Chapter 27 Jason
JASON
Note to self: never play UNO with a psychopath.
Blaze, Kira, Eli, Jax, and I started playing after the guys left to keep us distracted.
Kane had some work to take care of, so he excused himself to the back porch.
At first I was terrified of Kane and Blaze, but I’ve actually gotten to know them.
I mean, Blaze is crazy, but he’s really funny.
Until you’re holding a draw four the whole game afraid to lay it down.
Finally, I have no other choice, and place it on the pile.
Blaze’s eyes snap to mine, and I swallow.
“What the fuck is that?” he asks.
Kira smacks his arm. “Blaze, stop. You’re scaring him.”
“He should be scared,” Blaze mutters, picking up his four cards.
“It’s just a game, Blaze,” Jaxon laughs.
“Well, this game is bullshit.”
We continue through the game until it’s just me and Blaze.
I can feel my heart pounding out of my chest, and seconds later, my watch starts alerting me that my heart rate is too high.
Stupid snitch. I pick up a card and almost cry when I see it’s a reverse, which means I’ll be out after this hand.
I lay it down quickly, call UNO, and lay my other card down.
Blaze looks at the pile and then looks at me.
He slowly lays his cards down and crosses his arms on the table.
“Good game,” he says and finally starts laughing. “I’m not that crazy.”
Kane snorts when he walks into the room. “Keep telling yourself that. You once slit a guy’s throat for beating you at poker.”
“In my defense, he was an asshole. Jason’s cool.”
“What about family game night when you flipped a table over Monopoly?” Jaxon asks, sitting back in his chair.
“Or when he guessed wrong during Clue?” Eli throws in and grins when Blaze looks at him.
“Are you asking for punishment, Pet?”
Eli’s mouth drops open. “What about Jaxon?”
“My dick is still in the cage from the last punishment,” Jaxon grumbles, and Kira starts laughing.
“I don’t want to know,” she says. “But I need to know. What did you do?”
Kane runs his fingers through Jaxon’s hair. “Yes, Litso kukly, what did you do?”
Jaxon huffs and rolls his eyes. “I may not know when to keep my mouth shut.”
“Shocker,” Kira says dryly. “How long?”
“A week. I have one more day.”
“You can’t come for a week?” I ask before I can stop myself. All eyes turn to me, and I can feel my face flame.
Kira pats my arm. “I promise not to give Ari any ideas.”
“Or Tivon,” Blaze says. “I need to know more about him.”
I shrug. “There isn’t much to tell.”
“Except that hot as fuck kiss you laid on him before he left,” Kira responds.
“I don’t think I need to be here for this conversation,” Kane replies and strides from the room, making us all laugh.
“So, is he in?” Jaxon asks. “The last time I talked to Kira, she said she wasn’t sure he was ever going to give in.”
“I didn’t think he was, either,” I admit. “But I took a chance and kissed him, and he walked away. Then Ari talked to him, something happened between them, and now everything's changed.”
“I’m dying to know what,” Kira sighs. “They looked all kinds of messed up when we went outside.”
“Did you see the stubble burn on Ari’s neck?” I ask.
“Yes! Holy shit. They were getting down before they got interrupted.”
“I feel like we aren’t living our lives to the fullest potential,” Blaze says. “We need to spice things up.”
Jaxon rolls his eyes so hard I’m surprised they don’t get stuck. “Blaze, our relationship is spicy enough. Do I need to remind you what happened last night?” Going by Blaze’s dirty as fuck grin, he’s just kidding about spicing things up.
Kira plugs her ears. “La, la, la, la. That’s my brother.”
The motion sensor goes off at the front door, and I smile when I check the cameras and see that it’s the guys.
But that smile slides off my face when I see the looks in their eyes, and instantly Kira and I are out of our chairs.
I go straight to Gavin, because it looks like he’s hanging on by a thread.
“What’s going on?” I ask as I look at the other guys, and notice someone missing. “Where’s Tyler?”
“Someone grabbed him,” Gavin answers thickly, trying to hold back tears. Kira gasps and grabs his other hand. “All we found were tire tracks, and Nolan can’t get a lead on his tracker.”
“We’re going to head back in the morning.
It’s too dark right now,” Ari says, wrapping his arm around Gavin’s shoulders.
Gavin sags in his arms, and Ari kisses the top of his head.
“We were ambushed. They surrounded us faster than we could react, and we still didn’t find Cryptic.
Just a scared kid and their dead parents. ”
“A kid?” I whisper.
“He was no more than thirteen,” Tivon replies. “He was tied up in the basement with his parents dead in the corner. It was bad. They were tortured before their throats were slit. He’s gotta be Cryptic’s brother.”
I lead Gavin over to the couch to sit down because he looks dead on his feet.
I sit beside him and grab his hand, lending him all the strength I can.
No matter how bad I want to fall apart, I need to be strong for the rest of them.
But why Tyler? Was he alive? Hurt? Scared?
So many thoughts were running through my head.
“Where’s the kid now?” Kane asks, walking to sit in an empty chair.
“With Axel’s team. They took him to their house because it’s the safest right now.” Tivon sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. “And we need to move again soon.”
“Not until we find Tyler,” Gavin growls, shooting death glares at Tivon. “If he can get away, he’ll come here.”
“I don’t mean without Tyler,” Tivon says softly. Some of the tension drains from Gavin, and he sits back on the couch, squeezing my hand. “Nolan is going to continue trying to make contact with his tracker. We just need one ping, and we’ll be on our way. Until then, we should probably rest.”
I stand up and pull Gavin to stand. He doesn’t protest when I lead him to the bedroom with Kira following closely behind us.
We help him strip his gear off, and it’s like he’s a limp noodle.
There’s no emotion on his face, and his eyes are blank.
I cast a worried look at Kira, and it’s reflected back in her eyes.
We get his pants off his hips, and I gently push him to sit down so I can get his boots off.
I make short work of it and get him situated in the middle of the bed so Kira and I can lay on either side of him.
We both lay our heads on his chest and grab his hands.
It’s quiet for a few minutes before Gavin takes a shuddering breath and starts sobbing.
Kira and I whisper soothing things to him, all the while trying to hold back our own tears.
“I can’t lose him.”
“You won’t,” I say with as much conviction as I can muster. “It’s Tyler. He’s too stubborn to go out this way.”
Gavin laughs through his tears. “You’re right. I can’t give up on him.”
Kira wipes tears from his cheeks. “None of us can. Tyler is so fucking smart. He’ll figure a way out of this, or hold on until we get there.”
“I do have good news,” I whisper. “I called Betty to check on that little boy that you guys saved from that trafficking ring.” Gavin looks at me with glassy eyes, and I kiss his cheek. “He’s going home with Betty tomorrow, and he’s finally starting to talk. His name is Isiah.”
Gavin closes his eyes and more tears leak out, but this time they’re happy tears.
We get comfortable, and I feel like I just began to drift off when someone busts through the door. Gavin sits up in a flash and locks eyes with Tivon.
“Nolan got a distress call from Tyler’s tracker. We need to move.”
We’re all out of bed in a hurry, and Gavin starts pulling his clothes on, then his gear. He kisses Kira and me hard before following Tivon from the room. We say our goodbyes, and the guys head toward the SUV, leaving us with Kane again. I wave one last time as they back out of the driveway.
While praying they all come back this time.