Chapter 40 Ultraviolent
Ultraviolent
He wore our colors. He saluted our flag. All the while, he was sharpening his knife behind our backs. When we find this traitor, we will let him live long enough to watch everything he fought for burn. And then he will die like a coward—slow and in pieces.
— JACK MILLER
Acid dissolved my insides, eating through everything until it uncovered a core of hatred. My hands clenched into fists as I fantasized about sinking a knife into Jack Miller’s throat.
He sat with his legs crossed, lording over the chaos.
Lucas followed my gaze, and his body stiffened. His expression was one I’d never seen before. Animosity and resignation warred there, and he dropped his head. “I need to get you somewhere safe.”
“I’m not leaving you. I’ll do whatever else you say, but not that.”
His eyes flashed in the darkness, then locked on something back toward the house. I analyzed the details of his face. A new plan was forming in his head, and I was ninety-five percent sure I wouldn’t like it.
My nails dug into his skin. “You look like you’re doing math problems.”
“I’m trying to remove you from the equation.”
“Good luck.” I nodded toward Miller. “Why’s he just sitting there?”
“I stabbed him in the chest last month. I doubt he’s in any condition to fight.”
A crash behind us turned our heads. The south side of headquarters caved in, cement crumbling and metal twisting. The earth shook as the building collapsed.
Lucas tugged me closer.
The soldiers fighting near the gazebo didn’t pause. I monitored the fight—the bare remains of the people I loved, facing their deaths.
Faces slithered through my mind as the violence escalated… Theo’s stern expression, Adam’s wink, Devon’s wry grin, Zara’s smile, and then a host of others…Isaac, Dr. Grayson, Jayden.
How many of them would I lose tonight?
Lucas led me from the protection of the trees. “Miller’s going to be hunting us. Getting out without being sighted just got a lot harder.”
Anarchy reigned in the battle before us. Bodies hurtled at each other. Metal clanked. Small grenade blasts lit the night at irregular intervals.
Lucas skulked toward it. “You said you’d do what I say.”
My gaze snared on his face.
He met my eyes as we skirted the outer edge of the fight. “Promise me again.”
“I promise, Luke.”
Adam’s form emerged from the darkness, bringing down a Hunter. The man fell, and Adam jogged to us. We hid behind a large cement statue of an angel.
“Did you see who joined in the fun?” Adam asked, wiping sweat from his brow.
“Miller’s nursing wounded pride,” Lucas said, peeking out from behind the statue. “He’s going to want to kill me himself.”
Adam glanced at me. “What about her?”
Lucas met Adam’s gaze, penetrating as if he was conveying a message I didn’t understand. “If he gets her…”
“Yeah,” Adam said, expression grim.
“And if she’s with me, he’ll use her.”
Dread washed over me.
“Right.”
“You were assigned guard duty today, weren’t you?” Lucas asked, all innocence.
Adam nodded, a humorless smile lighting his face. “Got it.”
“You got this?” Lucas said, harder now.
“Yeah, I got it.” Adam leaned back, searching the crowd. “You see him?”
Lucas nodded.
I stomped my foot. “What’s going on?”
Lucas took my face in his hands. “Stay with Adam. He’ll protect you. Do not leave his side. Take him to the Evanston house.”
“Lucas—”
“You hear me, Sophia? Don’t leave his side under any circumstances.”
“I’m not leaving you!”
“I’m not asking you to,” he said. “But I’m leaving you. It’s time.”
What?
Adam grabbed my arms as Lucas took my chin in one hand and planted a hard kiss on my lips.
Wait, no!
“I’m trusting you,” Lucas said to Adam. “If something happens to her, I’ll come for you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Adam said, and Lucas slipped away from us.
“No. Wait. Lucas!” I fought against Adam.
He held me tighter, pulling until his thick arm wrapped around my waist, and I struggled so hard my feet left the ground.
Lucas melted into the fight.
“Wait!”
“Let him hunt, Sophia,” Adam said. “This is what he does best!”
“No—” My heart throbbed against a wave of panic.
“If Miller lives, he’ll never stop chasing you. Let Lucas end this.”
“Let me go!” I wasn’t aware tears had fallen until the wind blew and the tear tracks grew cold. My struggles eased, and I coughed a few more sobs, then straightened. Fear and betrayal merged into a film of numbness.
He left me. He did the one thing he said he wouldn’t do.
Until he died.
Did he think his time was finally up?
Something wrenched hard inside my chest. “I can’t believe he left,” I whispered.
“He’s trying to save your life,” Adam said and released me. “What weapons you got?”
Still numb, I showed him the knife and mentioned the three rounds in the pistol tucked into the waistband at my back.
“Don’t use those unless you need them. And don’t leave my side.”
