Chapter Twenty
Stormy
O nce Copper leaves, a sense of dread washes over me. For a brief moment, I’m a terrified woman, hiding from the bad men. It takes a calming breath and then I remember who I am.
Former FBI Agent Gale.
Catching the bad guys and finding people is my job. I can protect my sister. Glancing down, I admire her soft, delicate features. So innocent, just like Cove. They’ve always been babies to me. Probably always will be. I slip off the couch, careful not to wake Calla. She’s exhausted from driving two hours this morning and then crying her eyes out with worry.
“Keep an eye on her,” I tell Gretel.
Gretel is smart because she doesn’t leave her post. Hansel, my overprotective boy, follows me through the house to Copper’s and my room. I quickly change out of my loungewear into jeans, a hoodie, and my biker boots.
It’s the wrong time to be thinking about this morning and the way Copper and I made love, but I can’t get it out of my head. There’s no other way to describe it. Our bodies were loving each other and making promises. The forever kind.
It gave me relief because I’m pretty sure my late period is never going to arrive. Since my life has been consumed by Copper, I haven’t exactly kept track of the calendar, but I’m at least a week or two late. I’ve been living in denial.
I didn’t want to make a big fuss in front of Copper, especially if it turned out to not be true, so I swiped a pregnancy test from Hadley’s bathroom when we visited for Thanksgiving last week. I’d been too chicken shit to pee on it, but after this morning, a sense of peace washed over me. Copper won’t leave me and I sure as hell won’t leave him. If we’re pregnant, it’s time to face the music.
Setting the gun down on the counter, I then dig around under the cabinet until I find the test I’d hidden away. The instructions are easy. Pee and then wait. With a ragged sigh, I open the test and then pull my pants down. While I pee, I note that I’ve been slightly sick to my stomach and my boobs have hurt lately. I didn’t dare Google the symptoms of pregnancy in case Koyn was watching my search history or something. The last thing I need is him telling Copper before I have the chance. Once I’ve peed on the stick, I set it on some tissue on the counter and then wash up.
Hansel nudges my thigh, desperate for attention. I stroke his soft fur and praise him for being such a handsome boy. A few minutes pass by quickly and I have to psych myself up to look at the results.
“I don’t even know what I want,” I tell my dog. “It’s terrible timing if I am. My brother is missing and we’re trying to catch these assholes. I’d be a terrible mother trying to bring a baby into all that mess.”
He barks at me as though to tell me to quit being a little bitch and get it over with. I stick my tongue out at him before glancing at the test.
Oh my God.
I immediately burst into tears, overcome with joy for something I didn’t even know I wanted so badly. I’m pregnant. Pregnant with Jeremy Koynakov’s baby. Holy shit.
“You’re going to be a big brother,” I choke out, swiping at my tears. “I can’t believe this.”
A blood-curdling scream has me snatching my gun up from the counter. Hansel growls, running off toward the sound of my sister’s screams.
They’re here.
It has to be Vidal and Collins.
My heart is hammering inside my chest as I run out of the bedroom and down the hall to the living room. I expect to see those assholes. Not him. Fucking Dragon. Towering over the couch beside my sister, absently playing with his knife.
“What are you doing here?” I snap.
Dragon’s green eyes flare with violence. “I heard Koyn talking to Copper and came straight over.”
“How’d you get past the guys outside?” I demand. “They’re watching us.”
“Doing a fantastic job of destroying those donuts and surfing the internet on their phones too,” Dragon says. “It’s a good thing Katana and I came when we did.”
“Why are you here?”
He cocks his head to the side, eyeballing me in that crazy way of his. “I need answers. We have the same agenda.”
“Does Koyn know you’re here?”
Dragon pats my sister on the head, making her flinch in fear. “He was busy. I’ll tell him later.”
“I need to call Copper,” I state, realizing I left my phone on the bed when I changed. “To tell him you’re here.”
Dragon chuckles, dark and demonic. “Why are you scared of me, Stormy? The dogs aren’t. They love me.”
Love is a stretch.
They know him but aren’t exactly happy about the vibe he’s putting off. Hansel is tense at my feet beside me while Gretel has her eye on Dragon, ready to strike if necessary.
“You can put your gun down now,” Dragon urges. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
Yeah fucking right.
I don’t trust this asshole as far as I can throw him.
“Why are you here?” I ask again. “Is it to talk about Vidal and Collins?”
Darkness shutters in his gaze and his jaw clenches. “I don’t want to talk about them per se. I just want to find them.”
“Why?”
“So I can peel their skin from their bodies and make them fucking eat it,” he snaps, earning a whimper from my sister and a growl from both dogs.
