Chapter Forty-Two
Bear
Amirah runs away, heading straight for the containers lining the shoreline.
“Deal’s off,” Gage says, and Kai steps forward, anger radiating from him.
I pull out my knife, flicking the blade between my fingers, ready for war. One move, and I’m spilling blood from veins. Preferably his. How dare he treat my girl like that? Like she’s his property? I mean, she’s mine. Not his.
“Not our fault the princess of The Brotherhood doesn’t want to come home,” Kai says, and Gage reaches for his gun, fingers hovering over his waistband.
Ticktock, ticktock. One more move and we strike. Wait. No. Yes.
I fight with the voices inside my head, bouncing from one foot to the other. Freya catches my gaze, and she shakes her head ever so slightly. As if she can keep me from reacting. Silly girl.
“You turned her against us. All gloves are off.” Gage pulls out his gun, then all hell breaks loose.
Men from The Brotherhood, I think, come out from all directions, heading toward us. Let the fun begin.
I grin, spinning around in a circle. “You’re all dead!” I yell, and strike toward Lucas, my pretty little pup.
He dives out of the way, landing a punch to my side. I don’t move a muscle. What a weak pup. I thought he was stronger than this.
“Find Amirah! Get her to safety!” Zion yells at me from somewhere behind me. He’s fighting with Hazen.
I focus back in on Lucas. I can’t let him go yet. Not until I get my revenge on him. He ran away from me. We weren’t done playing. We aren’t done. Not until I have the last say.
We work our way closer to the water’s edge, right near one of the docked boats. Lucas lifts a gun from his waistband, aiming it at me. Will he shoot? Won’t he? Guess I’ll find out how he’s going to play.
The ground shakes, and I lose my balance, falling to the hard concrete. Pain grazes my cheek and legs. There’s a loud splash. I struggle to stand, glancing around. Containers are on fire, and half the dock is destroyed. Fuck, yeah. I grin. Now, where’s Lucas?
I look over the edge and into the water. There he is, struggling to swim. Zion’s voice comes back into my head. Find Amirah, get her to safety.
I look around. Men are fighting everywhere.
Daringville against Daringhood. I wanna shed blood, but I need to find Amirah.
She’s my priority. I won’t let her go. I can’t.
I catch a wave of long brown hair running into one of the burning containers.
Goddamn it. Why is she playing the hero?
Does she think there are prisoners in there? Naughty princess.
I run through a sea of people, sliding my knife through anyone who gets in my way.
Blood splatters all over my arms and T-shirt, painting me red.
The metallic smell touches my lips. I lick, and a shudder rolls through me.
Fucking perfect. The best cocktail. Fresh blood.
I’m an animal looking for its prey, and anyone in my path is dead.
I reach the container I saw Amirah disappear into, and she comes running out with a bunch of women and children, screaming. Fuck. I need to get Amirah away from all this. From danger.
I grab Amirah by her arm, and she glares at me, trying to pry herself away. “We need to get them out,” she says, and I shake my head.
“No, you need to get out of here. It’s too dangerous. I won’t let you get hurt,” I say, but she yanks out of my grip.
“Get them all out, then we go,” she snaps, and I can’t argue with her. Not when she’s got that look of determination in her eyes. I’d have to knock her out and steal her for that to happen.
That’s not a bad idea.
No, I can’t do that. She wins.
I stumble inside, getting everyone I see out of the container and toward the water. There are a couple of girls helping, and I recognize one of them. She sees me and frowns. Does she recognize me too? She keeps moving, and I let out a heavy breath. She doesn’t.
Amirah gets the last of them out and walks toward me as another deafening bang rumbles beneath my feet.
Amirah goes down, and I catch her, pulling her away from the container. People are running around everywhere. I lead us toward Kai’s car, but there’s nothing left of it. Half of the vehicle is on fire. Fuck.
Smoke clings to my lungs. Amirah coughs, trying to cover her nose. I leave her and run into the smoke, prying open Kai’s trunk with my hands. The front half of the car is on fire, the flames getting closer. I reach inside for something to cover Amirah’s nose and mouth with.
My fingers grab whatever I can and pull it out. Bottles. Bags. I reach into one of the bags, and bingo. Balaclavas. Two of them. I throw the bag away and run back out of the smoke. A second later, there’s a loud boom, and Kai’s car flips over, completely destroyed.
Amirah is where I left her. I pass her a mask, and she puts it on. I fasten mine, closing out the smoke. We run.
I catch sight of Zion fighting with Hazen. A loud bang bleeds through my ears, and Zion goes down. Holy shit. No.
Amirah screams, trying to run to him, but I can’t let her go. We need to leave. Safety. Now. I’ll come back for my best friend. His body lies still on the ground. Fuck. This isn’t good. I love him. But I remember what he said to me. Get Amirah out.
I run, pulling Amirah along beside me, through our men and The Brotherhood’s. I shove my knife inside anyone who gets in our path. Pain pierces through my skin. Something hits me, but I can’t stop. Not yet. I keep moving.
We reach a forest clearing. One of the girls who helped Amirah before runs out in front of us, leading us toward a tree line.
What’s beyond that, I don’t know, but it’s safer than here. We reach the trees and keep running until we’re deep in the forest, the sounds of fighting getting quieter the farther we get from the docks.
Amirah stops running, and I brace my hands on my knees, catching my breath.
The girl with Amirah turns around and screams, pointing straight at me. What the fuck is her problem?
Amirah follows her gaze, looking between me and her. “What?” she asks breathlessly.
“It’s him!” she yells, and suddenly, I know why she looks familiar.
I need to kill her.