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“What the fuck?” I heard one of the guys say. “What is this asshole doing?”
The man sounded annoyed, and I felt the van slow.
“Just go around him!” one of the men sitting near me said.
“He’s in the middle of the fucking road,” came the response.
“Idiot probably broke down,” a third man grumbled.
There was a brief moment of silence as the van slowed even more, then someone yelled, “He’s got a gun!”
A split-second later came the squealing of the brakes. I rolled forward, then back as the van careened out of control. I heard a chorus of yells and curses, along with several popping sounds. One of the guys grabbed my arm as the sliding door was opened.
“Wait… wait—” I heard the guy named Spears yell, then there were another few popping sounds and then silence.
Complete and utter silence.
I lifted my hands to try and get the hood off but froze when a hand closed around my arm. I tried to scramble back, but the hold on me was firm.
“It’s okay,” I heard a man say, then he was pulling me to an upright position. I could feel fingers at the base of the hood. It was removed a few seconds later and despite it being dark outside, my eyes still felt the need to adjust. There was enough light from the dome light inside the van to make out the man who was working to release the gag.
I let out a sob of relief at the familiar sight of the dark hair, brown eyes that almost appeared black, and bearded face that was just inches from mine.
Vaughn.
“It’s okay, Aleks, I’ve got you,” Vaughn murmured as he got the gag off and dropped it on the floor of the van.
The combination of terror and relief mixed in a symphony of emotions that I couldn’t control and before I could stop myself, I lifted my bound hands and looped them over Vaughn’s neck. I tucked my nose against his throat and breathed him in to prove to myself he was really there.
He still had the same scent – some kind of woodsy smell mixed with musk and just a hint of butterscotch.
I wanted to laugh at that.
The brutally dangerous man loved butterscotch.
And it was how he’d gotten me to trust him when I’d first met him, because he’d shared his butterscotch candies with me.
In secret.
Because I hadn’t been allowed to have candy.
Or anything else.
I couldn’t form words as I clung to him. He held me against his big, warm, strong body, making me feel even safer. I could have stayed there all day, but Vaughn gently eased my arms up over his head and settled them in front of me.
And that was when I noticed the bodies.
Two in the back of the van with me, two in the front seats, and one just outside the door on the ground.
The ones whose faces I could see had their eyes open and perfectly shaped holes dead center in their foreheads. There wasn’t even much blood.
I was dimly aware of Vaughn tucking the gun in his hand into his waistband and then pulling a small utility knife from his pocket. He cut through the ties at my feet, then pulled me to a standing position.
“Are you hurt?” Vaughn asked as he quickly scanned my body, then settled on my face, which was no doubt bruised from the punches I’d taken.
I shook my head and then lifted my shoulders so I could wipe my wet face on my shirt sleeves.
And that was when I realized my hands were still bound. Before I could ask Vaughn to remove the plastic ties around my wrists, he grabbed my arm and led me from the van. “We need to get moving,” he said. “Someone could come along at any minute.”
Wasn’t that a good thing?
I felt off-balance as he steered me toward a sedan that was parked in the middle of the road. I had to lean into him to keep myself from stumbling, and I was glad when his arm went around me. He was considerably larger than me and while his bulk should have scared me, Vaughn was the exception to that general rule.
Vaughn was the exception to a lot of rules.
While I’d initially thought him to be just another one of Father’s guards who’d become infatuated with me, he’d been different. He’d never once made a move on me, and when things had come to a head in Father’s study the night Magnus and Dante had shown up to rescue me, it had been Vaughn who’d saved us all. I’d ended up stabbing Father in the back – literally – when he’d been preparing to shoot Dante. Dante had still gotten shot, but only in the shoulder.
But then Father had turned the gun on me.
And that was when Vaughn had appeared, and I’d watched Father’s eyes go wide as a bullet had torn through his neck. Blood had spurted everywhere, and he’d collapsed onto the very desk he’d made me bend over on. Vaughn had shot the other two guards in the room before I’d even been able to process what was happening, then he’d calmly walked up to me and helped me stand from where Father had knocked me to the ground. He’d touched the spot on my face where Father had marked me, then he’d shot Father in the head.
