Chapter 2
RAFE
Whatever they’d given me still blazed in my veins, stealing control of my body and fucking with my ability to protect her.
The situation pressed on me like a thick slab of steel.
My head felt woozy from whatever concoction they’d pumped into me, and my limbs were as useless as the tentacles of a jellyfish.
I knew the odds weren’t in our favor. We were about to face off a group of men intending to…
fuck, I didn’t know what they wanted, but I doubted they’d taken us to shoot the breeze.
The explosion on my father’s island was a continuous echo in my ears, but thinking about the flames that ate away at my childhood memories, turning them to ash, would get us nowhere.
I couldn’t control what had happened. I could only control now, this moment and the next to come, and I’d be damned if I let Alex suffer without putting up the fight from hell.
The trunk popped open, and Alex clung to me with desperate hands, her face buried in my shoulder as she breathed, “Oh God,” against my skin. Her terror raged through me, her tiny frame shaking in my arms.
Yet I knew she was stronger than me.
She had to be, to have survived so much and still have a heartbeat. I cursed God, fate, the universe—even the ball of dirt gravity glued us to—for dropping her into another horrifying situation. Had she not been through enough?
“Promise me,” I whispered again, the plea lost in her hair, though I knew she heard because she held on tighter.
And that’s when I knew. She wasn’t going to run.
Because she was strong. Stubborn. Loyal.
Because she loved me.
The lid of the trunk creaked and cool air hit my back an instant before the barrel of what I assumed was a gun pressed into my spine.
“Get out slow and no one will get hurt.”
The guy at the other end of the weapon backed off, and someone snorted, barely covering their muttered, “yet.”
Reluctantly, I freed Alex from the cage of my arms and turned in the confined space.
Trees obscured the moon, and shadows hid the men’s features, though their hatred poisoned the atmosphere and spiraled around me like a tangible entity.
Only one held a gun, and he had it locked on me with relentless force.
Had I miscalculated the number of men on the island?
“Don’t have all night, Mason. Get out.”
I grasped the edge of the opening and hefted myself up, biceps flexing under the strain, and crawled from the trunk. One foot then the other touched the ground, and rough earth gouged the soles of my feet. A chilly breeze whispered through the trees. Even July brought cold nights with it.
“Hands up.”
Raising my arms, I took stock of the situation.
Three men, one gun, and the isolation blared its silence, save for the tumultuous chirp of crickets.
I glanced at the sky, expecting to see the same galaxy of stars visible from the island, but the sky was faded, as if the glare from the city had snuffed out the brightness.
Considering the amount of time we’d spent in the trunk, I guessed they’d taken us close to Portland.
“Don’t get any ideas,” the guy with the gun said. He wore a dark hoodie, and his stance was aggressive, as wide as his broad shoulders. “I don’t have to kill you to keep you from running. Your kneecaps will do.” He lowered the weapon to make his point.
I clenched my teeth and stood up straighter, though weakness still lingered in my limbs. My arms trembled from the effort of holding them up. If I could overtake the guy, then Alex might have a shot at getting away.
But could she outrun the other two? And what if there were more? I hadn’t miscalculated. There’d been more than three men on the island, and one of them had worn a baseball cap and sunglasses, but he wasn’t here now.
“Where are the rest of your buddies?” I asked, hoping to get a better idea of how many assholes we were up against.
Approaching headlights beamed from behind me, and Hoodie tilted his head so the light hit him at just the right angle to keep his face hidden in shadow. The car rolled to a stop, and doors creaked open and slammed shut. “Does that answer your question?” he asked.
Not even close.
From the corner of my eye, I spied motion. More weapons cocked, and I didn’t have to look to know they were all aimed in my direction.
“What do you want with us?” I asked Hoodie.
He shook his head, and the hood of his jacket fell back just enough to reveal a face manic with the promise of pain. “Don’t try anything stupid. If you fuck with us, she’s the one taking the heat for it, got it?”
Suddenly, his form swayed in front of me. No, I was the one swaying. The trees behind him morphed in my vision, as if they danced lazily on the other side of a funhouse window.
I blinked several times until my sight cleared.
Holy fuck. When would the drugs stop messing with me?
Alex couldn’t run. Not with all the guns and muscle surrounding us.
I needed time. Time for the drugs to dissipate.
Time to come up with a plan that wouldn’t get her hurt, or worse, killed.
Then I’d have a chance at taking them on.
I didn’t care what happened to me, so long as she got out of this alive.
Hoodie gestured toward her with his gun. “Get out slow like your boyfriend.” She gave no indication of moving, and as he took a step forward, I backed toward the trunk.
“She’s scared. Pointing a gun at her isn’t gonna help.” I cranked my head and glanced at her pale face from over my shoulder. “It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t okay. I swallowed hard and willed my voice to remain steady. “Get out of the trunk.” Every part of me rebelled at the thought of her crawling from that space and facing these assholes.
As she pushed to her elbows, the other men inched closer. What the fuck did they think we were going to do? Make a run for it in the dark with a bunch of assholes on our tails, guns firing? I was fucking useless, pathetically helpless, and I didn’t like it one bit.
I’d let her down. She’d stood in my living room hours ago, gazing out the fucking window because something had bothered her.
She’d sensed this coming, and I’d sent her to my bedroom alone, unprotected.
I prayed to God they hadn’t done more than just take her from my bed.
A small hand slid into mine, bringing me back from the pit of self-flagellation I’d dived into.
“Good,” Hoodie said. “Now that we’re all here, let’s take this underground.”
“Where are you taking us?” I asked, not entirely sure I wanted to know what he meant by “underground.”
“Shut the fuck up and move.” Two men came from the sidelines, guns at the ready, and gestured for us to start walking.
The guy I recognized from earlier, with the cap and sunglasses, shoved me forward, and my grasp on Alex’s small fingers slipped.
Without thinking, I swung around and slammed my fist into his face.
He drew back then lunged for me with a powerful blow that pummeled me to the ground like I was nothing.
I struggled to my feet, ignoring the sway of the scenery and the gun he pointed at my head, ready to deliver another punch, consequences be damned.
A cold, hard voice froze me to the spot. “Touch my brother again and I’ll put a bullet in her head.”
A skinny guy who looked to have more prep than hired goon in him held a gun to Alex’s skull.
I traded a glance with her, struck in the gut by the firm set of her jaw.
She’d been conditioned to silently accept hell, even with the barrel of a gun pressed to her temple, and that pissed me the fuck off.
She shouldn’t have to accept this shit as normal, shouldn’t have to harden herself against the next fight.
“Chill out, Vinnie,” Hoodie warned his man. “He’s got no power here.” Even though he’d ordered the guy to stand down, Hoodie’s dark eyes threatened retribution for the punch I’d unleashed on his buddy.
I dropped my arm just as Hoodie nodded to one of his men. Something sharp pricked the back of my neck and the world wavered. I slumped toward the ground, the enclosing wall of trees sliding horizontal, and Alex’s scream echoed through what was left of my sanity.