Chapter 41
CADE
The Reznikov’s - Alpine, NJ
“Holy shit,” I whisper, leaning closer to Sabine as a figure hooded in black silk glides into the clearing like a reaper.
Lex’s sweaty body stumbles in after him, breathing sporadically.
“Rez is terrifying,” I add under my breath, the words catching in my throat.
“You think this is bad. Imagine what our boy is seeing right now, chéri,” she breathes. Her voice is steady, but her eyes are blown wide, reflecting the madness unfolding merely ten feet away.
“Where the hell?” Lex chokes, shaking his head hard to clear it. “Where is she?!”
He’s blind to us. Blind to his own father standing three feet in front of him. He’s completely lost in the darkness of a nightmare where the only light is that of a girl who’s not here.
Lex turns in slow circles, eyes wild and chest heaving as he reaches out. “I’ve got you,” he rasps. “You’re safe. Just stay with…” Panic floods his eyes. “No. No, no, no. Bella, wait!”
He lunges forward, arms closing around the cold, empty air. His face contorting with a grief that makes my chest ache.
“Baby, please,” he whispers, sweat rolling off his shoulders.
My stomach drops.
“Come back!” he roars, his hollow voice echoing through the dark.
I take a step forward. A hand clamps like a vice around my wrist.
“Don’t,” Rez warns, icy-teal eyes blazing as he yanks his hood down.
“Rez, he’s—” I start, my voice shaking.
“Don’t,” he growls, the cool, black silk of his sleeve rustling against my arm. “You take one more step and it’ll be the last fucking thing you do.”
“But—”
“Listen to him, Cade!” Daniel cuts me off, stepping into my line of sight. “My son has this.”
“Heart-rate’s spiking. One-seventy and climbing,” Knox’s voice crackles in my ear. “You’re up.”
A shadow steps out of the trees. Moonlight drags over Laing as he strolls into the clearing. The dragon inked across his bare chest writhing under it with each step.
“Iz is with me,” Laing calls out. “Where the fuck did you think she’d be?”
Lex’s head snaps up. The pupils of his eyes have swallowed the blue entirely, leaving nothing but two ink-black pits of rage.
“Motherfucker!” Lex screams as he lunges in an off-balance strike fueled by agony.
Laing doesn’t even break a sweat. He sidesteps like he saw it coming a mile away, driving his elbow into the back of Lex’s head and sending him face-first into the dirt.
“Babe,” I gasp, the word dying in the air as Sabine pulls me back, warm fingers interlocking with mine. Her grip is the only thing keeping me upright as I stare down at Lex’s unmoving body.
“He’ll be fine, chéri,” she whispers, though I don’t believe her for a moment. “Knox? Vitals please.”
“One-eighty-one,” he says. “Breathing is barely within the limits you gave me, Sabine.”
She nods, rubbing her thumb in circles over mine.
“Get up, Barinov,” Laing grits, looming over him.
Lex’s attention jerks to the treeline again.
“B-bella?” he whispers, blinking hard as he pushes himself to his feet. He strides away from Laing, rubbing his palms into his eyes.
My jaw locks as Laing takes advantage of Lex’s distraction. A brutal shot to his bad shoulder that sends Lex tumbling to his knees.
“Hurry it up, Laing. We can’t risk much more of this,” Knox mutters into the comms.
“And watch that fucking shoulder,” Tex adds. “He has to be able to fight in Rome, you jackass.”
Laing reaches down and yanks Lex to his feet by a fistful of his sweat-soaked, black hair.
“The undisputed Hollow King,” he sneers. He rears a fist back and slams his knuckles to Lex’s cheek. Then another hit that splits Lex’s lip clean open.
He releases the grip on Lex’s hair and lets him drop to the ground.
“Get up, Lex,” Rez whispers through his fingers beside me. “For the love of God, get up.”
“I don’t see the hype.” Laing scoffs, cracking his neck. “Iz obviously chose the wrong fucking man. No worries, once you’re out of the way I’ll swoop back in like I always do.”
Lex scrambles to his feet, shaking his head to clear his vision. He’s already swinging before his feet are steady. Already stumbling before his fists connect. Laing dodges every hit Lex throws at him, laughing the entire time.
Lex falls to one knee, breathing hard as he aimlessly tries to swat at Laing’s legs.
“What can I say?” Laing shrugs, turning his back with arrogance. “Ladies love the dragon.”
The silence that follows is deafening. Lex stills. The frantic heaving of his chest stops. An eerie, glacial calm washes over him as he rises from the dirt like a damn revenant.
No more stumbling or looking for Bella.
Just glaring at the man who once dared to claim her.
In a blur, Lex is on him. He hits Laing like a freight train from behind, grappling his waist and launching him over his shoulder in a high-arc suplex that thrashes the breath out of the entire clearing.
Lex is on top of him in a heartbeat. He locks his fingers around Laing’s windpipe, squeezing with a strength that isn’t human.
Laing’s face goes purple, his hands fumbling with Lex’s wrist. “Anytime… Rez…” he chokes out.
Rez moves like a shadow. He’s there in a flicker, plunging another needle into the side of Lex’s neck. Lex’s grip slackens. His manic strength drains out of him as the sedative hits his bloodstream.
The haze clears. Lex stumbles back, falling into Rez’s arms, blinking as the world comes back into focus.
“Vitals are leveling out,” Knox’s voice hits my ear. “Thank fuck.”
“Never doubted him,” Sabine says, her shoulders dropping.
Rez gives me a sharp, single nod, and I bolt.
I drop to my knees in the dirt, cupping his bruised and burning cheeks in my hands. He’s trembling. Drenched from head to toe in sweat and the scent of battle. I press a kiss to his forehead, tasting salt and copper.
“It’s okay, babe,” I whisper, my voice thick with relief. “You did it.”
Lex blinks, his eyes finally finding mine. The ice-blue returning like a clearing sky.
“Cade?”
“I’m here,” I tell him through my tears, holding him tight. “I’m here.”