especially them. I need to be strong, to be the Karma they know, but all that’s here right now is a broken Bexley.
Taking another swig, I look around at the cars, wishing I could escape, but I know they would find me.
They would find me anywhere.