Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Charlotte
Fear is such a strange emotion. It takes over until all I can focus on is the worst-case scenario. My mind runs through a thousand nightmarish possibilities in the span of a few minutes, but my body manages to stay calm.
On the outside, you’d never know I’m breaking into a million pieces.
I’m worried for myself, mostly because I can’t die and leave Lucky alone. Thankfully I know he would have people to look after him now, which is something we’ve never had before.
Still, I’m not dying today.
It’s not an option.
But I’m so worried about Steve and Miles.
Blade has had them for at least a couple of days.
There’s no telling what he’s done to them in that amount of time.
Even as worried as I am about them, I’m more concerned with what Blade and his men could have done to Vanessa.
There are certain vile kinds of evil that I know Blade is more likely to inflict on a woman.
My nerves are shot, and that’s not even taking into account what will happen if Magnum is there.
I heard what Patrick said, but I owe Mag my life. All of it is eating away at me, and my stomach churns.
My nightmares have come to life.
“Would you like to tell us who Steve and Miles are?” Cormac asks on the car ride to the warehouse.
Patrick’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror, and Malachy twists around in the front passenger seat.
I had a feeling this was coming, and at the very least, I owe them details about who they’ll be helping to save.
“Pregnant omegas need access to alphas during pregnancy. It’s even worse for unbonded omegas.
Without contact with alpha pheromones and semen, there can be serious medical complications.
” I swallow thickly, looking out the window to avoid having to meet any of their gazes.
“I was scared of my own shadow back then. If it wasn’t necessary for me to be close to alphas, I would have refused matching.
Then I met them. They were patient and kind and all the things Blade could never dream of being.
They’d lost their omega, and they were still grieving.
They were just as resentful about needing an omega as I was about needing alphas, but they were so patient, and they never took their frustration about the situation out on me. ”
“It wasn’t an intimate relationship, then?” Cormac asks.
I nod, then shake my head. “There was sex—my body needed alpha semen—but not emotional intimacy. I mean, I cared about them, and they cared about me, but I knew they were still in love with a ghost, and I wasn’t in a place to love anyone except Lucky.
I didn’t even love myself back then. I was just going through the motions because I had to for Lucky.
They took care of me during my pregnancy, held my hand while I gave birth to Lukas, and split shifts with me the first few weeks after he was born.
Without their support, I don’t know if I’d be here right now. ”
Cormac reaches over, grabbing my hand. “We’ll do our very best to make sure they make it out of the warehouse alive.”
“We will,” Malachy agrees. “But if it comes down to you or them…”
That’s probably the most I can ask for.
I hate this so much.
The worst part is, I could have stopped all of this before it even started if I had just made sure Blade was dead.
Emory Moretti is in charge of the exchange, but Patrick and Malachy are pretending to be his enforcers. We swap into his vehicle, with Patrick taking the passenger seat and Malachy sitting with me in the back seat. There are also two SUVs filled with his men, and we’re all stuck waiting.
Cormac split off from us with several of Moretti’s men. They’re getting into place around the warehouse.
I can only hope it’ll be enough.
One stray bullet could take any of us out.
My blood pressure has to be dangerously high. I can feel my heartbeat echoing in my ears.
Malachy scoots closer, tossing his arm around my shoulder. He pulls me into his chest, and I ache to melt into him and soak up some of his strength.
I’m afraid if I do that, I’ll crumble.
I bite the inside of my cheek until I can taste blood. At least the pain gives me something else to focus on.
Moretti pulls into the warehouse, parks, and climbs from the vehicle.
Patrick follows him out, but I can’t see it.
They put a burlap bag over my head, and my wrists are loosely tied in front of me with what I think might be one of Emory Moretti’s ties.
To be fair, I’m supposed to look like a prisoner. Though all I can seem to focus on is what Miles, Steve, and Vanessa are experiencing.
“I’m right here with you, little one,” Malachy says in barely more than a whisper.
“I know,” I tell him, squeezing my eyes shut as I breathe through the panic.
If someone dies because of me…
It’s like my brain can’t even process it.
The awful part is that I know people are going to die tonight. The most I can hope for is that it’ll only be Blade and his guys.
The door to my left opens and cool air rushes into the car.
I can’t see much outside of shadows, but I pick up Patrick’s smoky campfire scent as his hand lands on my arm.
“I’m going to guide you out of the vehicle,” he says softly.
