Bitter Pills

by Coralee June

  "Yeah, I hear they aren't as fun as they look on TV. And what about flying bullets? We'd have no protection," I stammered, knowing there wasn't really another option.

  "Right. You can use my helmet," she whispered before digging in a trunk and pulling it out.

  I looked at her outstretched hands, then let out a sigh. “Yeah. If you’re not wearing one, then I’m not either. Let’s do this.”

  I followed her into the garage and blanched at the sporty, neon green bike parked there.

  She mounted it like a skilled, sexy badass, and I kind of found myself having a slight girl crush at the sight of her. "You coming?" she asked.

  "I guess I don't have a choice, huh?" I laughed nervously. Could I stall more?

  I got on the back and wrapped my arms around her. She let out a puff of air and hit the button for the garage before turning the key to the powerful machine we were sitting on and revving the engine.

  The moment the door was raised enough for us to fit through the opening, she peeled out of there. I might have screamed. Her phone started ringing in my pocket the moment we were on the street. I couldn't very well grab it and answer, but I hoped it was the guys realizing that we were fleeing their house.

  I looked over my shoulder and watched in horror as the SUV followed after us. What if we led them to the guys? I leaned forward to tell her just that as her hair whipped me in the face.

  "Let's lose them first," she yelled back before accelerating. We zipped down the street and headed toward a winding back road. Luckily, they weren't shooting at us. They were following the motorcycle, but if they wanted us dead, we were an open target.

  Kaydence started weaving in and out of traffic, nearly clipping a few cars in the process. People honked. The SUV zoomed forward and drove on the shoulder. Some cars slammed on their brakes. Kaydence expertly slid between two sedans that were about to collide.

  "Holy shit!" I screamed. She just leaned forward and kept going faster, faster, faster. The force of the air stung my cheeks. A Jeep up ahead flipped us off as we sped past them.

  I felt like I was going to fall off every time I looked back at the SUV. It was gaining on us. "On our right!" I screamed when it cut off a truck and nearly bumped into us. I wanted to see who was in the driver's seat, but the tint was so black I couldn't see inside.

  Kaydence pushed the motorcycle as hard as it would go, but they still stayed on us. "Hold on," she urged before taking a sharp left and going a different direction. I tried to lean into the chaotic turn and squeezed my eyes shut.

  "They won't chase us forever. Prepare for them to start shooting soon," she yelled over the roaring machine and the roaring wind.

  "Who the hell are you?" I asked while gripping tighter. Dust kicked up behind us as we went, and another car dodged out of the way, nearly slamming into the SUV. The sound of a gun firing caught my attention, and I almost pissed myself. It was loud and booming, cutting through the air. Kaydence just pressed on, heading toward an abandoned road off the highway.

  "Where are we going?" I asked.

  "It's better I don't tell you," she screamed before swerving to avoid another motorcyclist and accelerating down the long stretch of road away from the SUV. We were gaining distance, going, going.

  Another bang. Something hard and hot grazed my cheek. Trees towered overhead as we flew across the sun-bleached road. I looked behind us once more and found myself staring down the barrel of a gun. "Swerve. They're aiming at us."

  Kaydence snaked left and right, dodging bullets as we went. I had a death grip on her hips. The road sloped as we climbed. The hill was steep, and I could see the leafy tops of trees below.

  "Get ready!" Kaydence yelled.

  "For what?"

  The words died in my throat as she took a hard right and jumped off the elevated road. We were soaring through the air. Shots rang in the distance as we flew across the tops of trees and landed in a clearing. I swear to fucking God, it was like a James Bond movie. Slow-motion action that should have been impossible. When we landed, my pelvis slammed on the leather seat and pain shot down my legs. Kaydence and I nearly knocked heads.

  I looked up in a daze, my eyes straining and stinging with pained tears and shock. I couldn't see the SUV anymore through the tree canopy. "Fuck. I think we lost them," I gritted as Kaydence cut through the woods with precision. She revved the engine, and dirt kicked up behind the tires until she found a worn, cracked, paved road and barreled down it.

