Eye for an Eye (Take a Chance Book 2)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  Stopping at the edge of the tunnel, I survey the area. It will be tight but it’s the only option we have right now, and I’m not about to let my brothers and sister-in-law turn to ash.

  After coming to the decision of the best way to do this, I turn to the others, getting close and shining the light on my face so they can see me.

  “We’re gonna have to crawl. It’s gonna be a tight fit and it’s covered in crap and cobwebs.”

  “Spiders?” Lily squeaks, pressing into Jaxon.

  Reid gulps. “How big are the spiders?”

  “It’s going to be fine,” Jaxon soothes, stroking a hand over Lily’s hair.

  “I know it’s going to be fine. You’re with me,” she tells him, sounding stronger now.

  “C’mon, let’s get this over with,” Reid urges.

  I bend down to my knees, keeping the hand with my phone in up in the air whilst using the other to guide me through the tunnel and swipe away any cobwebs. The ground is damp, and in some places, puddles have formed.

  “Fuck, this is gross,” I grouch, moving forward.

  Lily whimpers. “I’m stuck.”

  I stop, unable to move from my crouched position to turn and help her. It’s so tight down here, my shoulders are grazing the sides.

  “Your coat has snagged on some metal, princess. I’ve got it,” Jaxon assures her, before I hear Lily breathe out a sigh of relief.

  Moving forward, I can see streams of light coming down from above just ahead. I push myself to move faster.

  Luckily, the tunnel becomes wider and I feel like I can breathe more easily. When this is over and I can prove that Black did this, I’m going to destroy everything he holds dear. Nobody fucks with us and gets away with it. We have been lenient so far, not wanting to cause more damage to our business, but all gloves are off now. He is about to witness the destruction we could truly cause him.

  We warned him. He should have heeded that warning and gone on his merry way. He didn’t. What happens next will be on him.

  Coming to the end of the tunnel, the walls spread out into a square, making enough room for all of us to stand. Roots, ivy, and branches hang down from a metal-barred manhole cover above me. I don’t get a chance to survey the rest before I feel Lily’s hand on my foot. I reach down, grasping her hand and helping her to her feet. She brushes off the wet dirt and cobwebs before huddling close to me.

  Jaxon is next out, wiping a hand over his hair like something fell in it. Which wouldn’t surprise me with the amount of crap that is in there.

  Reid is next, and as he looks up at the opening, his teeth clench. “What the fuck? It’s blocked.”

  “What?” Jaxon and I growl, all of us looking up to the opening.

  “It’s not blocked,” I tell him. “It’s a bush that’s overgrown onto it.”

  “Yeah? And what about the fucking chain wrapped around it?” Jaxon bites out.

  “Give me a leg up,” Reid orders, tapping me on the shoulder.

  “You aren’t going to fit through the bars,” Jaxon snaps.

  Reid, turning his glare to Jaxon, twists his lips together. “Do you suggest we send a pregnant Lily up there and risk one of those dickheads being up there to see her?”

  “I can’t get any signal,” she murmurs, lifting her phone up.

  “Call Tim, or Eli,” I order, clasping my hands together and bending.

  He puts his boot into my hand, before using my head as support to lift himself up into the tunnel. He grabs onto the bar with one hand, whilst lifting his phone between the bars and hitting call.

  “He’s answered,” Reid rushes out. “Eli, we’re trapped in a tunnel—Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

  “What?” I yell, straining to keep him upright.

  “Fucking signal has gone. Where the fuck is he?”

  “Who, me?” Eli asks, and Reid screams, dropping his phone to the floor and landing awkwardly in the corner, his legs up in the air.

  “For fuck’s sake,” Reid screams, slamming his fists on the ground beside him.

  I smile wide, looking up at my brother. “Fuck, man. It’s good to see you. Can you get us out of here?”

  He pulls on the chain, but it doesn’t break or become loose.

  “Please tell me you have something to break them,” Jaxon warns, sounding panicked.

  “Yeah, the tyre bar a lad tried to smack me over the head with.” He chuckles. “This lock is so old it should… There. Easy,” he breathes out, throwing the chain to the side. “Now stop wasting time standing there. Tim has gone nuclear on some of the lads who were trying to follow me.”

