Chapter 25 Wren #2
“What did he say?” Harry whispers, and I roll my eyes. This would be much easier without him since we can all understand ASL perfectly now.
I press my finger to my lips to tell him to be quiet, and he rolls his eyes but stays silent.
The next part is the most dangerous. There isn’t anywhere to hide between here and the warehouse, and although we might not see any cameras pointed outside, that doesn't mean they don’t exist. If someone moves closer to the warehouse, they could be seen.
But we are too far away to get the camera inside. The warehouse is a little over 200 feet away, and even though the camera’s range is greater, it doesn’t leave us enough margin of error.
This is the part of the plan we discussed the most. It was decided that Harry would fly his camera, since he wouldn’t let any of us touch it, and Elias would cover him. We agreed that the fewer people who moved closer, the better.
We stay where we are, as Elias and Harry stand and backtrack, with a plan to move around the back of this building, which will put them about sixty feet closer, but with no cover left to hide behind.
They are going to move up to the side of the building, looking for a way to get the camera inside while we watch from here.
Pete gives me a quick kiss as he gets up next, and Jagger does the same as they also move toward the back of the buildings, but they turn left at the end, heading toward where we parked.
Elias knows to give them ten minutes to get to the other side of the street and mirror our position. We decide to stay as a group to assess the situation first, which just has us waiting for them to get in place now.
Sly keeps his head peeking out the side of the building, watching the warehouse, but his right hand reaches back to me, holding mine tightly like he expects me to vanish if he’s not holding me. My other hand is clutching Dex’s as we wait.
Sly eventually eases his grip but keeps his fingers laced through mine, his attention fixed forward as the minutes drag by.
I use the time to scan reflections in darkened windows and the stretch of pavement between us and the warehouse, committing every shadow and doorway to memory in case something shifts.
When movement finally appears across the street, it is subtle enough that I almost miss it at first.
Pete and Jagger slip into position with the ease of men who have done this many times before, each of them taking opposite sides of the alley, giving them a clear line of sight without exposing their silhouettes.
Pete glances up, just long enough for his gaze to find mine, before he settles in and becomes still. Jagger mirrors him, his posture relaxed but ready, his attention sweeping the area behind us and then returning to the warehouse.
I pull my phone from my pocket and keep it shielded by my body as I type a single word to Elias and send it. Go.
Sly follows my line of sight as I tuck the phone away, and we both lean forward just enough to see Elias and Harry detach from the wall and move toward the side of the building. They keep close, careful with their steps. Harry cradles his gadget while Elias's head moves on a constant swivel.
Dex shifts closer behind us, his presence solid and reassuring, and I know he is watching our blind spots without being told.
We stay like that, half-hidden and silent, our focus split between the warehouse and the slow progress of Elias and Harry as they search for an opening. My muscles remain coiled, my hand resting near my knife, every instinct warning me that danger is only a moment away.
Even from here, I can see Harry’s excitement. He must have found an opening. They squat down, and I watch him use the controller as Elias holds the phone out, so they can both watch the camera.
I’m so focused on them, I almost miss the movement as Pete and Jagger start waving their arms at us frantically.
“What—” I start to ask, but then I see what they’re signing.
Behind you.
Dex reacts instantly, pivoting before I have fully processed the warning.
The guard barely has time to register that he has been seen before Dex is on him, all raw strength and decisive violence, driving him into the ground with a force that knocks the air from his lungs.
The man goes down hard, and Dex doesn’t hesitate to hit him.
Shouting breaks the silence as two more figures come running from behind the buildings.
Sly moves to intercept the first of them, his motions controlled and efficient as he redirects the man’s momentum and sends him sprawling.
The second turns toward me, with a look of someone who thinks they’ve found easy prey.
I step into him before he can realize I’m not as sweet as I look, my knife already in my hand.
Remembering what Pete taught me, I aim for his throat, but he pulls back just in time, leaving me lunging to the side off balance from the momentum.
He reaches for me, not expecting me to swing backward as I jam my knife into his calf.
