by Breck, A. R.
“What was risky was bringing her here. She’s a fucking liability.”
“Fuck off.” Aziel growls.
“No, you fuck off. He knows that she’s here. Do you know what that means for us? He’s not playing around. She means something to him. this isn’t some Jessie we’re talking about.”
“No, she’s definitely not a fucking Jessie.” That sounded like the blonde guy. West?
“We need to come up with a plan before he fucking infiltrates this place.”
“I know.” Aziel sighs.
“No, son, I don’t think you understand.” That’s definitely Aziel’s father. “Santiago knows Ivy is here. Our plan to draw this out? Our chance to take him down? We must accelerate the plan now. We’re on limited time.”
“I fucking know that Dad!”
I jump back.
“Found you!”
I jump back again at the sound of Lilah’s voice.
“Shh!” I press my finger against her lips. “Be quiet, Lilah.” I wince again as I step back. There’s no way they didn’t hear me.
More importantly, he knows I’m here.
“Time to go.” I whisper, my heartbeat thrumming in my ears. My entire body shakes in fear. I suddenly don’t feel safe here. I feel like Santiago is somewhere off into the distance, leering at me with his disgusting, domineering look he gets.
If he gets his hands on me, I won’t survive. And worse than that, I don’t know what will happen to Lilah if he gets ahold of her.
“Where are we going?” She asks, her feet dragging on the ground. I lift her into my arms and start speed walking away. The only thought on my mind is to get as fast and far away from here as possible. I don’t know where I’m going. But if Santiago knows I’m here, I don’t’ have much time.
“Ivy!” I hear my name barked behind me and barely spare a glance over my shoulder to see Aziel rushing after me. The rest of the guys spill out of the office to watch the train wreck that I am.
I pick up my speed, running as fast as I can towards the front gate. Panic races through me at an alarming speed. The hair on my arms stands in alarm and my blood feels as uneasy as the skies above me.
“Ivy, stop!” He shouts at me again, nearly on my heels.
“I need to go, Aziel. I need to get out of here.”
“No, just stop for a second!” He pulls on my arm, halting me to a stop.
“No. I need to go. He knows I’m here. Do you understand what that means? I need to go, like yesterday.” My voice comes out winded as the panic seizes my chest.
“Uh, Lilah, you hungry? I’ve got pancakes with your name on it.” Haley’s voice comes behind me, and I turn around and see her standing there with a sympathetic look on her face. “Let me take her for a bit, okay?”
I look between her and Aziel and see a dead end in front of me.
“Okay.” I whisper, handing Lilah over to Haley. “I’ll be right in, okay? Eat fast, because we’re leaving.”
Haley looks at me confused, but says nothing as she walks inside with Lilah.
When she’s far enough away, I look back at Aziel with wide eyes. “Please, I need to leave.”
“No, you don’t. You’re safer here.”
“He found me, Aziel.” Tears spring to my eyes in terror.
“I know.” He nods, letting me go as he takes a step back, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“You know… so why am I still here? You don’t understand what kind of person he is. He’s ruthless, Aziel. He’s a bad guy.”
“I’m worse.” He lifts a brow, looking bored.
I swallow the sudden lump in my throat. “He’ll hurt me.”
He shakes his head. “I won’t let that happen.”
“You can’t stop him! He will stop at nothing—nothing—to get to me.” I angrily brush at my cheeks to wipe away the tears.
“I’ll stop him, Ivy. I’ll protect you. I’ll fucking kill him. I was going to kill him before… but now… now is a completely different story.” The anger on his face and the venom in his voice spits at me like poison.
“Why? What makes you want to protect me? Why me? Why not just let me go?”
He cocks his head to the side. “I haven’t figured that one out yet.”
“I can take care of myself.” I’m stubborn, and a fraud. I need a damn army to protect me from Santiago.
He shrugs. “Maybe, but I’m taking that fucker down either way.”
