Chapter 21
Twenty-One
HALLE
S urprisingly, Kitty made it to the gas station Rome called me from. I parked the bike there and walked the rest of the way to the building Rome told me they were holding Loki and Rae in. I don’t want to give myself away too soon. I hear another bike heading this way, but I’m not focused on that… That is, not until the bike slides up beside me, and I see Comp riding it. Oh fuck, is the entire club going to be pulling up after him, too? I look at the road behind us, but no one is coming.
“Just me. Saw you left in a hurry, figured it was important. Did I hear Loki and the kids were taken?” he asks, looking deadlier than I’ve ever seen him before. If I wasn’t the proud crazy bitch I am, I would be scared right now.
“Loki and Rae were. Rome called and told me where they were. He followed them on a scooter he stole from someone along the way. I told him to stay here, but of course, he didn’t listen and must still be at the building looking for Rae and Loki,” I say, not wanting to waste any more time. We only have to walk about half a mile before hearing someone running. I pull my gun out, and so does Comp.
“Mom!” Rome says, barreling into my arms. I squeeze tight and hold him close. He pulls back quickly, grabbing onto my hand.
“Are you hurt, baby?” I ask, wanting to check him for any injuries, but he pulls me down an old dirt road.
“I’m fine, Mom. Come on, we have to hurry and get to them. I’ve been watching the place, trying to find the best place to sneak in. I’ve only seen six men come in and out so far, so that’s all that should be in there. I think they are being held in the back right bedroom because that’s where I heard the most noise. I heard Loki’s laugh,” he says, telling us every single detail of what he’s found. I would be proud and impressed if I wasn’t in such a rush to get my man and baby girl out of this shithole. I will make sure I tell him just how much later when my family is safe and together.
“You did fantastic, little man. We can take over from here,” Comp says, and I turn to Rome, getting down on one knee as we make it close to the front porch of the run-down house.
“I want you to stay here, baby. I don’t want you in the middle of all this mess. Okay? Stay right here,” I tell him seriously. I can tell he wants to argue, but he just nods and steps back. That went easier than I had planned.
“Alright, if there’s six of them, we can take them easy. I’m on point. You follow behind and watch my back. I’m guessing at least two of them are in the room with Loki, and if Rae is split up from him, there should be one in the room with her as well,” I say as Comp and I continue to plan our rescue.
“The club isn’t going to be pissed at you for doing this without their knowledge, are they?” I ask, knowing I might catch hell but not wanting to put Comp in that position.
“I texted them our location. They should be here within the next half hour if you want to wait,” he says, shrugging. “Personally, I want to take care of these fuckers myself for even thinking about touching my niece and nephew,” Comp says in a deadly tone.
“Godchildren,” I tell him, smiling. He looks up at me, confused.
“What?” he asks.
“Loki and I were actually going to ask you to be their godfather,” I tell him. The kids love him to death, and he would kill or die for either of them. I hope he realizes how much my kids love him and his impact on them. Comp swallows hard before nodding.
“Of course. Let’s go get my goddaughter,” he says, pulling his gun out of the holster and cocking it back.
I nod and then stand, not wasting any more time. I look back at Comp before nodding again and kicking the door. I wasn’t sure if it would actually budge, but fuck that, I got to make an entrance, one way or another. Apparently, my adrenaline is off the fucking chain today because my foot goes straight through the door, making it fly open and rip off the hinges. What can I say? Fuck with me, but don’t fuck with my man, and never ever fuck with my kids. The wrath of God will look like child's play compared to what I will do to you. I quickly make my way into the house and see movement to my right. I take the shot, and he goes down.
“One,” I say without hesitation.
“Two,” Comp says just as quickly as he takes a shot to our left.
Another two come out of the room down the hall. Yeah, this is turning out to be some good times.
“Three,” I say as I take down another one.
“Four,” Comp pegs the other.
We go down the hall, kicking doors in as we go. I’m guessing they have Rae and Loki in the same room, since there are only two fuckers left and one door at the end of the hall. We make our way down, knowing damn well the fuckers inside know we're here. We weren’t quite in the least, and I don’t really give a flying fuck-a-la-la.
“Let me go first on this one, Hal,” Comp says. I want to argue, but he’s already pushing me behind him, and I feel little hands on the back of my shirt. A bit stunned, I look down and see Rome.
“I told you to stay outside where it’s safe,” I scold him.
“Yeah, right, Mom, like that was really going to happen,” he says, rolling his eyes. I want to grab him by the ear and pull his stubborn ass out to safety, but before I can, Comp kicks in the last door, rushing into the room.
I push Rome back and follow, hearing, “Five.”
I look in the room and see the last fucker inside holding a gun to Loki’s head. Loki looks beat the hell up, but I don’t take my eyes or my gun off the fucker holding a gun to my man’s head. I’m just about to take the shot when Loki pulls something from his sleeve. Smiling, I see the glint of silver before Loki shoves the knife straight through the fucker’s eyeball. He goes down without a sound, and I finally look at him.
“Six,” Comp says, but I’m glaring at Loki.
“You ALWAYS get the final kill, fucker,” I say, pouting, but then I’m quickly running over to Rae. Rome is already there, hugging her close, but I stop and pull them both into my arms.
“You got to kill all the fuckers through the house. If my count was right and the sound of your gun versus Comps. You got two of them,” he tells me. I roll my eyes but look down at the twins.
“Are you both alright?” I ask, not believing they were both in this situation.
“I told them you were coming,” Rae says with a smile, and I can’t help it. I laugh. This is for sure my kid.
“Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here and burn this place down,” I say, standing and moving toward the door. I look up when I hear a noise, and that’s when I see it. We missed someone. There must have been an extra man, but where the fuck did he come from? Before I react, he points his gun right at Rome and Rae, and I know I won’t be able to move fast enough. He takes a shot. Like in slow motion, I watch in horror as Comp throws himself in front of the bullet. I hear it hit him with a thump, and he goes down.
“UNCLE COMP. NO!” Rome screams as he runs at the fucker who shot Comp. Rome doesn’t give two shits. He tackles the guy to the ground, and I’m in motion. The gun he was holding slides across the floor, but I grab Rome and pull him off the asshole. I hear Loki behind me and watch him pick up the gun before firing it and hitting the asshole right between the eyes.
We all rush to Comp’s side, but Loki pulls his shoulder, making him roll over so we can see the wound.
“Get the kids out of here, pet. Now,” Loki says, looking at the blood on the floor. I don’t question him. I grab both the kids as they fight me to stay with Comp and drag them out of the house, holding on to them tight.
“What the fuck? Did we miss all the fun?” I hear Grim say as we make it onto the porch.
“What’s wrong? What happened, Halle?” Swift asks, rushing toward us.
“Comp needs help. He was shot,” I say simply, feeling numb, and all the men rush in at once with Grim leading, all except Rodeo. Rodeo grabs Rae and holds her as she cries, and I pick up Rome, holding him in my arms as he does the same. After everything that happened to these two, this is their breaking point.
“He’s going to be okay, right? He going to make it?” Rome asks me between sobs.
“Yeah, baby, he’s going to make it,” I reply. He’s going to make it because these kids need him. Because they’ve lost too much in their short lives and don’t need to lose anyone else. He’s going to make it.
He has to.