Malachy scoots over like he’s going to exit the car through my door. His hand cradles my skull, preventing me from bumping my head, as I step out onto what feels like concrete.
“I’d like to see Vanessa now,” Moretti says, his voice deathly calm.
Patrick helps me turn toward what I assume is the MC members opposite us. He keeps hold of my wrist but rubs his thumb along the underside of my arm.
There’s some commotion. Though I have no idea what’s happening, since I still can’t see anything.
Malachy’s scent is close, and Patrick is just behind me and to the right. Cormac is hopefully watching us all through a sniper rifle or something.
“As you can see, she’s in one piece,” Blade says in a low, raspy tone. His voice is different, but close enough to what I remember that I’m sure it’s him. “Now show me my girl.”
A shiver of pure revulsion slides down my spine.
Patrick yanks the sack off my head, and my gaze darts around as I get my bearings. The warehouse has lights, but they’re not especially bright. It still feels like I’m squinting.
There are two SUVs parked at an angle on the opposite side of the warehouse. There are men in front of it, peeking out around it, and probably some behind it.
I stumble backward as Blade comes into view. He’s up in front of the vehicles with a small cluster of two of his guys. There’s a scar across his neck that disappears down into the neckline of the T-shirt he wears under his cut.
Flashbacks flicker through my mind.
The blood.
The scraping sound the knife made as it dragged against his bone.
The gurgling that filled the air when he tried to breathe.
I shake my head, forcing away those memories.
Miles and Steve are kneeling on the ground in front of Blade. Their hands are bound, and they’re gagged. Miles has a black eye that’s so severe, I can’t tell whether his eye is even open. Steve has dried blood on his shirt, nose, and chin.
They’re both dirty, but mostly okay.
Mostly okay might be subjective.
They’re alive.
Neither is missing any important body parts, at least not ones I can see.
Vanessa is next to Blade. He has his hand wrapped in her long dark hair and a gun jabbed under her jaw. She looks some combination of pissed and terrified, and guilt washes over me so strongly it gets hard to breathe.
“Where’s my kid?” Blade asks, and I have no idea if he’s speaking to me or Moretti.
“Once you took Vanessa, you changed the terms,” Moretti says coolly.
“I have no use for a child, and I told you as much. I will personally hand the boy off to you tomorrow morning. What I won’t do is to subject him to an exchange like this.
” He gestures around, tsking. “All these guns. Do you want to terrify your own child?”
My heartbeat picks up.
Did something change?
Are they going to let Blade take me?
Do they plan to kill him tomorrow?
No.
None of that makes any sense.
I’m just panicking.
“Mag, get your ass up here and cover the prisoners,” Blade growls. His voice is no longer the same deep growl it used to be, and it sounds more like a hoarse croak.
Magnum comes up from behind the SUV, and my lips roll together. He’s always been handsome, but he used to have a type of boyish charm that they hadn’t managed to stomp out.
Now he looks as cold and hard as the rest of them. His eyes widen as they meet mine, and I try to mentally warn him.
It’s stupid and impossible, and I know that, but it doesn’t make me feel any less horrible.
Is this truly how I’m going to repay his kindness from all those years ago?
My mind races, and I try to find any possible solution, but I’ve got nothing.
I can’t risk my life or my guys’ lives to save him. Not to mention Vanessa, Miles, and Steve. They’re all completely innocent in this mess.
Moretti steps to my side, grabbing my arm, but he speaks to Blade. “You send Vanessa. I send your ex. I truly have no concern with the other two. Consider them my gift to you.”
I gasp, but Moretti gives my arm a sharp tug, and I push my lips together.
“I was planning on keeping them,” Blade says, chuckling a vile sound that makes me ache to claw his eyes out.
He rips Vanessa’s head back at even more of an angle and says something close to her ear. It’s too low for me to pick out the words, but she goes stiff.
Moretti’s hold on my arm tightens, and I sneak a peek at him. It looks like he’s about to break a tooth with how his jaw grinds.
“She’s in one piece, exactly like I promised,” Blade says, shoving Vanessa toward the middle of the warehouse.
“Go on,” Moretti says, guiding me forward.
It feels like I’m wearing lead shoes as I try to lift my feet to force myself across the empty space. Every cell in my body rebels as I get closer to Blade.
He chuckles, steps closer to Magnum, and pushes his gun to the back of Steve’s head. “Come on, Candy Girl. I can’t wait for you to join the party.”