  He lifts the metal manhole cover, shoving it to the side before leaning into the tunnel.

  “Lily first,” Jaxon orders. “And, Eli, don’t let anyone touch her.”

  “I won’t,” he vows, hearing the threat in Jaxon’s tone.

  Me and Jaxon lift Lily up into the opening with ease. Eli grabs her hands, pulling her to safety.

  “Stay in the bush there,” we hear him order softly.

  “You go next,” I order Jaxon, knowing he’ll go crazy with Lily being up there without him.

  “Why not me?” Reid bites out, before squealing and backing away from the wall when a large spider crawls up it. “That thing is not right. I thought spiders that big only lived in Australia.”

  I roll my eyes, ignoring him as I give Jaxon a lift. Once he has a grip on the ledge, he heaves himself up, moving straight for Lily.

  “C’mon on, you big baby, let’s get you out of here,” I tease, smirking at Reid.

  Reid glares at me, looking seconds away from punching me. “I’m not being a baby. That spider looked like it was eating for twenty,” he snaps. “I don’t know why I’m defending myself to you.”

  Lifting him up, he, too, easily lifts himself out with no help from the others. Eli pops his head over the ledge, reaching down for me. I step back a little before doing a run and jump, grabbing onto his hand. He pulls me up, the veins and muscles in his arms straining.

  The second I reach the ground, smoke and the smell of burning wood fills the air. I turn to look at the house through the bush, seeing angry red flames devouring the building.

  “Fucking hell,” I mutter.

  “Lily, stay here,” Jaxon orders, his jaw hardening as he looks across the garden. I follow his line of sight, my fists clenching when I see Tim staggering over the lawn, blood dripping down his face and shoulder.

  “Reid, stay with her,” I order, ignoring his pout before running towards one of the three lads running up behind Tim.

  The one holding a baseball bat.

  “Think you’re fucking big, do ya,” I yell, charging at the largest of the three whilst Eli and Jaxon occupy the other two.

  “You’re dead men,” he snaps, lifting his bat over his shoulder, ready to swing.

  I plunge my fist into his gut before he can bring the bat down, my fist then connecting over and over with his face. The feel and sound of his nose breaking is music to my ears.

  “Not so fucking big now, are you,” I bark, kicking him in the stomach.

  He reaches into his pocket, leaping at me, and before I can disarm him, he’s swinging a glass bottle around the side of my head. It cuts into my skin near my temple. The minute I feel the warmth of blood trickling down the side of my face, I lose it. I grab him by the collar and headbutt him. He staggers backwards, his face filled with murderous rage.

  “Who sent you?” Jaxon demands, his voice void of emotion, worrying me.

  For a moment, I’m distracted, but thankfully, I manage to duck in time to miss the handle of the broken bottle coming at me.

  I kick him in the chest, sending him crashing to the floor. “Stay the fuck down,” I yell to his panting form, before turning to Jaxon, ready to intervene.

  His face is flushed red and filled with so much rage even I have to take a step back. He’s covered in sweat and soot, and unlike me and Eli, he doesn’t have a spec of blood on him. He lowers his head, his
eyes cold as he watches the lad on the ground crawl away on his stomach, blood gushing from his nose and mouth. Jaxon follows at a predatory pace, ready to strike at any given moment.

  He kneels, grabbing the lad’s leg, and drags him back. That’s when I notice the knife in Jaxon’s hand, a knife that fucker on the floor must have tried to use on my brother. Where else would Jaxon have produced a knife from, because he most certainly doesn’t carry one.

  I take a step forward, but then something hard hits the back of my head. Stopping, a low growl erupts from the back of my throat as I slowly turn around to face my attacker.

  The large, stocky lad takes a step back, his eyelid twitching as his eyeballs bulge from their sockets. He must read my intent because he gulps, dropping the brick to the floor whilst looking seconds away from pissing himself.

  “The fuck?” I grumble, and in one swift move, I jab him in the temple, knocking him clean out to the floor. “When I say stay down, I mean stay the fuck down.”

