34. Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Freya
M y pussy aches with every step I take, but it was worth it.
I didn’t plan on screaming those words to Lucas, but in that moment, it felt right, and I’m so glad I did.
It wasn’t the first time I’ve said those words to him, or him to me, but I feel it stronger every time I do.
I don’t want to lose him—I can’t.
If I lose anyone else at this point, I’ll crumble, and I just don’t know if I could continue living.
I’m still wishfully praying that Alec will come back, but I’m starting to realize this is my new reality.
The pain is still raw, and it fucking hurts.
Having the guys and Amirah with me helps, but with this drama with Kai, things don’t feel right.
There’s so much we need to say and fix.
“Fuck, I hope this meeting between them and us pays off,” I say.
Lucas squeezes my hand in his as we reach the train tracks.
“You can only try, but please, for the sake of my sanity, don’t do anything reckless.”
I nod, but both of us know full well that reckless is my middle name.
Kai agreed to meet me here, and so did Gage and Hazen, but none of them know that the other is coming.
It had to be this way, or they wouldn’t have come.
I need to try one last time for a peace treaty.
The battle lines may have been drawn, but I’ll do everything in my power to stop this war from kicking off.
Footsteps crunch against the rocks behind us.
Kai, Bear, and Zion move toward us.
Kai gives me a brief look before his dark, stormy gaze pins to Lucas.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” he snaps as they reach us.
Zion gathers up his dirty-blond hair, putting it into a ponytail, and Bear reaches for his knife, flicking the blade with his eyes glued on Lucas.
“Chill, he was with me, and we need to chat,” I say, stepping in front of Lucas, but he sidesteps, standing beside me.
The shriek of tires coming to a halt fills the air as Gage’s black Bentley Mulliner Batur pulls up on their side of the tracks, and he exits the driver’s seat.
The sun rises over the skyline, and I have to shield my eyes from the brightness.
He’s wearing black cargo pants, his gray-scale tattoos peeking out from his white T-shirt.
Hazen hops out of the passenger seat, pulling his black cap over his head.
He winks at me, and I smile.
“Freya?” Gage growls in question, and they all look at me.
My heart hammers inside my chest.
I stand in the middle of the tracks between them both.
Lucas moves, so he’s on the Daringville side.
“Fuck you, Freya,” Kai spits, and before I can take my next breath, he’s moving, running over the tracks, with Bear and Zion right beside him.
Lucas races faster, and fists fly between them all.
Fuck!
No, this can’t be happening.
I enter the fray, grabbing on to Kai’s waist, trying to yank him back, but he doesn’t budge.
I reach into the back of his pants, pulling out a gun.
My hands tremble against the cool metal, and before I can think better of it, I lift it to the sky and pull the trigger three times.
My ears ring and everyone stops.
“Stop!” I scream, pushing my way between them.
Kai, Bear, and Zion step backward.
Hazen grips his arm, blood seeping through his fingers.
I grab his forearm, where a nasty cut reaches from his wrist to his elbow.
I whirl around, glaring at Bear, who shrugs, wiping the blood from his knife onto his shirt.
I feel Hazen, Gage, and Lucas at my back, and I release a loud exhale.
“I won’t allow this shit.”
Kai scoffs.
“You’ve got one minute,” he bites out.
“Thank you. Now, look—I don’t want anything to happen to any of you. Can we please just be adults and sort this out between us?” I ask, and Bear bites into his bottom lip, shaking his head slightly.
“We already tried that and look what happened. Hundreds died because of them,” Kai says.
“Fuck off, that wasn’t us—it was you,” Gage yells, pushing against my back.
I hold him off, raising the gun once more.
“Bullshit. We don’t kill innocents,” Kai says, and I believe him.
“Neither do they,” I say.
“You chose them,” Kai snaps, and I roll my eyes.
“Fine, I did, but I’ve always been your sister. What happened to ‘we don’t strike first’? What happened to family loyalty?” The words burn a long line down my throat.
It’s a soft blow, but fuck him if he won’t accept a peace offering to avoid this war.
“Loyalty?” Kai scoffs.
“You wanna talk about family loyalty? Where do you think we got these guns from?” Kai points behind me at Hazen.
Hazen’s warmth from my back is gone.
He pushes past me, getting right up in Kai’s face.
“The fuck you say?” he growls, and Kai steps back, grinning.
Bear moves again, knocking his fist into Lucas’s jaw.
He stumbles back, completely caught off guard.
Before I have a chance to react, Bear wraps an arm around my neck and pulls me back against his body.
I struggle against him but eventually stop.
Bear is unpredictable, at best; he likes me, but that doesn’t mean he won’t hurt me.
Bear’s breath is heavy against the back of my neck.
“The fuck?” Kai growls, frowning at Bear.
At least Kai still cares.
“Don’t let him do this,” I beg, and Kai’s eyes soften for a second before they turn hard again, and he shakes his head.
“We’re not getting a response from the supplier. We need leverage. Why not take something valuable to them?” Bear shrugs.
Kai studies the ground, then nods and softly says, “It’s out of my hands.” My chest squeezes.
Gage pulls out his gun at the same time as Kai and Zion, and I stand between them, placing my hand on Gage’s heart, in the middle of the train tracks, with Bear’s arm still firmly around me.
“Give her back,” Lucas growls, stepping forward, and Bear’s hand tightens around me.
“Talk to your father and give us the remainder of the weapons we paid for. Until then, she’s ours,” Kai says to Hazen before turning around.
“My father?” Hazen asks, his cheeks paler than they were a second ago.
“What’s he got to do with this?”
“Catch up, dickhead.” Bear rolls his eyes dramatically.
“Daddy dearest’s been sellin’ us weapons, but the last shipment was short. So we’ll take this little weapon here”—Bear shoves me in the back, and I stumble forward before he catches me—“until you can provide us with the real ones.”
“Like fuck you’re taking her,” Hazen says, his voice deep and gravelly.
“I won’t walk away from you again,” Gage says to me, and my pulse quickens.
Those words hang heavily in the air, touching every single part of my heart.
He won’t leave me.
They won’t.
I’ve waited so long to hear those words from him—and now I have them.
He loves me.
He’ll do anything for me.
And I’ll do anything for him.
Which is why I have to stay.
If I’m with Kai, I can convince him to stop this madness, surely.
“They won’t hurt me. Just go,” I plead, my voice coming out all raspy.
“No. Take me instead,” Lucas says, stepping over the tracks.
“No, you idiot. They’ll kill you!”
“He’s right. We’re taking him, not her,” Kai says.
Bear presses a sloppy kiss against my cheek before shoving me forward, and Hazen pulls me into his embrace.
“No!” I yell, struggling against Hazen, but he wraps his arms around my waist, not letting me go.
They can’t take Lucas.
I’m safer with them because I know Kai won’t hurt me, but Lucas?
He wouldn’t hesitate.
Fuck.
This can’t be happening.
Bear grabs Lucas, snapping cuffs around his wrists before turning and walking away, leading Lucas as he goes.
Kai and Zion follow.
“Don’t you dare hurt him!” I yell, and Kai flips me off over his shoulder.
Hazen releases me and goes to follow, but I reach out, grabbing his uninjured arm and yanking him back over the tracks.
“You can’t. We need you here,” I say, and he rips his arm out of my grip and storms toward the car.
“Fuck!” he roars, and I stand there, frozen to the spot.
If Dominic gave the Daringhood boys weapons, then this changes everything.
I came into this hoping for a way to end this war, and it just blew up in my face.
We are fucked.