I turn my back to him, not wanting to show my emotions. I feel an inkling of safety, like everything might be okay. There’s fear in that feeling. Feeling that it’s not real. That this entire thing is a scam. How can I trust anyone? Why should I trust Aziel?
I feel a trail of a finger as my blonde hair gets pushed over my shoulder. My spine snaps straight and I hear him sigh. He doesn’t back away though, if anything, he gets closer. I glance over my shoulder at him, and see an audience standing behind us. My eyes shudder.
I feel like since I’ve been here, I’ve only made an embarrassment of myself. These people must hate me.
“Would y’all fuck off for a bit?” Aziel barks, and they all turn around and walk away without another word.
He turns his gaze back towards me. Before I know it, he grabs onto my shoulder and spins me around. “Why’re you scared of me?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m not scared.”
He laughs. “I can smell the fear coming off you, darling.” He grabs a piece of hair that fell in front of my face and picks it up, sliding it through his fingers before tucking it behind my ear. “I like it.”
I shiver, goosebumps racking my spine. “You like me… scared?”
“I’m intrigued. What is it about you, Ivy? You’re a fucking mystery.” He breathes down on me. His words dance down my cheek and a flush breaks out along my entire body. I lean into him a touch, not sure what it is about his words that make my body heat and my heart race. I should be on guard, it’s what my mind is trained to do. But instead, with one sentence, with one touch, I’m putty in his hands.
I’ve had crushes on boys back in Ohio.
Then there’s Santiago.
And now there’s Aziel.
He’s an entirely different game.
“I’m… just a girl.” I breathe, so badly wanting to lift my hand and place it against his chest. He’s breaking something in me. Or maybe he’s healing something in me. I’m changing, ever since I left Mexico. My body seems to like the change, but my mind hasn’t quite caught up yet.
“A girl?” He hums as he steps closer to me, stepping into my space and taking my air with it. I look up into his eyes and get lost in the endless stories they tell. I’ve never met a man like this. It’s like he’s lived a thousand lives.
But, I suppose, those who have lived, have lost.
I know the feeling.
“How old are you?” I breathe, seemingly closer to him with each second. If we get any closer, our lips will touch.
“I’m—”
“Ivy?” I hear my name spoken, and it takes a second to break the spell I’m under with Aziel.
I snap out of our trance to step back and looks for the source of my name being called.
“Ivy!” My name is cried from such a familiar voice, tears spring to my eyes before I see her.
“Alexia?” I see her behind the gate, gripping the bars until her fingers turn a sickly white.
“Ivy!” She starts bursting out in tears. I rush up to her, gripping her face through the bars and sobbing.
“How did you get here? How did you find me? Where did you come from?” The words come out of me at lightning speed.
“Who is this?” Aziel barks from behind me.
“This is my friend. Let her in! Open the gate!” I cry, looking at Charlie who stands at the front with a shocked look on his face.
Aziel narrows his eyes at me, looking like he doesn’t fully trust me. That hurts more than anything.
“What’s going on?” I look over my shoulder an
d see Aziel’s dad walking up behind us, with the rest of the guys in tow.
“T-this is my friend, Alexia. Please open the gate.”
Alexia grabs my hand and holds on for dear life. The terrified look on her face doesn’t go unnoticed. Aziel notices too, from the calculating look on his face.
“Open the gate, Charlie.” Aziel says, not taking his eyes off Alexia.
The gate slowly creaks open, and I rush to Alexia to take her in my arms. She stops me once I reach her, holding her hands out to stop me from wrapping my arms around her. “Thank God you’re okay.” She cries as we walk away from the gate.
“What happened to you? How did you know I was here?” I frown at her.
She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re in danger.”
I get shoved away from Alexia with a huge paw of a hand. “What the fuck do you mean she’s in danger?”
I push my way back to her. “What’s going on, Alexia?”
“He knows you’re here.” She whispers, like Santiago is standing right over her shoulder.
“I know. But how did you know I was here?” I notice she’s trembling, and my excitement that she’s here is turning into unease, ever so slowly. Like a cement slowly hardening in the pit of my stomach, Santiago seems to seep and stick to every inch of my life.