He howls in pain, shoving me onto my back as he bares his teeth at me.
He looms over me and reaches down, pulling my knife free as he takes another step toward me.
Suddenly, Dex is there, finishing what I started as he twists the guard's hand, making him drop my knife, then he slams his forehead into the guy's nose, making me gasp as blood sprays everywhere.
Dios mio, that was hot!
His hands shoot to his face as he cries out in pain, and Dex wastes no time knocking him out. Sly steps up then, having finished with the guy he was fighting, and kneels down, slitting the guy's throat in one quick swipe. The guard doesn’t wake when he does it, and he never will again.
I blink up at my two guys, feeling a little in shock.
At first, Sly appears calm and collected, but I can sense the rage radiating under his skin as he stares down at the man who tried to hurt me.
He tosses his knife back and forth between his hands, glancing up at the other end of the alley like he’s expecting more guards to come running down at any moment.
I glance at Dex. He’s not as good at hiding his rage. His eyes almost look red from rage. I can see his teeth as he bares them at the enemy, and he’s basically growling as he stares at the bodies around us. They both look unhinged, crazy, and I love it. Because they’re my crazy killers.
Quick footsteps start to draw closer, the sound of someone moving quickly through the snow, and Sly reaches out a hand to help me stand as he positions me behind him. I can’t see when they arrive, but I see Sly’s shoulders drop as he lowers his knife.
I peek around him and see Pete and Jagger running toward us.
“Is anyone hurt?” Pete whispers, his wide eyes trying to take everything at once.
“I’m not,” I confirm as Sly shakes his head.
“Dex?” I ask, realizing he hasn’t answered.
“Shit, his eyes are hazed over,” Pete says, assessing him. “We need to carefully pull him out of his blood lust.”
“I can do it,” I say, quickly stepping right up to him as Sly tries to reach for me.
“Don’t!” he hisses as I grip Dex’s blood-splattered cheeks and tilt his head down to mine.
I can see what Pete is talking about; it’s like the lights are on, but he’s not home. “Dex,” I say as I press up on my tiptoes to reach him, but I'm still too short to reach his lips. “Kiss me.”
He blinks once, then twice, before finally tilting his head down toward mine. “Hi, baby,” he says, a smile quickly covering his face.
“Hi, Dex.”
“I think you said something about a kiss?” he asks, and I nod in response. Not missing a beat, he leans down and kisses me. It’s a little dirty and messy, but considering our surroundings, it’s perfect.
Pulling back, I grab his hand with mine, in case he needs me to keep him grounded as I assess what’s going on. Sly and Jagger are watching around the front of the alley, and Pete is now watching out the back. That’s a smart idea. Why hadn’t we thought to watch our backs?
I guess it seemed unlikely they’d come from that direction, as we would have seen them leave the warehouse. Which begs the question—Where did they come from?
Jagger turns to us and signs, “They’re heading back to us now.”
I nod, and Dex and I move to join Pete at the other end. When Elias and Harry come into view, I wave, and Elias jogs closer. His eyes dart to Dex and widen before moving back to me and scanning me from head to toe.
“What happened?” he asks, stopping right in front of us as his hands skate up and down my sides.
“They snuck up on us,” Dex tells him, gesturing down the alley.
“Whoa, you killed them?” Harry asks with wide eyes.
“We did,” Dex confirms.
“Holy shit! I didn’t realize you guys had it in you.”
“Are you upset?” I ask, trying to understand what he’s thinking, but he shakes his head.
“No, I’m impressed! Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Sly says as he and Jagger join us. We don’t hesitate to hustle back the way we came.
“Did you get what we need?” I ask Elias, grabbing his hand as we walk.
“Yes, I think we got footage of the entire warehouse. Luckily, it wasn’t too complex in there. We recorded it so we can review it when we’re in a safer location.”
I nod as we continue our trek back to our car. It’s not until we’re inside that Pete breaks the silence. “Hey, Harry?”
“Yeah, kid?”
“Know any good places in town to get some tacos?”