  I couldn’t help but yelp in excitement as we went. Holy shit, that was the craziest chase of my entire life. “That was insane!”

  She revved the engine in response, making me hold on tighter. "Let's catch up with our men, yeah? They're probably freaking out," she said with a laugh. Them? I was still freaking out. Kaydence was a motherfucking badass.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Alessandro

  I clutched the gun in my palm and waited. "Three minutes out," John said in a low voice. When he'd gotten the notification that Kaydence was leaving the house and zipping down back roads at high speeds, I knew in my gut that they were being chased. John insisted that Kaydence was more than capable of handling the situation, but still, we stood with guns at the ready, prepared to take down anyone threatening our women. If she had a single hair on her head hurt, I'd make them pay.

  "I still don't understand why we didn't try to go meet them on the road," Nix said through clenched teeth. He looked completely fucked, his hands shaking, his face like gritty stone. I was falling apart, too, but he looked utterly broken. The guilt made every bone in his body coil with tension. I wanted to comfort him, but now wasn’t the time. We needed to save our girl.

  "We wouldn't have made it in time. This is a secluded spot. My sister is going to be here soon with her private plane, which will provide for a quick getaway," John explained for the tenth time. I didn’t like this plan. I didn’t like just waiting.

  One of us should have stayed behind. It was egotistical of us to think we had more time. No one could have possibly connected us to John. I didn’t understand how they found us so quickly. I took back roads getting there. I rented a car under a false name and paid with an untraceable debit card. No one knew of my connection to John, so I figured no one knew where we were. This was why I couldn't allow myself to be distracted by Nix. I was so excited to spend the day with him that I didn't even consider staying behind to make sure no one bothered us. I thought we were in our safe little bubble at John and Kaydence's house. I thought we had time. I thought it would take them longer to find us. We did everything right. I covered my tracks.

  Or so I thought.

  I knew the Ringleaders were dangerous before, but their power felt limitless.

  "I can hear them," Nix said before lifting his gun and aiming at the road. "You sure these guns work? They look like they haven't been used in a decade."

  "Yeah, well, available artillery in Australia is hard to come by. Just get ready," John snapped.

  I felt my entire body tense as a cloud of dust kicked up in the distance. I could hear the roar of a motorcycle speeding toward us.

  Grace and Kaydence climbed the hill and fully came into view. I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn't see anyone behind them. They looked wild and fierce, spinning the tires and closing the distance between us.

  "I knew she had it handled," John said in awe. “Damn, she looks hot on that bike.”

  The moment they parked, the three of us swarmed the motorcycle. Kaydence was laughing her ass off. "I wish I could have seen your face when we jumped off the cliff," she cackled while fixing her hair.

  "I nearly pissed myself," Grace snorted. "You wouldn't have been laughing then. Also I'm pretty sure you bruised my vagina."

  Their playful conversation did nothing to ease my worries.

  I grabbed Grace and physically picked her up off the motorcycle and clutched her to my chest. "Holy shit. What happened?" I asked while holding her tight. My hands roamed her shaking back, checking for injurie
s. Fuck was that a cut on her cheek?

  "Unmarked car showed up. Kaydence went full James Bond and lost them in a high speed motorcycle chase. Who the fuck are you even?" Grace asked Kaydence while pulling away. She gave John's wife an incredulous look.

  "I used to do motocross," Kaydence replied with a shrug before turning to her husband and smiling at him. "I lost them over at that cliff where we used to hook up when we were first dating, but I'm sure they'll find us soon. Wanna take a road trip? I'm in the mood for a nice vacation."

  “I’ve always loved that hookup spot,” John replied dreamily before slapping Kaydence’s ass. “You’re such a badass. A vacation sounds nice.”

  How they were possibly remaining calm was a mystery to me.

  I was about to invite them both to come with us when Nix stole Grace from my arms and slammed his lips to hers. Grace melted on impact, and I watched with hungry fascination. I didn't want to kiss my best friend, but I understood his need to make sure she was really here—really safe. I had half a mind to strip her down and make sure she had no further injuries. I hated this. The Ringleaders were too fucking close. Nix's distance was starting to make sense.

