35. Lincoln
LINCOLN
Tugging my hood lower, I peered around the corner of the corridor inside the empty office building.
My heart hammered in my chest. Fucking Daniel Hoyton.
He’d been a thorn in my side for years, my enemy practically from birth, and yet…
I wanted him so fucking badly, and I was tired of trying to fight it.
Did I think it would end up blowing up in our faces?
Probably, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.
Right now, though, wanting him came secondary to worrying about him.
I was simultaneously extremely pissed off and extremely concerned.
Daniel had a habit of exaggerating, but he also tended to downplay serious situations, so while I couldn’t be sure, there was only one course of action that came to mind when I’d seen his message.
As I’d done once before, I followed him, keeping back far enough that he wouldn’t detect me.
All my senses were on high alert as I crept through the building. I had no plan, and no weapons other than a small pocketknife. It was irresponsible and stupid, but there was no part of me that even thought about turning back.
Pausing, I held my breath and listened. From somewhere up ahead, I could make out the faint sounds of a scuffle, and I crept forwards. Then a familiar voice cried out in pain, and I broke into a run.
I entered the room at a dead sprint, my gaze arrowing straight to a familiar figure being restrained by a huge giant of a man, his bicep bulging around Daniel’s torso as he yanked a blood-covered blade out of my little demon’s side.
It was a relief to lean into my instincts when the rest of me was screaming to get out of there.
Tuning into them, the way I did on the ice, my mind instantly calmed, calculating the situation in an instant.
With no hesitation, I pulled my knife from my pocket and lunged forwards, slamming it straight into the man’s cheek.
He roared, his arm slacking around Daniel, who wasted no time in getting out of his hold, wrestling the bloody knife from his grip, and plunging it straight into his eye socket.
Fluid burst from his eyeball, spraying over Daniel’s balaclava, and I gagged, but Daniel didn’t even blink, throwing himself on top of the screaming man as he fell to the floor.
He got the man’s head between his palms and, without missing a beat, bashed his head against the floor once, then twice, and the man fell still beneath him.
With a groan, he climbed to his feet and then launched himself at me, his whole body trembling as he shoved me back against the wall into the shadows, forcing me down to the floor. “What the fuck are you doing here? They can’t see you,” he whispered urgently. “You need to go, now.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I hissed. “Don’t waste your breath arguing.”
“Fucking stubborn asshole.” His voice shook.
“Wait here. Don’t speak, and whatever you do, don’t show your face.
” He released me, and I did as he asked, ducking into the corner of the room next to a filing cabinet.
From beneath my hood, I watched Daniel stride across the room, punching a man straight in the face without even pausing for breath, only coming to a stop when he reached another hooded, masked man.
The man nodded at whatever Daniel said to him, unzipping a small bag he was wearing.
Wincing, Daniel pulled aside the torn fabric where he’d been stabbed, and the guy quickly applied something from a tube before covering the area with gauze and tape.
After giving the guy a quick nod, Daniel held out his hand, and the guy handed him a small bundle of fabric.
By the time he made it back over to me, he’d punched the same guy again, this time breaking his nose—I’d heard the crunch—and my dick was half-hard in my jeans, despite the danger. Watching Daniel Hoyton in his element, working in such a quick, competent way, was hot as fuck.
“Put that on,” he panted, throwing the fabric at me.
I wasted no time in tugging the balaclava over my head, and when my face was covered, he exhaled shakily.
“Don’t speak. No one can know who you are.
” Immediately turning his back on me, he ran to help one of the balaclava-clad men in restraining a guy dressed in a suit that looked far too expensive for his surroundings.
Shouts filled the air amidst the thuds of flesh hitting flesh and the crackle of Tasers.
One of the remaining men closed in on me, and I launched myself upright, delivering a savage left hook to his chin.
I put all my force into it, and he toppled over instantly, crashing to the carpet.