He’s poison.
“I was dropped off.” She says.
I’m shoved behind Aziel, this time from Pascal. “Who the fuck dropped you off?”
“Stop it!” I try to shove my way through the sudden wall of men standing in front of me, but it’s useless. These men are built like fucking mountains.
“Who dropped you off?” Pascal barks in her face.
“Ivy?” Alexia asks, her voice meek.
My stomach turns sour and I nearly dry heave from nerves. I’ve never heard her voice like this, and it doesn’t make me feel good. It shaky and regretful… and broken.
“What?” I peek over Aziel’s shoulder, noticing for the first time how odd her outfit is.
She wears a tan coat, something that you’d wear on a fall day. But the thing is, is that it’s never overly cold where we live. At least not enough where we’d wear a coat like this. And even though it’s fall, the air is still dry and warm. Not even a bite of cold lingers in the air.
“I’m sorry. You should go back to him before it’s too late. Go back to him, Ivy. You know he won’t stop.” She cries, looking at me over Aziel’s shoulder.
I cry too.
“Bitch, what the fu—” Aziel takes a step towards her, but Cassius slams his arm into Aziel’s chest, stopping him.
“I can’t.” I cry.
She shakes her head. “You have to. You have to go back. He told me to tell you… if you don’t want anyone else hurt, come back now.”
“Anyone else? Who has he hurt!?” I screech, grabbing onto Aziel’s shoulder and pulling on his shirt. I don’t even realize I’m doing it until Aziel grabs onto my hand, giving it a squeeze.
Alexia steps back, grabbing the zipper at the top of her coat near her chin, and starts pulling downward. Her fingers shake erratically, and my eyes grow wide as saucers as I see what’s underneath the random coat.
It’s a mass of devices strapped around her body. What looks to be like a machine… an explosive? A bomb? Something is wired around her and right over her heart is a red light that seems to be blinking fast.
Way too fast.
“I’m sorry, Ivy. I’m finally free. You should run… but you know you’ll never escape him. Go back to him, Ivy. Go back before he hurts anyone else. You know he’ll never stop.” She cries.
“Holy shit.”
“Fucking hell.”
“Oh my God.”
“Alexia!” I cry, pushing through the bulking arms towards her. I’m suddenly shoved roughly away as everyone starts scrambling.
“Fucking bomb!”
I trip in the chaos, falling to the dirt ground and scraping my palm on a jagged rock. “Ouch.” A set of arms wraps around me and hauls me up.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Aziel curses as he sprints away from Alexia.
My friend.
“Alexia!” I scream, but Aziel shoves my head underneath his arm and blocks me from the inevitable blast.
Boom.
The blast knocks us off our feet. Aziel braces for the fall, blocking me from taking the brunt of the crash. I fall on top of him, a blast of smoke and dust clouding the air and making it hard to breathe.
I can’t hear anything besides the ringing in my ears. I can see Aziel through the dust moving his mouth as he shouts something to someone. I can’t see more than a foot in front of me.
When the ringing dissipates, what sounds like oversized raindrops fall to the ground in heavy splats. The smell of burnt body and metal fills the air, turning my stomach into knots.
My sobs shake my chest as I start to turn around.
“Don’t.” Aziel grabs onto my cheeks with both hands, his own face dusty and dirty. The looks on his face is shock and horror. “Don’t turn around. Just look at me.”
“Alexia.” I whisper, silent tears tracking down my face in constant waves. “Is she…?” I look up at him, pleading for him to tell me she’s okay. That she’ll make it through this. I know better, though. There’s just no way.
He shakes his head sadly. “She’s gone, Ivy. I’m sorry, but she’s gone.”
“She was out. She was away from him.” Will we ever be rid of Santiago? Or will I be stuck with him like Alexia, until I take my last breath?
“I need to get you inside. I’ve got to go.” I suddenly hear the roar of motorcycles and realize he means leave here. Like, leaving me.
“What? What do you mean? Where are you going?”
