Page 180 of Healed

“You good?” he asked me.

“Please,” I scoffed.

I heard a whimper and spun back around as the last remaining Rider tried to back away from Dante, who was leisurely stalking towards him. He raised both hands in surrender, looking around as though help was coming.

“I don’t want any trouble,” he said, his voice trembling.

Dante shot his leg, destroying his kneecap. “You should have thought of that before you took my kids.”

He seized the man by his cut and hauled him into the air until he was face to face with him. “Where are they?”

“I don’t—”

Another shot fired off, and I saw that Dante had fired with his free hand, the gun pressed against the man’s stomach.

“Wrong fucking answer,” Dante growled. “I’ll ask one last time.”

“They’re… they’re at the playhouse.”

“Where?” Dante growled as my stomach dropped.

“The abandoned playhouse,” I whispered, looking over my shoulder at Vienna. He nodded at me. “Dante, I know where they are!”

Dante released the Rider instantly and turned to me, his eyes almost black with fury. I couldn’t help but gasp and stumble back slightly. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” I said, swallowing heavily. “Remember that shithole we all used to fight over?”

He looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

I almost stomped my foot in frustration. “The one that Vienna climbed the roof of, declaring himself king of the castle.”

“And then fell off and broke his arm,” he said quietly, everything coming flooding back.

“The very one.”

Rachel grabbed his hand, almost swaying as relief rushed through her. Dante wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her steady without a word.

“Come with me,” he demanded. “The rest of you, get this fucking shit show cleaned up. Gabriella, you better get up front and lead the way.”

Chapter 57

Gabriella

After leaving the old ladies and the rest of the club to clean up the mess we had caused, we raced across the fields towards the abandoned playhouse.

Rachel led the way, her small stature flying through the grass with a speed that was almost inhuman. I shouted directions at her, praying she was close enough to listen. Even Dante struggled to catch up with her, and a blast of respect shot through me.

She didn’t wait for the men to take charge. She knew she was potentially running into danger, and was doing so without backup, but such was the love she had for her children, she did it anyway, risking it all to ensure they were found safe and sound.

As the fields gave way to woodlands, the playhouse loomed closer. It wasn’t even really a playhouse, just a pile of old logs and scraps of tarp accumulated over generations of children who had claimed this patch of woodland as their own. But time had long since stolen the place. As the council built newer parks across Leeds—many of them funded by the Devils themselves—the old playhouse had been forgotten, left to rot beneath the trees.

We passed the old tyre swing where Vienna and I had once spent entire summers, launching ourselves into the reservoir without a second thought. We pushed through the bushes and into the woodland, our footsteps growing quieter as instinct took over.

Dante started to recognise where we were, and eventually ploughed forward, overtaking Rachel and leading us in the right direction. None of us spoke—not that I was capable of it with the speed we were running—but no one needed to. We all knew what waited for us somewhere in those trees.

Once upon a time, this had been our sanctuary. Somewhere to hide from clubs, responsibilities, and the rest of the world.

Which was exactly why Nico had chosen it. He knew what this place had meant to us, and just like everything else, he was doing his best to turn it into something ugly.