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How many times can one person get knocked out before brain damage starts?
The last thing I hear before I pass out is Harvey’s voice.
“I’ll be back for you soon, little mouse.”
We’re outside the property line, waiting for the Snakes to get here with weapons. It feels like we’ve been here for hours, but I know it’s only been a few minutes. I’m just so anxious to get in there and save my angel.
The longer we wait, the more impatient I get. I’m fucking itching to spill Sutton’s blood. He’s taken what’s mine and I won’t let it stand. He’s going to pay.
Even just the thought of her being gone forever tears me apart. I take the knife from my pocket and open it, running my thumb over the sharp blade, not quite hard enough to break the skin. I promised Lainey I’d try to stop, but it feels like pain is the only thing that will help me right now. She’s in there, probably living a personal hell, and I’m out here safe.
I’m at war with myself, torn between keeping my promise to Lainey and needing the pain. The thought of how much this would hurt her is the only thing that stops me.
I put the knife away and start to pace, this anxious feeling eating away at me.
“Greyson,” Lya murmurs, putting her hand on my shoulder like she’s trying to calm me. I get a good look at her. This normally put together girl is covered in soot and ash, her hair is a mess, and the flawless makeup she put on this morning is streaming down her face. She looks like shit, though I can’t say I look much better.
“Where are they?” I ask. I’m about ready to just go without them.
“They’ll be here. They needed time to get everything together. Zep just talked to Manek and they're almost here. You need to control yourself so we can do this the right way. If you don’t have your head on straight, you’ll mess this up and Lainey will be in danger.” Her voice is strong and authoritative, just enough to reel me back in from the fucking spiral I was heading down. She’s right. I don’t want to be the reason we fuck up again.
“I need to get to her. I love her,” I whisper, the last part mostly to myself.
“I know,” she says, with reassurance in her eyes. “We’ll get her back.”
Having a conversation with Lya where she isn’t yelling at me or shooting me daggers is weird, but I like it. I don’t think things will ever be perfect with any of those four, but I’m starting to warm up to them. At one point—before I ruined it all—they liked me, so maybe they can find those feelings again in the future.
Lya continues. “You saved the guys when you could’ve just left them there to die. I see what Lainey was saying about you now.”
“I know what I did to you was shitty, but I never would’ve done it if I didn’t think Lainey was in trouble. It was all for her. Everything I do is for her. She deserves to live a long and happy life, with no more heartbreak.”
After they left me to die in that abandoned house, I never thought I’d be the one apologizing to Lya—well, my version of an apology—but that was before Lainey came back to me.
“She does, and we’ll get that for her. Putting all of our differences aside, let’s go in there and save her.”
The sound of vehicles pulling up catches my attention.Thank God, they’re finally here.The three vans skid to a stop and about twenty angry-looking, tattooed men climb out. Zep greets a young guy with a shaved head and piercing green eyes. My eyes move up his body, taking in his blue jeans, white t-shirt, and neck tattoo. Peeking over the collar of his shirt is a snake head and sword handle.Interesting.
They turn and head my way. “Greyson, this is Manek. Manek, Greyson.” Zep introduces us. I honestly expected this Manek guy to be older, but he’s probably around my age, maybe even younger. I wonder how he got caught up in the gang, especially if he’s already in a leadership position.
“Thanks for helping us out,” I say, reaching my hand out to shake his. A tattoo of a snake curled around a branch stretches across his forearm.Based on their tattoos, the Snakes take their name very seriously.
“When Viper asks us to do something, we do it. Plus, we might be a gang, but we don’t like innocent girls getting hurt.”
I nod. “Thanks again, man. Should we get started?”
“Let’s go. What do you know about this property?”
“There’s this front entrance”—I point to the road closest to us—“and there’s an entrance in the back. Problem is, we aren’t sure how many men he has. When Rian looked at the cameras earlier, we could see at least eight men outside, but who knows how many more are hidden around the place.”
“Alright, we split up. Half to the back, half to the front. The vans are bulletproof, so we can use them for cover. What about the cameras? I’m sure they have them and will see us coming. You got that covered?”
“Rian,” I call him over from where he’s standing with Lya and Thiago. The tall nerdy fucker makes his way over, looking grumpy as hell that I’m even speaking his name. He always did hate me the most. I turn back to Manek. “Rian here is a computer genius; he’s going to hack into their cameras and shut them off.”
“Hey man,” Rian greets him.
“You’re gonna make sure they don’t see us coming?” Manek asks.
“Yeah, I’ve got you covered. Even if they have their own computer genius, it’d take them at least five minutes to recover the feed, which is enough time for you to roll in.”