Vanessa is only a few feet in front of me as she moves in my direction, and she gives me a look I can’t decipher. I think it might be pity or sadness. I honestly don’t know.
“You get to watch me rip your boyfriends apart piece by piece,” Blade says jovially. “Or I could blow this one’s brain all over the floor. Really set expectations for what your short life is going to be like.”
Magnum spins to the side almost faster than I can blink, bringing his gun up and pulling the trigger.
I shriek, my feet leaving the floor as I jump.
Blade’s head explodes.
At least the side closest to Mag.
It caves in on itself, blood and brain flying out the other side of his skull.
Speaking of Blade’s skull, I can see it.
Like from the inside out.
It’s white, but also red and covered in blood.
Gunshots ring out around the warehouse.
One right after another until my ears echo, and I’m not sure I’m even still alive.
Magnum loops his gun around his pointer finger and raises his hands toward Moretti and my guys as the last of the gunshots fill the air.
His lips move, but I can’t understand anything he’s saying.
Not at first.
“He might have been too focused to see this for what it really is, but the rest of us have our eyes open,” Magnum says. “We have no problem with you. Our only goal is to walk out of here alive.”
“You have sixty seconds before my men mow the rest of you down,” Moretti says. “You already got a nice start on that, didn’t you?”
“The club has been fractured for years,” Mag says.
“The old-timers versus the next generation. We want change. Blade was hyperfocused on getting revenge, not what was best for the club. He had men loyal to him—you’ll find their bodies littered around your warehouse floor.
Those of us with any sense voted against this. We were outvoted.”
Warm arms wrap around my back, and Malachy’s scent hits my nose as I struggle. “Shh, you’re okay. I’ve got ya.” As soon as it clicks, I stop fighting, and he unties the bind around my wrists.
“And you want us to do what?” Moretti asks. “Dispose of your men for you?”
I blink, sucking in ragged breaths of air, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t catch my breath.
“You’re alright, little one,” Mal says, his accent extra thick. “I’ve got ya.” He spins me around, and I bury my face in his chest.
We still need to help Steve and Miles, but I’m hyperventilating.
I also get the feeling this standoff isn’t over just yet.
Malachy pulls me across the warehouse, back to where I originally started, and we finally come to a stop.
“We want to leave Boston without starting a war,” Magnum says, conviction lining his tone.
“There are eleven of us. We don’t want to constantly have to watch our backs, worrying about when you’re going to pop up and try to wipe us out.
You got your mafia princess back. I watched over her myself to make sure Blade never touched her. ”
“After kidnapping her, that seems like the least you could have done,” Moretti says, sounding bored. “I’m going to leave that call up to my associates.”
My eyes widen.
Malachy steps back, and Patrick appears in front of me.
“That’s the Magnum you mentioned?” he asks, cradling my face in his hands.
I’m in shock, I realize as it takes replaying his words three times before they actually click in my mind.
I nod. “That’s Magnum.”
Patrick rubs his thumb over my jaw and bends to kiss my forehead. “This is for you, sweetheart. If it was up to me, I’d kill them all.”
He steps back, and Malachy wraps his arms around me once more.
“You’re related to McCarthy?” Patrick asks. “That’s what I hear, anyway. Would you like him back?”
“I thought he was dead,” Magnum says.
“Yes, well, he’s not,” Patrick says simply.
“You killed my brother in the explosion at the motel,” Magnum says. “If my father is alive, no, we don’t want him back. He stands for everything we’re trying to change.”
“Now that’s cold.” Patrick chuckles. “But I can respect it. Collect your dead and leave Boston.”
“He means tonight,” Moretti growls.
“That won’t be a problem,” Magnum replies.
“My men are going to check on the other two prisoners,” Moretti says. “Keep your distance. I have snipers that are watching your every move.”
I spin around to check, and Steve and Miles are still on their knees.
They seem okay.
Maybe a little traumatized, but they’re alive.
Unlike Blade.
I look away from the carnage that is his skull.
Vanessa stands a few feet away from Moretti with her chin held high. Her makeup is smeared, and her hair is a tangled mess, but she doesn’t seem to be crumbling.
She’s much tougher than I am.
I’m going to have nightmares about this. Even if I do, it’ll be worth it. It’s an ugly sight, but having proof he’s finally dead is cathartic.