by Lucy Rains
“Jade,” Kyson whispered, “Its okay.”
I heaved myself up, coming onto all fours as my head hung low. I cried, my hands shaking. I couldn’t speak the pain that I felt. The anger that consumed me.
Everyone rolled their heads, took heavy breaths, and pulled themselves into sitting positions. Pierce came close to me, his limbs moving slowly. A hand to my face. “Jade.”
I shook my head, pushing back. “What are we going to do?”
Pierce held my gaze, trying to calm me. “We wait here.”
Shocked at his words, my eyes opened and I moved back from his touch. “What?” I hissed. The idea was ridiculous. There was no way I was staying in this building a second longer. My mind and body demanded I go out for Gavin.
“He’ll be back,” Kyson said with confidence.
“How do you know that?!” I demanded, their calm demeanors ripping my patience to shreds. Their attempt to calm me was doing anything but.
“Think about it,” Pierce said, unfazed by my anger. “What can Gavin do?”
“Screw with people’s minds,” I spat. “But he’s unconscious…” my voice trailed off. Finally understanding what the guys already knew.
Alex stood up and smiled. “But not for long.”
CHAPTER 42
GAVIN
Darkness surrounded me. It took everything I had with the simple task of trying to pry an eyelid partially open. I saw nothing. But I felt everything.
My chest was empty. Cold.
My body bounced in the back seat as the car hit a pothole. I tried lifting a hand to rub at my mending wounds but I had not regained control yet.
I will kill him.
The memory of Jason’s minions reigning down blows on my face and body renewed me back into full consciousness.
Jade.
Where was Jade? Was she okay? A wave of anxiety rushed over me, realizing I was alone. Without the guys. Without her. My chest ached with need, desperately wanting her close to me. I was going to rip out Jason’s fucking heart from his chest for taking me away from her.
I could feel my ribs healing, the bones becoming whole again. My skin tightened on my face as the swelling lessened and various cuts closed. My fingertips flexed.
“Let’s head back to base,” Jason said to someone. “Put him in a holding cell for a few days.”
“What about the others?” A deep voice asked. The driver I assumed. I wiggled my toes in my shoes, tried bending my knees.
“They wouldn’t dare leave him behind.” Jason said with certainty.
I reached out with my mental fingers, feeling the minds that were present. There were four. This was going to be fun.
I forced my eyes open, blinking slowly. This was my first experience with the serum and I'd be damned if I ever felt it again.
If I was laid out in a row of my own, I had to be in the back seating of an SUV. Staying low would be best, but I needed something to hang on to before shit got real.
Waiting a few more minutes I pushed my arms out in front of me, slowly reaching for the back of the seat in front of me, and bracing myself against it.
I clasped on to the mind nearest to me. Sitting directly in front of me, in the middle row. I told the person to reach for their gun, and fire a bullet straight into his temple.
There was the familiar sound of the click of the safety, and I smiled.
“Dan?” A new voice spoke up, the other person in the middle seating. “What the hell are-”
A suppressed pitch of a gunshot pierced through the vehicle and the dull thud of a head hitting the window. The vehicle jerked, brakes hit, tires screeching. Someone started screaming. I could hear Dan’s body fall into the door. More yelling, swearing.
“Pull over the car!” Jason ordered. The SUV whipped to the side and I let out a huff as my body was shoved at an awkward angle in my seat.
Next I focused my mind on the other middle-seated person. My wrists and ankles needed to be free. I channeled my wishes into his mind, making them his own desires. A few seconds past and then there was a click of a knife being opened.
“Marcus?” Jason called out.
My ankles were jostled, and then released. I pushed myself up in my seat to offer my wrists. A young man, late 20s, blank brown eyes, pulling my hands closer to him for easier access.
“What the hell are you doing Marcus?!” Jason screeched. “Get away from him!”
Marcus closed his knife and sat back down in his seat. His movements robotic and then still.
The driver asked what to do, “Sir?!”
Jason, still turned in his seat to face the rear of the vehicle, pulled a gun out and aimed it towards me.
I shook my head and smiled. He frowned, heated anger pulsing from him. I reached into his mind and had him shoot Marcus in the chest.
The driver yelled, opening his door and jumping out of the SUV. I pushed a command into his conscious thought that he needed to stay, freezing him in place.
Jason’s hand was shaking, his eyes wide, his lips pulled back from his teeth. I held firmly onto his mind, and his gun turned towards his own head. Pushing fully into his mind, his shaking ceased. He waited there for a few seconds, as I debated about making his death slow. Painful. Torturous. He wanted what was mine. The way I had seen him look at her sent bolts of fury through my body. I should rip out his teeth one at time, break each bone in his fingers, and then shove needles up his toenails.
Jade. I needed to get back to her.
I sat back in my seat and sighed. I didn’t have the time.
Jason’s finger moved and the gun went off. Blood sprayed onto the windows around him, and he fell forward into the middle console, his bloody skull connecting with the large cup holders.
Outside the driver jerked backwards, his eyes becoming wide. I reached into his mind quickly before he could take off, and put him back behind the wheel.
The SUV turned around and we headed back to the office building.
CHAPTER 43
I paced.
Kicked gravel.
Ripped leaves apart in my hands.
My feet tapped lightly on the sidewalk as I moved. The night air was thick with the previous rainfall and thunder rumbled lightly in the distance. I drank water, I wrung my hands, I fidgeted with the zipper on my jacket. Time moved slower than I could possibly imagine as I waited.
The guys left me alone, huddling beside the building talking amongst themselves. They had tried to corral me close to them but there was no way I could hold still.
My blood stained fingers toyed with my hair, rubbed at my pants. My hands opened and closed, flexing with anxiety. My chest burned with tension.