“I’ve got to go deal with shit, Ivy.” Evasive as fuck.
“What if Santiago comes? You can’t leave me here alone.” Panic seizes my chest, and I can barely catch my breath.
“You’ll be fine here. There’s no way he’s getting in here.” He sounds so certain that it calms my nerves, but only a little. “Come on.”
He pulls me to my feet, and I turn to look where Alexia was, but Aziel blocks my view. “Stop. You don’t want to see it.”
I nod, swallowing down a sob that tries to break free. I focus my gaze on the ground, almost losing my shit when I see a pile of red goo in front of me. Then another. And another. It seems like a fucking polka dot dress of red Alexia painted across the ground. It’s horrifying.
“Oh my God.” I whisper with a shaky breath.
“I’ll kill him, Ivy. And I’ll bring you his head.”
I look at him, hoping and begging he sticks true to his word. “Please do. I’ll be waiting for it.”
I now understand why the burning forest fire far away started to glow in the skies above me. It was a warning.
The worst is yet to come.
13
Aziel
We make our way inside, and its pure chaos everywhere I look. The guys are attempting to calm the others down, but seeing some random girl blown up into a fucking casserole can turn a person upside down.
I don’t loosen my tight grip on Ivy’s wrist. I don’t think she would complain at this point, even if it was too tight. I feel her, torn on what she feels is the right thing to do. It makes me want to pin her down even more. Every second that goes by there’s another thing about her that makes me want to lock her in my room and never let her out.
She’s fucking growing on me. It’s like she wove herself into me from one blink to the next. I’ve had repeating Jessie’s for months; one I saw on and off for over a year. But even she couldn’t get past the surface of me. I don’t even know Ivy, yet she got through that barrier without even batting a sexual eye in my direction.
“Where are we going?” Her shaky voice sounds lost. A frown pulls at my lips.
“I need to take care of a few things. You need to go up to my room, okay? Just… go chill there for a little bit. I’ll be up there
soon, okay?” She nods, even though I can tell her wants to complain.
“Where’s Lilah?”
Shit. The kid. “Fuck. She was with Haley. Let me go get her.” I leave her near the couch and walk into the kitchen area. “Haley?” Most of the lights are off except in the back corner near one of the small offices. All the stainless-steel appliances are wiped so clean I can see my reflection off the counters. The dishes are put away and even some ingredients to make dinner for tonight are already placed on the counter. “Haley?” I ask again.
“Back here.”
I walk into the office and see Haley looking distraught but calm enough where the kid doesn’t notice her unease. Lilah is sitting in Haley’s lap, coloring scribbles on a notepad with a pen. She glances up at me when I walk into the office.
“Where’s my mommy?”
“Hey, kiddo. Your mom’s waiting for you. I came to take you to her.” I reach out my hand to help her off Haley’s lap, but she lifts up her arms for me to carry her. My eyes widen a bit, unsure on what to do. I don’t think I’ve ever held a kid in my life.
Hesitantly, I reach my hands down and lift her up. She wraps her arms and legs around me and my throat closes up. Shit. This kid is too trusting.
I give Haley a nod and start to walk out when she calls my name.
“What was that? We were back here when we heard a boom and I brought her back to the office. Is everyone okay?”
I shake my head. “No, Haley. Shit is really not okay.” I walk out, walking back into the main area and grinding my teeth when I see West talking to Ivy. His hand sits on her shoulder and he rubs it slightly while Ivy rubs at her eyes.
“Mommy!” Lilah yells in glee when she sees her mom.
Ivy looks over her shoulder and steps out of West’s hold, which puts me even more on edge. West looks at me and smiles, but it drops off his face the moment he sees the look on my own.
“What’s up, brother?” He asks.
“You tell me.” Ivy takes Lilah from my arms as I stare down my best friend.
“Just tellin’ Ivy here that she doesn’t have to worry. We’ll get shit taken care of.”
I look between Ivy and West, looking to see if they’re lying in anyway. I see nothing, so I turn to Ivy. “Let’s go.”