  Nix grabbed her ass as they kissed, making her wince. "What?" he asked while pulling away.

  "I didn't stick the landing," Grace mumbled before rubbing at her tailbone. “I’m pretty sure my ass is going to be bruised for the next week.”

  “Shame,” Nix mumbled.

  "Sorry about that," Kaydence added with a chuckle. “I knew if I warned you, you would have screamed.”

  “I screamed anyway,” Grace argued with wide eyes.

  “Yeah, but you didn’t scream, Oh god, please no. Don’t do it!” Kaydence looked at her husband and smirked.

  “One time. I have one tiny freak out, and you hold it over me for all of eternity,” John grumbled.

  As much as I was loving this reunion, I wanted to get going. I didn't like sitting in an open field just waiting for the Ringleaders to find us. This organization felt like a faceless enemy, but I felt their presence everywhere. “When will your sister be here?”

  "Any minute," John replied. "And fair warning, her plane doesn't look like much, but it'll get you where you need to go—most of the time."

  “Most of the time?” Nix asked.

  “About eighty-five percent of the time,” Kaydence answered, her voice dry and annoyed. I wondered if she was on the plane for the other fifteen percent.

  “Still a passing grade,” John added enthusiastically.

  Yeah. This was exactly what we needed right now. I frowned.

  "Great," Grace replied sarcastically. "When all this is said and done, I'm never flying again. Or riding motorcycles." Nix started massaging her shoulders. I wanted to hold her hand. I hated this for her. The only way to survive was to keep moving. She looked like she needed time to process, though. Soon, I thought.

  Nix took a step away from her and stared at the ground with his shoulders slumped in defeat. I noticed the shift in his body language. Based on Grace’s scowl, she did too.

  “You wouldn’t have to run if you’d just left me alone,” he said under his breath, though we all heard it.

  Grace closed her eyes and shook her head. “Not an option, Nix,” she replied.

  John wasn't kidding about his sister's airplane. It looked like it was bought in the eighties and shook so much I was certain one good gust of wind would knock it clear out of the sky. I also doubted it had the fuel capacity to get us where we needed to go.

  "Coober Pedy is just about thirty minutes away. I'm going to drop you in a secluded area, then leave to get gas in Port Augusta," Tate, John's sister, said. She was a sassy, capable redhead with a nonchalant attitude about it all, as if flying people willing to drop a hundred thousand dollars for secrecy was nothing. She wore a designer pantsuit and had long pink nails that danced along the dashboard of the plane. Most of the instruments didn’t look like they worked at all. I tried not to think about it too much.

  "I'll try to make sure you land somewhere within walking distance of civilization without drawing too much attention," Tate added. Good. I didn't want to be in the middle of nowhere, without a cell phone and no way to call for help. We had a map, a compass, and a prayer. That was pretty much it. Oh. And a briefcase full of money and one of John's illegal guns.

  "Thank you," Grace shouted over the loud engine.

  "Coober Pedy is known for their dugouts. Find you one of those underground homes to stay in, and you should be safe for quite a while," Tate added. I pinched my mouth closed, not wanting to confirm that it was already our plan. The fewer people who knew our location, the better. Grace squeezed my hand as we flew, and every bump we hit had her crawling into my lap. Nix was in the back row, staring stoically out the window, with his eyes glaring in disapproval. I knew that this wasn't the best plan, but at least we were together.

  When we boarded the plane, Nix secluded himself. I wanted to ask what was running through his mind, but didn’t know how to bring it up. He looked stuck between a rock and a hard place, struggling with his need to protect us both and his guilt for bringing us into this mess. I didn’t know how to make him understand that we’d go to hell and back for him.

  Oh fuck. We? Since when did I start thinking of this as we?

  "You okay?" I asked Grace as she nuzzled my chest.