It had been 15 minutes and each minute that passed by only increased my worry. Was Gavin okay? Were they hurting him again? My hand went to the humming in my chest and I pressed. I worried knowing the cold feeling that would fill his core being away from me.
The waiting only gave my mind time to roll over the past hour of events. The blood, the beatings, Jason's fingers on me. Charles revelations.
Tears pricked at my eyes and I blinked them back. The guys suddenly stopped talking and three heads turned in my direction as they felt my pain through our connection. I shook my head quickly and turned away from them. Not ready to talk.
When I thought my chest would burst with anxiety the low sound of a car engine approached in the distance. Faint prickles moved in my chest and I looked to Pierce, pleading with my eyes for him to tell me something.
His head was turned in the direction of the sound, his eyes narrowed, concentrating.
“It's him,” Pierce confirmed.
My head whipped back towards the street and my pacing stopped, my body frozen in anticipation.
The dragging seconds that ticked by were like daggers in my heart, I was desperate to see him. Desperate to see the vehicle that would bring Gavin back to me.
The silver SUV rolled slowly around the corner and into the parking lot, coming to a stop. I took
a step forward, peering inside. I couldn't see Gavin, only the driver, who faced forward, stone-faced and blank eyes.
When the back passenger door of the SUV opened and Gavin stepped out, my heart leapt into my throat and a whimper escaped my mouth. He was moving calmly, unharmed. He slammed the door closed and began walking across the parking lot.
My throat swelled with emotion as I looked over him, his confident stride, the hard-line of his jaw tilted up in the sure way that it did. My breath came out heavy and my chest heaved. Without thinking I lurched off of the sidewalk and ran through the parking lot. The rushing air pushing the tears out of my eyes and down my cheek.
An unseen force pulled me towards him. I needed him. Needed to touch him, to feel him. With a small lift of the corner of his mouth. His arms opened for me and I lept off the ground and into his arms, encircling my legs around his waist, my arms wrapping around his neck. I sobbed, pressing my face into his hair, squeezing him tight with all of my might. When I pulled away my hands went to his cheeks and he lowered me to the ground. I stood there looking up at him with his eyes locked on mine.
I panted with emotion, opening my mouth to question him. Before I could say anything his mouth was pressed against mine and his tongue invaded my mouth. His hands wrapping around my rear and pulling me close to him. I gripped my hands around the sides of his face and head, holding on to him for dear life as he showed me the deep desperation of his feelings for me. I felt it through his mind, through his kisses, through his hands that roamed over my back, my bottom, hair, shoulders, hips.
When he pulled back and I gasped for air his dark eyes promised so much more. They held the familiar hard edge that I had always known. But as I looked deeper I saw the vulnerable need that he had for me. We held each other’s eyes, communicating the intimacy we both felt in that moment with a single look.
When a throat cleared, my hands left his face, dropping one to my side and the other resting on his shoulder.
“I want to be kidnapped. Can I be kidnapped next?” Alex said from behind me. “I would endure a great deal of torture to be greeted like that.”
Gavin left a hand on my waist and stepped back. I turn to face the other three guys behind me. Wondering if I should be embarrassed about my actions, but they didn't seem fazed. I felt their humor, their happiness.
“Where's Jason?” Pierce asked.
“Dead.” Gavin answered, jerking his head behind him towards the SUV.
I gasped, looking at the vehicle and back to Gavin. “How?”
Gavin gave me skeptical look, “Do you really want to know that, Princess?”
My mouth closed and I looked away.
Gavin turned towards the SUV, focusing his attention on it. After a few seconds the driver put the SUV into park and left the parking lot.
“More will come,” Kyson said. “They won’t give up, Jason has superiors that he answered to and worked for.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Alex asked, shouldering his backpack. “Lets go to Paris.”
“No.” The word flew out of my mouth before I could think about it.
All four heads turned towards me, confused. I looked away from them, my eyes scanning the office building. The gut reaction was important and I needed to acknowledge it.
My head shook slowly, and I brought my hands up in front of my face. My eyes traced the dark patches of dried blood on my fingertips. “I’m not ready,” I said quietly. I balled my hands into fists and lowered them. “I need time. A break. Some time to heal.”
Kyson and Pierce looked at each other. Kyson nodded at whatever Pierce was saying to him mentally.
“Where then?” Pierce asked, picking up his own backpack.
“Let’s go camping,” Kyson suggested.
“Let’s not,” Alex said. “Vegas?”
“The beach.” I cut in. “I would like to see the beach.”
“Preference of which one?” Pierce asked.
I paused, “Florida. I want to see the white sand.”
“For how long?” Gavin asked, taking my hand and leading me towards the truck.
I shrugged. “A few days. Couple weeks. A month. We’ll see.”
“Someone thinks they’re calling all the shots now,” Alex mused. “Who put her in charge?”
My eyes widened and I paused, “I’m sorry, I mean,” I kicked myself. I had sounded like an entitled brat. “We can-”
“It’s fine,” Pierce stopped me. “He’s joking.”
“When are you going to learn not to take anything I say seriously?” Alex asked, opening the back door to the truck for me and pushing my inside.
“When you shut up,” I countered.
“That would be a fabulous day,” Gavin agreed.
We settled into our seats and I leaned against Alex, my head dropping to his shoulder. He wrapped a hand around my thigh and pulled me close against him. Gavin snaked his fingers through my other hand and my eyes dropped closed.
For the first time in my life, I felt truly safe. Not healed, not at peace with my life, too many unanswered questions still hung in the air. But the immediate threats had been eliminated and I was surrounded by my protectors. I could move forward looking towards what was to come, rather than looking behind me.
My chest hummed in comforting pleasure and I allowed myself to drift off as the truck rolled into the dark night.
To be continued…