“Nice work.” Daniel appeared in front of me, his blue eyes sparkling behind his balaclava. “I guess you really have been holding back when you fight me.”
“I could say the same about you,” I murmured, nodding towards the unconscious man on the floor. Daniel grimaced and then cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck over his hood.
“Uh, yeah. Uh…you might wanna leave now. We need to interrogate a few people, and it isn’t gonna be pretty.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Please.”
“No.” I folded my arms over my chest, staring him down. “Don’t waste your breath arguing.”
“Stubborn fucking asshole!” He whirled around, stomping over to a tall guy who was incapacitating the man in the suit, twisting his arm behind his back. There was a loud crack, and the man screamed.
“Courtesy of the Hoyton Firm,” the guy drawled. “That one’s for Neil.”
“And this.” Daniel’s gloved fist glinted as he swung it back, and his knuckleduster connected with the man’s ribs, making him howl in pain.
The tall guy released his grip, and when the man dropped to the carpet, screaming, he sighed. “Listen to me. You’re going to tell us what we need to know, otherwise we are going to make the rest of your life very short and very, very painful.”
“I ain’t telling you nothing!”
“Wrong answer.” The guy crouched down next to the writhing man.
He took his hand, almost gently and sharply twisted his wrist. There was another snapping sound, and I winced.
Daniel glanced over at me, his eyes wide and anxious, while the tall guy bent lower, ignoring the howls of pain coming from the man on the carpet. “Want to try again?”
“Fuck. You.”
“Little lordling?”
Daniel shot me one last anxious glance before he turned away. “It’ll be less painful if you answer his questions.” When the man still refused to speak, he sighed, pulling out a long, thin blade. “One last chance.”
The man grabbed at him, but Daniel evaded him easily, plunging the blade straight through his palm and into the carpet beneath. A red stain began to spread around his pinned hand as he finally succumbed to unconsciousness.
“Nailed it,” Daniel said, and the tall guy chuckled before cocking his head and speaking rapidly into what I guessed was an earpiece beneath his balaclava. When he was finished, he turned back to Daniel, lowering his voice.
“The others need help. Ready to go?”
“Ugh. I wish we’d brought the masks with the mouth holes. I hate talking through this thing. I keep getting a mouthful of material.”
The guy pointedly cleared his throat. “D.”
Daniel straightened up, wincing. “Yeah. Ready.” His gaze flicked to mine.
“You stay here.” I folded my arms over my chest, staring him down, and he growled under his breath.
“Fine. Stay close, and don’t do anything stupid.
” After helping the others restrain the men they’d apprehended, shooting me a look that warned me not to interfere, he followed the tall guy out of the room.
I jogged over to them, falling in behind him.
Two of their group stayed behind, presumably to keep an eye on things, and the other two came up behind me.
No one asked who I was, thankfully, clearly trusting Daniel’s judgement.
We jogged down a long corridor, pausing every now and then for someone to confer via their earpiece, and ended up pushing out through a fire exit, ending up in a car park surrounded by high walls covered in graffiti.
“Lights!” someone shouted, and the place erupted into utter mayhem.
Weak yellow beams from high on the walls swung across the darkened space, illuminating clashing figures, and I couldn’t work out who was friend and who was foe.
Daniel was a dark shadow, hugging the wall, sneaking across the space, and I stuck close to him.
Even almost completely covered in dark clothes and a balaclava, I’d recognise him anywhere.
My one and only priority was to make sure he stayed safe, because if anyone else dared to hurt him, they’d have to deal with me.
I stayed on high alert as we moved, and when a figure detached itself from the shadows and lunged at Daniel, I was ready, delivering a solid uppercut that connected with their jaw. No one else was even going to touch him, not if I had anything to do with it.
“Thanks,” Daniel murmured as we worked together to take the man out, leaving him groaning in pain on the pitted tarmac behind us. Broken glass crunched under my feet as we picked up the pace, heading for the far side of the car park where the fighting seemed to be concentrated.
