37. Chapter 37
Hunter
Bark explodes off the oak two feet from my head. First shot was high, to the left. This one was closer. Shooter’s adjusting fast.
I cut right. The ground slopes into a shallow ravine. I drop into it, sliding on my heels, one hand in the dirt, the knife in the other. Ferns are knee-high, the roots knotted across the floor. Standing water soaks through my boots on impact.
I press flat against the base of a fallen pine and count to five.
No third shot.
Should be far enough away from Atlas now. Wade followed. The wannabe too. Shooter's tracking me, not Atlas. Which just leaves Garrett.
Atlas can handle my brother. And if he needs help, the team should’ve reached him by now.
“There's that speed. Your father always said you'd be the best one, and you're not disappointing.”
Can't deal with my uncle while the shooter is still out there. So, I push off the pine, cut left through the ferns, then up the opposite bank. The terrain flattens, but the brush gets denser. Blackberry thorns rip at my forearms.
“Your boy kept trying to convince us you weren’t coming. He believed it too. Wasn't acting. Even told my guys to ask for a refund.”
My throat tightens, fingers gripping the handle of the knife until my knuckles ache.
Fuck.
Atlas really thought I wouldn’t come for him?
Laughter cuts through the trees. It’s high. Bright. Wrong.
Shaw.
Another gunshot rings out but doesn’t hit anything close by. The laughter gets louder. The corner of my mouth ticks up. The two people my uncle brought along won’t be breathing much longer.
I slow my pace, letting my uncle catch up. Time to end this shit once and for all.
Ahead, there’s a gap between two wide oaks with open brush on three sides. I duck behind the right one and wait.
“Saw you tuck in there, boy.” My uncle’s voice comes from my left. “Smart. Your father would've been proud, eh. Everything we put into you is paying off.”
I shift, keeping the trunk between us.
“Come on now. I didn't come all this way for you to stand behind a tree.”
I peek around the trunk. “Didn’t think you needed a gun. Thought a blade was more your thing.”
“Gun's no fun. You know that. But can’t keep your brother and the others in line with a knife.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft.” He scoffs. “Your father did that once. For your mother. Had to correct the problem.”
My focus slips, and for one second, I lose the sound of his footsteps.
Gone.
That’s the word my father used. Not dead. Gone.
Fucking liar.
And he let Wade live. But I won’t.
I step out from behind the oak, eyes locked on my uncle.
He smiles, baring his teeth, as he pulls his knife from its sheath. “There you are.”
“Here I am.”
Shaw's laughter rips through the trees again. A shot cracks somewhere to the east. Then another. Then a scream that doesn’t belong to Calix.
My uncle’s head snaps toward the sound. “What the fuck was that?”
“Some things are scarier than you.” I close the distance between us in three steps, aiming my blade at his throat.
But he’s fast, deflecting my strike, and following up with his own. “Nice try.”
I twist, his blade grazing over the fabric of my hoodie. My uncle drives his knee into the side of my thigh. The leg goes dead for half a second, knee buckling before I catch myself.
Shit.
Driving my elbow back and up, I catch his jaw, then step away to create some distance.
He spits out blood and chuckles. “Not bad. Much better than that pissant brother of yours.”
My eyes narrow as I circle him. “Don’t give a fuck about Garrett.”
“You never did. He sacrificed himself from the time he was six to protect you. So many broken bones. So many times he almost died. And still, he never gave up. Not until you tried to leave.” He rolls his shoulder, half his mouth twisting up into a one-sided smirk.
“You’re the one who destroyed him, Hunter. ”
“Garrett made his own choice. He could’ve come with me. Instead, he became like you.”
This time my uncle attacks with two quick slashes—one high, one low. I block the first and take the second on my forearm. It cuts through the fabric, slicing the skin open. But he’s inside my reach. I drive my fist into his ribs.
My uncle grunts and headbutts me just below my left eye—thank fuck he missed my nose. White still flashes across my vision. He follows up with a quick hook, and I drop to one knee. “This is where you die.”