“Okay,” I murmur, not dropping my gun even though my arm is starting to hurt. “I think we want the same thing more or less.” I ignore the horrified look my sister gives me. “They’ve taken our brother. We want to find them so we can get him back.”
His body goes rigid and he shudders. Fear. Horrible, consuming fear causes the most fearless man I know to shake like a little boy. I remember the photos of him at sixteen. There’s no telling what they put this man through to transform him from that boy to a psychotic dragon.
“Are they going to hurt Cove?” I whisper.
Green eyes snap to mine. “They’ll kill him.”
Tears flood my eyes, but I quickly blink them away to clear my vision. “How? Did you see them kill other people?”
He pokes at his thumb with his knife, drawing a prick of blood. “They killed Chase.”
Calla starts to cry. I can’t afford to take my eyes off Dragon. He’s losing his fucking mind right now and I don’t trust him with his knife so close to my sister’s head.
“Chase was just a kid,” I say slowly. “How did they kill him?”
His face goes blank. “Over and over and over and over and over and over.” He continues to repeat himself, his words finally fading.
Bile rises up my throat. “Do you think they’ll do the same thing to Cove?”
“They do it to everyone,” Dragon hisses. “Which is why we need to find them and kill them first.”
Okay, so we are on the same page, even if it’s a really fucking terrifying one.
“We can’t do this alone,” I murmur, lowering my gun. “We need the Royal Bastards. Koyn can help.”
His brows furrow and he nods. “Maybe Koyn will let Cove be Batman.”
Calla’s blue eyes are wide with a mixture of confusion and fear. I know he sounds fucking loony right now, but I understand what he means. When Koyn found Dragon and asked his name, he tried to get him to call him Batman. Koyn essentially named Dragon. Dragon, apparently, believes Koyn will rescue Cove too.
“Cove’s more of a Robin if we’re being honest,” I say with a forced smile. “Why don’t you go get Katana and I’ll call Koyn?”
He nods, disappearing toward the back door and leaving it wide-open. I rush over to Cala and yank her to her feet.
“He’s okay,” I assure her. “We need to call Koyn and Copper, though.”
“Who are these people?” she hisses as I drag her through the living room with me. “Hitmen?”
“They’re a biker gang. A really fucked up one.”
“But you’re a Fed,” Calla says, stopping and glaring at me. “Right?”
I chew on my bottom lip before giving her a shake of my head. “It’s a long story and now’s not the time.”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The dogs start barking and take off out the back door toward the sounds of gunfire that seem to continue. It’s too risky to go to the bedroom for my phone, so I jerk on Calla’s arm, hurrying her to the storm shelter closet. Before we reach it, Dragon howls —the sound of terror and agony wrapped into an awful sound before he calls out to me.
“Run, Stormy!”
One of the dogs makes a terrible yelping sound that makes my heart split in two. All I can think about is getting my sister to safety. That’s all I can focus on.
“Quick,” I bark out. “Get inside.”
I fling open the door and shove her into the closet. I follow after her, jerking the heavy door back into place. I’m just turning the lock when it’s yanked back open, sending me hurtling into the arms of a man wearing all black with a black face covering. He wrangles the Glock out of my hand but not before I squeeze off a shot that misses him and sails through the wall behind him. Another man appears, rushing into the closet for my sister.
“Nooooo!” I scream, kicking out trying to free myself.
The man drags me through the house and out the front door. Cold November wind assaults us, nearly knocking him over. We pass a vehicle where the men were supposed to be watching us. Two bodies slumped over, bullet holes in their heads.
Oh God.
A van drives up to us and a couple more guys rush over to us. They work together to bind my wrists and ankles, finally slapping duct tape over my mouth. I feel helpless when they dump me in the back of the van. Moments later, my sister is dropped beside me. Her eyes are rolled back in her head. I don’t know if they hurt her or if she passed out from fear. Either way, I feel like a failure for being unable to protect her. My sob makes it hard to breathe, so I do my best to calm down. Seconds later, another body is dumped in and then the doors slam shut. I wriggle around to face a dazed Dragon. Blood rushes from a wound on his forehead.
“We got all three,” a voice says from the front seat. “On our way.”
As soon as Dragon makes sense of his surroundings, his eyes glass over and he whimpers. Dragon the psychopath whimpers. This is so bad.
I try my best to calm him, keeping my eyes locked on his. We’re going to get through this. Don’t panic. Everything’s going to be okay. Stay calm. Eyes on me.
With a shuddering breath, Dragon clamps his eyes closed. The moment I see a tear leak out of the corner of one of his eyes and roll over the bridge of his nose, I’m the one who whimpers this time.
We are so fucked.
So. Fucked.