I almost ran into Daniel when he came to a sudden stop.
“Stay back,” he hissed urgently, and I immediately dropped back against the wall, my heart pounding out of my chest as the reality of the situation hit me.
This was nothing like hockey. Nothing like the fights I’d been involved in.
This was real. These people were out to seriously injure and even kill each other.
Daniel thrust his hand into his pocket and reemerged holding a small cylindrical object. He held it up in front of his face, turning towards me.
“You’ve already seen the worst of me. Meet Arson.” Striking the flint, his eyes were suddenly illuminated by the golden glow coming from the flame of his lighter.
Despite the danger, my heart skipped a beat. “Dan.”
“Yeah. Watch this.” His tone was resigned, but his eyes crinkled at the corners, and I just knew he was grinning behind his mask.
Trust him to find fire amusing. Pulling what looked like a rag from an inner pocket of his jacket, he dropped down to the ground, picking up what looked like a large chunk of stone.
He wrapped it in the rag and then held it up, touching the edge of the flame to the corner.
It instantly caught light, and I smelled something chemical as he launched himself at two of the grappling figures, shouting a warning before flinging the burning rag at one of them.
The figure shrieked as the rag-covered stone hit them dead in the chest, the flames instantly catching on their clothes.
They dropped to the floor, rolling, and the person they’d been fighting fist-bumped Daniel before pulling out a gleaming blade, throwing themselves at the rolling figure with glee.
“Okay. Who next?” Daniel scanned the car park.
The tall guy from earlier suddenly materialised in front of us, looming out of the darkness. “That was the last of them. We’ve got it from here. Go and report back, and we’ll have a proper debrief after I get the answers we need. It might take a while, and I don’t want you to have to see this.”
“I can handle it,” my stubborn rival insisted, but the guy shook his head.
“Go.” His gaze slid to me. “Don’t think I won’t be interrogating you later about our mystery guest.”
“Who, him?” Daniel climbed to his feet. “That’s…uh…my sidekick, Ganon. You don’t need to worry about him.”
Little shit. Ducking my head, I grinned to myself before following him out of the car park.
When we were safely inside my SUV, well away from the action, Daniel tugged off his balaclava and dropped it into the footwell.
“I want to know exactly what you were doing here, and no bullshit. I want the truth.” He twisted to face me, clutching his side with a wince.
“Shit, I forgot I got stabbed. Can you drop me at my house? My family’s house, that is.
I should probably get this checked out by a doctor, and I need to speak to my mum and uncle. ”
“Yeah, I’ll drop you,” I said softly, placing my palm on his thigh and rubbing it gently.
“Are you okay?” He sighed, giving me a one-shouldered shrug before tugging off his knuckleduster and gloves.
After I’d started up the engine, I glanced over at him.
“I was here because I was worried about you.”
“Why?”
My jaw clenched. Glancing between the rear-view mirror and the console screen showing the view through my reverse camera, I backed out of the space. “Why? Don’t you remember the message you sent me? Insinuating you might fucking die?”
“I-I didn’t think you’d be that bothered.
” He bit down on his lip again, and I was so fucking angry, I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying words I’d definitely regret.
Yanking my hand away from his thigh, I hit the Music button on my console, turning the volume up enough to make conversation impossible.
I gripped the steering wheel tightly, gritting my teeth as I navigated to the Hoyton house.
We entered the open gates and came to a stop on the driveway in front of the house, and I turned the music off. My eardrums were still ringing when Daniel spoke hesitantly.
“Uh…thanks for the lift.”
“Fuck you, Hoyton. Seriously. Fuck. You.”
His lip trembled. “Yeah.” He scrubbed a shaking hand over his face. “Yeah, I know. It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. For what it’s worth, I don’t regret any of the stuff we did together. I won’t— Yeah. I’ll keep my distance from now on.”
Then he unclipped his seat belt, opened the door, and left.