  "Not really. I could go for a spa day. Think they have spas where we are going?" she asked, her voice teasing. Grace liked to pretend to like the finer things in life, but I knew she played along to appease her brother. She accepted whatever scraps of affection he gave her, and Gavriel only knew how to toss his baby sister luxury items and designer handbags. I suppose it was easier than actually talking. Grace put on a brave face, but she didn’t actually care about any of that. I'd seen her painting her toes electric blue on her patio and looking happy and free—better than any SoHo spa. Not to mention, I’d followed her to quite a few thrift shops over the years.

  "I'm sure they have a Four Seasons," I played along. "I'll give you a foot massage once we land."

  "I can do that," Nix interrupted. "I can take care of her, too, you know."

  Was that what was bothering him? I knew that it was a close call earlier. He was probably feeling about as helpless as I was. Taking care of Grace Moretti had become a hobby of mine. I wasn’t sure what changed things, but running for our lives made me see her in an entirely new light. Having Nix here drastically changed our dynamic, but caring for her was in my blood, my existence.

  "Maybe I don't need to be taken care of," Grace said before pulling away from me and turning to face Nix on the back row. "I don't want a martyr or a protector or someone who's going to push me away for my safety. I want a partner in everything. I want someone who'll hold my hand while knowing how fucking capable I am. Don't get pissed at Alessandro just because he did what you've been neglecting to do since you left. Don't get mad at us for finding one another while you were hiding like a coward."

  "Enough," I snapped. She hadn't seen how broken Nix was. She didn't wipe his tears or take in the lost expression in his eyes. I supported her, and a lot of what she said was right, but I wouldn't let her bully him.

  Grace shied further away from me and crossed her arms over her chest.

  "Damn, girl," Tate said from her seat up front. "Preach. Can't stand it when men want to act like we're hopeless little puppies."

  I ignored John's sister. "Nix did what he thought was best," I interrupted. "You're allowed to be frustrated, but you also need to understand that, regardless of what happened in the past, we are a team now. We all take care of one another. We all stand together against this. We won't all be strong at the same time."

  "So now we're in this together?" Nix snapped. "I don't need you defending me, Alessandro. I can handle it."

  "But you shouldn't have to," I insisted.

  Grace chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m sorry, Nix,” she said. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

&n
bsp; “And I didn’t mean for you to get dragged into this,” Nix replied with a wave of his hand. "Grace was almost captured today because of my involvement with the Ringleaders. And it's a huge kick in the balls to see her coming to you for comfort. I want to be the hero for fucking once. I thought if I pushed her away, she’d be safe. I used to be so fucking strong. I was confident. Capable. Now I’m just...nothing."

  “That’s not true—” Grace spoke.

  “I am. The man you fell in love with is gone, Grace. Who the hell are you even fighting for?”

  “You,” she promised. “Whatever version of you exists, I want. You don’t have to be strong for all of us.”

  “I just want to feel like myself again,” Nix replied before turning fully to look out the window, ignoring us.

  We all went silent, aside from Tate, who was humming some nineties boy band music.

  How would we ever be normal again? How could we survive this faceless enemy if we couldn't get on the same page? A sense of determination bolstered me. I realized and accepted my role in our group all at once. Nix wasn't the wedge between Grace and me, it was my fear about a group relationship that was driving all of us apart. Once we were settled, I'd stop holding back. It was time to be the glue.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Nix

  There was only one motel in the entire town, and I was pretty sure we were the only residents. We walked up to the building, covered in dirt. Grace was limping by the time we finally made it there, and if she weren't so damn stubborn, I would've held her over my shoulder and carried her for the entire mile-long walk.

  Our room was covered in dust. I didn't want to think about the last time it had been cleaned. Stains on the carpet in a brownish red color made me sick to my stomach. I had stayed in worse places, but I felt bad that this was how we had to live. Grace deserved better. Alessandro deserved better. I wasn't quite sure what I deserved yet.

  "Do you think she's okay?" Alessandro asked while nodding toward the bathroom door. Grace had been in the shower for the better part of a half hour. Alessandro and I had already cleaned up.