“Yeah, you’ve both been pretty clear about that part,” I said, all bitterness. “Is your side immortal or something?”
“Yep, follow me.”
He stepped out from behind the statue. Beyond the fight, the gazebo rose, and at the top of the steps stood Miller, searching the crowd like he knew we were in it. Revulsion boiled beneath my skin, and the cuts on my back zapped with electricity.
As if my hostility called to him, Miller’s gaze sliced up, and his eyes locked on mine. The world fell away as we stared at each other. The melee between us ceased to be, and his evil face broke into a joyous smile.
He spoke to the guards without looking away from me, and three of them slipped from the gazebo, eyes on me.
“Adam.” I tugged on his wrist.
He glanced at me.
“Adam, they’re coming for me.”
“Christ.” He grabbed my hand. “Come on. We need to get off this property. What’s the quickest route to the safe house?”
“This way.” We circled the outskirts of the battleground. I glanced over my shoulder every few steps. The sensation of bloodhounds chasing me proved impossible to shake.
“If you get a shot, put a bullet in that fucker’s brain,” Adam said.
My cumulative injuries had begun to wear on my strength. My bad leg smarted like it had been wrapped in barbed wire, and I limped as I ran.
Isaac leapt into view. “Where’s Scott?”
“Going after Miller,” Adam said.
Isaac cursed a thanks under his breath, and Devon appeared at his side. “Wow. I can’t believe he left her.”
Adam laughed without humor. “Yeah, help me keep her uninjured, will you? Otherwise, I’m dead.”
Massaging my leg, I ignored them to take in the chaos of battle around us. A series of explosions erupted, and we ducked. Grass and dirt sprayed into the air as, one after another, small grenades burst through the crowd. Screams followed, and then a metallic thunk landed next to my feet.
The four of us glanced down. Wild fear swept through me. We scattered, and I pushed my aching legs to run. The blast rushed past me, lifting me into the air. Shrapnel embedded in my back. Something hard knocked my head, and I crumpled as I fell, stunned, barely conscious.
Violent hands dragged me across the dry grass.
A throb at the back of my head pulsed hard.
Explosions continued to erupt behind me, but they drifted away.
Bursts of agony snapped my eyes open as I was thrown to the ground, blinking at the slatted ceiling beams of another cabin near the edge of the property, identical to the one I’d shared with Lucas.
A face swam into my vision…sandy hair, mint-green eyes, straight crinkles across his forehead.
“Hello, sugar.”
I whimpered, sliding away from him. The red scar I’d cut into his cheek pulled his mouth higher on one side when he smiled.
I crab-walked away from him until I hit an armchair. Four Hunters stood behind him.
I didn’t have my blades anymore, but the pistol still pressed into my back, hidden beneath my shirt.
Miller strolled toward me. “I was hoping I’d find you here.”
Heart in my throat, I said nothing. I was scared to blink, to breathe. Shivers racked my body. My gaze darted across all five men, trying to find a way to the single door behind them.
“You and me got some unfinished business.” He withdrew a knife I recognized. The twisted blade sparked silver in the low light, same as it had before Lucas stabbed it into Miller’s chest.
He ran a finger along it, smiling, and glanced over his shoulder at one of the men, who nodded and left the house.
“You went through all this trouble to kill me?” I asked.
Miller clicked his tongue. “You’re just the bait, sugar. I came here to tear the heart out of that traitor’s chest.”
Eyes wild, Miller closed the distance between us and tugged me up by my arm. I considered reaching back for my gun, but didn’t trust myself to be quick enough. Before I’d hashed out a plan, Miller sheathed his knife and extracted a length of rope from his belt.
The sight unlocked a vault of fear inside me. Heaving to get away, kicking at him, I yelled when he wrenched hard on my pinky, snapping a bone. I fell into the chair, tears falling, but he bound my hands, the ropes digging into the scars left from his handcuffs.
Where the hell was Lucas?
Miller withdrew the knife. “I just need a siren’s call.”
He jerked on the pinky he’d broken, forcing my bound hands down on the armrest, and drove that wicked, twisted blade through both hands, pinning me to the chair.
I screamed—a harsh, inhuman noise that pierced the night.
I tried to yank, but the exquisite torture split my vision into black spots, and I swam at the edge of consciousness. Fury kept me tethered to the present.
Kill him.
Rip him apart like paper.
His voice dropped low, almost seductive. “That’s it, sugar. Scream.”
Claw that smile off his face.
I put all my hatred into my voice. “I can’t wait to see what he does to you.”
“I’m so scared.”
The door slammed open, the guard Miller sent earlier blocking the threshold. He dropped, revealing a knife in his back, and Lucas Scott standing on the other side.