After punching him behind the knee, I grab his foot and twist. He goes down, shoulder smashing into the ground, and kicks me with his other leg.
It jolts me sideways, making me lose my hold on him, but I recover quickly, bringing my boot down on the hand that’s holding the knife. Bones crunch and shift under my heel. “That hand’s done.”
“You won’t win this, boy.” With his free hand, he grabs the knife and thrusts, burying the blade into my side.
“Fuck.” I stagger back, hissing through my teeth as blood seeps over my fingers.
“Stomping's flashy. But you stayed too long.” My uncle gets to his feet and drops the knife.
The second he reaches back for the gun in his waistband, I charge, driving my knife high under his armpit and twisting it.
He scoffs, his hot breath skating over my face. “Too late.”
The gun comes into view, and I grab his wrist. The gun goes off, the bullet hitting the ground near my boot. My ears ring, but I keep his wrist pinned low, then twist the knife again.
His breath catches, his body slumping forward.
I strip the gun away and step back, aiming it at him.
My uncle drops to his knees, one hand pawing at the handle, each inhale rattling.
I crouch in front of him, watching.
He doesn’t look away, just grins as blood bubbles at the corner of his mouth. “Good boy. Just like us. A true Kincaid.”
“I’m nothing like you.” I pull the blade out with my free hand, stand, then kick him over.
A pool of crimson coats the ground, his eyes remaining open.
My uncle’s gone.
For good, this time.
I clamp my hand over the hole in my side and groan. Blood slips hot between my fingers, but I press harder, fighting through the pain. I take one step. Then another.
Someone crashes through the trees, and I raise the gun.
Atlas throws both hands up, sliding to a stop. “It’s me. Hunt, it’s just me.”
I lower the weapon and let out a long breath.
He looks at my uncle’s dead body, then back to me. “You good?”
I nod, tucking the gun into my waistband.
His gaze drops to my side, and his eyes narrow. He closes the distance, then swings, his fist connecting with my jaw. “You're bleeding, and you just nodded at me like it's nothing. Are you serious right now?” His chest heaves in and out. “Stop fucking hiding shit, Hunt. Didn’t you learn anything?”
Clenching my teeth, I swallow hard. He’s right. But then my gaze drops to his throat, and even in the dark, I can see the red marks. Marks I left with my hand. I turn my head away, looking into the trees at nothing.
Atlas shoves me. “Talk.”
“You should go. Get out of here.”
He grabs the front of my hoodie and drives me backward into a tree trunk.
A grunt tears out of me before I can stop it, white-hot pain flaring in my side.
But Atlas is too locked in to notice. His face is inches from mine, his hot breath ghosting over my face, his lips pulled up into a snarl.
“You don't leave the people you love, Hunter.”
“You got hurt again because of me.”
“But not just by them. You hurt me too.” His voice cracks on the last word.
“Did you know your father and uncle were raising you to be their perfect prey? That they always intended to kill you? You were always supposed to die.” His hands twist the fabric of my hoodie, pulling me closer.
“How do you think I would feel if you did?”
My chest rises and falls too fast. Figured they'd try to kill me one day. Just didn’t know the plan they had.
Atlas’s brows furrow, his grip easing on my hoodie. “You sure you love me?”
“Yes.”
A few seconds pass, then he kisses me. It’s hard, brief, and when he pulls back, he’s still glaring. “Then cut the shit. We work through this. All of it. Together.”
I rest my forehead against his, close my eyes, and just breathe. “Even after what I did to you?”
Atlas rests his palms on my chest, relaxing into me. “Yes. And just because I’m mad and hurt doesn’t mean I don’t love you, okay? So don't ice me out.”
“I won’t. And I’m sorry. About all of it.” I don’t deserve him staying. Don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself. But he loves me. And loving him back means letting him in, even when I think keeping him out is the only way to protect him.