  I turn in time to see Jaxon stab the knife into the lad’s leg. The howls echo over the roar of flames still raging like a storm all over the house.

  “Who the fuck sent you?” Jaxon growls.

  Tim hurls when Jaxon digs the knife in further, and Eli steps to the side, avoiding the mess, looking bored at the scene. I glance behind him, seeing the lanky guy he went after sprawled out on the ground.

  Groaning sounds as the lanky guy begins to stir. It’s like they know, because within seconds, sirens can be heard coming towards us.

  “Jaxon,” Lily screams, sounding so terrified her voice turns scratchy.

  He gets up, running towards her, and we follow, watching as a guy pushes her into Reid’s arms before getting on his bike.

  Just before we close in, he lifts up his hand, flashing a knife. “This is your last warning,” he yells, before riding off.

  “Fuck!” Jaxon roars, before heading towards Lily. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” He pauses, taking a moment to inhale deeply and glare over at Reid. “Why the fuck was you not watching her?”

  “I was,” he snaps, before staggering backwards.

  “Holy fuck,” I whisper, seeing blood seep through his T-shirt, soaking his jeans as it trickles down his stomach.

  I run over, lifting his T-shirt up to find a stab wound. I want to vomit, but I force it down, taking a closer look. I can’t be sure, but I don’t think it’s life-threatening. Although, it’s definitely going to need stiches.

  “I was startled, and he grabbed her. I tried,” he growls, falling to his knees on the ground.

  I rip my shirt off, pressing it against the wound as me and Eli gently lie him down on the grass. “It’s not life-threatening but it will need stiches,” I grit out.

  “Aww, you just wanted to get naked in front of me really,” Reid sasses, before inhaling sharply.

  My eyebrows pinch together. “Yes, Reid, that’s exactly what my life goals are right now.”

  “Don’t tell anyone,” he whispers, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

  “Tell anyone what?” I hiss, shaking him.

  “That I passed out.”

  “You aren’t going to pass out,” I bark, right as his head falls to the side.

  Eli laughs as he kneels next to me, lifting Reid until his head is off the ground and resting on his leg. “I’ve dropped my phone somewhere. Someone take a picture.”

  “You can’t do that,” Lily whispers, looking appalled. “He saved my life.”

  The clicking of a picture being taken has everyone turning to me. “What? He would do it to us,” I mutter, saving it to my email in case one of them try to delete it, or Reid does later.

  “Tag me when you put it up on Facebook,” Eli orders, chuckling, but then his eyes darken down at our brother.

  “You might want to hide that knife with the blood on it,” Tim announces, staggering over, clutching his ribs.

  Jaxon, as if only now realising it, holds the bloody knife up.

  “Why do you have a bloody knife?” Lily asks, her bottom lip trembling. “Are you hurt? Are you okay? Oh my God, did they stab you?”

  “Lily, breathe. I took it off one of the guys,” he explains, missing out the part that he took it out after stabbing him with it.

  “Let me see? You have blood on you. Oh my God. Oh my God,” she chants, right as the Carter’s and my sister come running up the garden.

  “Lily,” Maddox yells, and her pale face turns towards the sound, right as she begins to sway.

  “I feel funny,” she whispers, right before she collapses. Jaxon catches her before she can fall to the ground. He gently lays her on the grass, keeping her tucked to his chest.

  “Is she okay?” Maddox yells, kneeling beside them.

  “She’s just in shock and passed out.”

  “And what the fuck happened to him?” Hayden asks, using the toe of her boot to nudge Reid.

  I lift my head, staring into her eyes. “Aww, you do care.”

  Her lips twist into a snarl. “I don’t. But if he survives, I want his blood for the voodoo doll. There’s no point if he’s going to bleed out now. It would just be creepy.”

  Chuckling, I watch as Hope kneels on the other side of Reid, her hands hovering over mine where they are pressing the T-shirt against the wound. “May I?”

