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“Calax,” I whispered, indicating for Fallon to put me on the couch. He complied, and Calax immediately sat beside me. I reached forward to cup his face with my hand. He was trembling beneath my steady fingers. In the last few days, I had seen him more distressed and panicked than I had ever seen him before. I knew that I was to blame for that change. “I have to leave with them.”
“No, baby, you don’t have to. You can stay with me.” His voice was a mere whisper. I leaned towards him, our foreheads touching, and could almost pretend that it was just the two of us. My curtain of hair provided a barrier between us and the outside world.
“Addie, we need to leave,” Daddy snapped, and I knew I was going to be punished for saying goodbye to Calax.
“Please stay,” Calax pleaded. Even as he spoke, I felt strong arms lift me up. It wasn’t my father, thank God, but one of his security members. Calax’s hand gripped my shirt-sleeve ineffectively before he was forced to let go. It was either that or risk hurting me more than I already was; my parents were never letting me go now that they had me, so Calax had to bend.
“Addie!” Calax lunged forward, but both Ryder and Ronan grabbed him and held him down. I was immensely grateful for them. I watched them whisper something to Calax, and, though Calax still stared after me with a distraught expression, he wasn’t fighting against the two boys anymore.
It was only as we were leaving, the security guard all but dropping me into the car, that I saw a face pressed against a window.
Ducky.
He had been my best friend when we were young, and I had thought him to be dead for years. Apparently, he was still alive. And his name was no longer Ducky, but Declan.
A member of Calax’s team, Declan had been an asshole to me when we had initially re-met because he believed I had ditched him after he became deaf. I was still dealing with his abandonment, and he was still figuring out where, exactly, our friendship would head.
His eyes were dark as they watched the car pull out of the gravel driveway. If I didn’t know Ducky as well as I did (or, at least, thought I did), I would’ve been terrified by the expression on his face.
* * *
Declan
I watched Addie until the car disappeared. I just barely resisted the urge to run downstairs and show her parents exactly what I thought of them.
Hands clenched into fists, I hurried down the staircase and into the living room where the other guys were convened.
I knew, from the frantic hand motions, that Calax was yelling at the others. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I imagined that it was similar to what I was currently feeling.
How could you have let this happen? What were we going to do?
I had only just gotten her back. I couldn’t lose her again.
She had been my best friend, and she always would be. Despite the friendships I developed with the guys, my brothers, nothing could compare to what I felt for her.
She was the first woman I had ever loved, in a way that only a young teenager could.
Stepping around Tam, I planted myself in the center of the living room, waiting until I had everyone’s attention. I didn’t care that I was glaring at my closest friends. I didn’t care that Tam actually shrunk away as if my eyes could physically penetrate his skull.
What I did care about, however, was the girl forced to go back to her abusive parents. Even if it wasn’t Adelaide, even if it was a complete stranger, I would still fight for her.
The world needed more warriors.
I turned towards Sarge, our team leader, with narrowed eyes. He was currently holding Addie’s black cat, Mof - My Only Friend. My girl was a bit dramatic.
“What’s the plan?” I signed. I saw Sarge’s chest rise and fall as he sighed.
That was universal Sarge language for he had no fucking clue.
I gritted my teeth together.
“We have to come up with a plan,” I added, when it became apparent that Sarge wasn’t going to respond. Somebody must’ve said something over my shoulder, for Sarge’s eyes flickered there. He nodded at whatever the person said.
To me, he said, “We’ll get her back.”
Calax came to stand beside Sarge and clapped his shoulder.
“We protect our own.”