After a minute, I shift my weight off the tree, and a sharp pulse of pain rips through my side. I grit my teeth and ask the question I already know the answer to. “My brother?”
Atlas pulls back, looking down at the ground. “I took care of him.”
I swallow hard, then tip his chin up, forcing him to look at me. “Had to be done.”
He nods, but his bottom lip trembles.
“I’m not mad at you.” I wrap my arms around Atlas and pull him close again. It’s not his fault. They’d twisted my brother into something that couldn't be untwisted. The damage set too deep. No one saved Garrett in time.
And now my brother’s gone.
“Are you two making out right now? Finally. Holy shit, finally. I'd clap but—” Shaw holds up a head as he prances out from the tree line. “Fun fact, switchblades are shit for decapitation. But this guy had a hatchet, so crisis averted.”
Fucking hell.
Atlas turns toward him, groaning in exasperation. “Shaw, what the fuck. Why are you carrying that like a lunchbox?”
Shaw rolls his eyes.
“You’re making a fucking mess.” But he’s not the only one. I press my hand against the hole in my side and wince.
Need to get this stitched up.
Shaw huffs. “You sound like Adrian. He’s so mad. Probably more mad I ran off. Oh, well.”
“You three are so fucking loud.” Rua walks over to us, looks at the head, then facepalms. “For fuck’s sake. Calix put the goddamn head next to Hunter’s uncle. You’re making it harder for everyone to clean up.”
“Blah, blah, blah.”
“Calix. Don’t make me call—”
Rua doesn’t dodge the head fast enough after Calix chucks it, and it hits him in the stomach before dropping to the ground. Then Shaw gives us the double middle finger before taking off, his twisted giggling filling the air.
I turn toward Rua. “Text Reyes.”
He rolls his eyes and pulls out his phone. “Already planned on it.”
Atlas shakes his head. “We need to find a way to control him more. Can’t just put it all on Cap. Shaw is a lot.”
Understatement.
But he’s right. Calix Shaw is one of us. He’s family. And it's not just on Reyes to take care of him.
“Sooo, you two kiss and make up?” Rua quirks a brow and grins as he looks up from his phone.
Neither of us responds.
“Ugh. Well, get to it. I’ll go find out what the plan is from Killian.” Rua walks off, giving Atlas and me space.
Atlas shoves his hands into his pockets, digging the toe of his gym shoe into the dirt. “Cody okay?”
“He’s not paralyzed. Has a few fractured vertebrae and a spinal cord concussion.”
“But I hurt him.”
“By accident.”
Tears streak down his cheeks. “He hates me.”
I pull Atlas into me once more and wrap my arms around him. “He’s mad at me, not you. He asked for you, is worried about you. Fuck, our little Titan wanted to strangle me with the IV tubing.”
Atlas huffs a laugh, but it cracks halfway through and turns into something else.
He buries his face into my chest, and his shoulders heave, each breath coming out wet and broken.
I rest my chin on top of his head, scanning the area as he breaks down.
I fucked up twice and will spend every day making it up to him.
Because he’s more than my best friend. Always has been.
“As much as I love watching this stomach-curdling cuteness, Doc’s expecting us, so let’s get moving.” Rua pulls a lollipop out of his pocket, unwraps it, then pops it into his mouth.
Figured we’d head to Doc’s. Can’t exactly walk into the ER with a stab wound. Even Atlas’s wrists will draw too much attention.
I step back and wipe away my best friend’s tears. “Sooner we get cleaned up, the sooner we get back to our little Titan.”
He nods.
Rua walks over to my uncle’s body, retrieves his knife, then points his lollipop at me. “If you’re going to use my shit, take care of it, you big oaf.”
I grunt, jaw clenching.
Rua walks off, but Atlas and I stay a moment, looking at my uncle one last time. My family’s no longer a threat, but Cody doesn’t know what we really are.
Not sure he’ll accept it.
But no more secrets. Not after tonight. Which means we tell our little Titan everything.