  I give a short nod, letting go and sitting back on my heels. There was a time we couldn’t trust ourselves to be in the same room as the Carter’s, now they are a part of our lives, whether we like it or not. If someone had told me a year ago that we would be this close to the Carter’s, I would have laughed. And as much as I’d never admit it to them, I don’t actually mind. The guys have their moments, but the girls are okay. Well, all except Hayden and Charlotte. Those two are nuts.

  “It’s deep enough to need stiches but not deep enough to cause any internal damage. Is Charlotte back with the paramedics?” Hope asks, glancing up at Hayden.

  She pouts, crossing her arms over her chest. “Can I not stitch him up? I owe him, payback for…”

  “Payback for what?” I ask, smirking.

  The two had a thing on New Year. I caught them sneaking into a shed at the party, but I don’t think it went far, not when I nicely told her mum and dad where she went and that they should check on her.

  Hayden is also in a happy relationship with a guy she loves. Still, it doesn’t stop her from ripping into Reid every chance she gets. But then, she would tear the balls from any one of us given the chance. She gets sick enjoyment out of it.

  “Nothing,” she mutters.

  “No, Hayden. Remember the time you offered to stitch up your brother when he got hurt fighting? You used pink and made a dick shape,” Hope reminds her.

  Affronted, Hayden grips her hips. “Why are you bringing up old shit, Hope? He ate my fucking last packet of Munchies,” Hayden yells. “At least I was nice enough to make it look pretty.”

  Hope exhales. “You were fourteen.”

  Huffing, Hayden takes a step back, holding her hands up. “I’m only trying to help.”

  The paramedics and a few officers begin to rush towards us. I give Jaxon a look over Maddox’s shoulder. He shakes his head, doing the same at Eli, who is holding a weeping Paisley. “Don’t say anything.”

  “Say anything about what?” Landon asks, his tone deadly.

  “We’ll explain later,” I tell him, giving him a warning look that clearly tells him not to fuck this up.

  “You’d better,” he whispers, as two uniformed officers step forward.

  Yeah, we have a lot of explaining to do. Now all we have to do is keep the Carter’s from interfering.

  If anyone is going to get revenge, it’s us.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  EVIE

  My shift ended hours ago but I’m stuck within the four walls, wanting—no, needing to know if everyone is okay. The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach hasn’t gone away since the others left to go help.

  After they left, I rushed
back to the office and called Eli, who was driving up the road to the house. I knew it was bad the second I heard his intake of breath, followed by a long string of cursing.

  He ended the call before he could tell me anything, which is why I’m still here, lights on, waiting. I want to see with my own two eyes that they are okay. No way can I handle coming into work Monday to find one or all have been injured, or worse.

  Tyres crunch across the gravel before headlights shine through the large bay windows and across the room. My feet automatically take me towards the door when I hear voices, but I pause, unsure for the first time if I should be here. They might not appreciate me hanging around after a shift, and if something bad has happened, they’ll also want privacy.

  I’m such a fool.

  The door opens, letting in a breeze, and I panic, nearly falling on my arse when I try to go for casual by sitting on the edge of my desk. I straighten myself in time to see Eli storm in, boiling with fury.

  “Oh my gosh,” I breathe out when I see the blood on his hands. I grip the edge of my desk, my vision blurring as I picture the worst.

  “Didn’t you finish hours ago?” he asks casually, like he doesn’t look like he just finished murdering someone—or is about to.

  Jaxon, Landon, Paisley, Maddox and then finally, Wyatt, follow in behind, looking just as grim, and just as angry.

  My legs shake as I step away from the desk, my eyes widening at the sight of dried blood covering Wyatt’s bare chest. I don’t even take a moment to admire his physique before I’m rushing to his side, running my hands over his abs, looking for a wound.

  “Babe, you can touch me whenever you want—I’m not complaining—but what has brought this on?”

  Realising what I’m doing, I tilt my head up, seeing blood dried down the side of his face. A cut above his right eyebrow is still weeping, along with one on his hairline.

  “Are you okay?” I ask, directing him to sit down on the desk. He must be in pain or at least discomfort. He should have gone home to rest, not come here. I’m not going to tell him that, so instead I say, “Sit there.”

  “You’ve got some explaining to do,” Maddox growls, sitting in a chair, bent forward, his legs apart.