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Ryker releases his head, and his chin rests on his chest for a second until he catches sight of Shift twirling the blood-stained knife in front of him. “Last question and I’ll let you leave.” I didn’t think it was possible for Shift’s voice to turn so dark, drenched in anger and ready to cause war. “Where did he take her, Joshua?”
“I’m not sure…” Shift lifts the blade, and Joshua yelps. “Wait, wait, wait, please, fuck… I’m not sure, but he mentioned something about you not knowing where he’s hiding so it doesn’t matter once they’re behind the compound lines, you’ll never even know.”
That’s all we need. It's frustrating as hell that we just didn’t storm it to begin with, but we just need to get over there now.
“What are we doing with this fucker?” Axel asks from the door. The echo of a gunshot rings out around us, and I glance to my right to see Emmett standing side by side with Shift, a gun in his hand and Joshua limp in his seat.
We’ll have to clean that mess up later, because now, we have to put a plan in motion. We may have no idea of what awaits us inside, but he’s certainly wrong about one thing. We know exactly where he’s hiding. He just doesn’t know we’re coming.
TWENTY-NINE
Scarlett
I waitby the SUVs as the bikes line up in the front yard. Axel does a skim of the interior before waving Ryker, Gray, and Emmett inside so they could gather the weapons we need.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Shift, I’m at a loss for words, but I feel the need to soothe the rage building inside of him. I’ve never seen this side of him before. It’s usually me causing mayhem and him behind a screen, but I shouldn’t be surprised that he can handle himself like this too.
“Are you okay?” I ask, hating how it sounds on my tongue. Of course he’s not, but I don't know what else to ask to gauge where his head is at.
“I will be when I see her, touch her, smell her.” My heart swells with each of his words.
“You’re going to get all of that, Shift. I promise,” nudging him with my shoulder.
“That’sifEmmett doesn’t fucking kill me first.”
My eyebrows furrow in confusion, but then I remember that I know all of the things this fool doesn’t. “What do you think he’s going to kill you for?” I need to clarify what he means before I start ranting at him.
His eyes whip to mine with a pointed stare. “You know what we spoke of this morning, Scar.”
I smile at him despite the pain we’re drenched in. “He already knows. But he’s sadistic as hell and wanted you both to squirm over it for a bit,” I admit, spoiling Emmett’s fun, but it’s no longer about that.
“Since when?”
“Since forever. But definitely now after you just destroyed that motherfucker in there. You went harder than even I did, and she’s my fucking sister.” Shift stills beside me, eyes widening as he turns to see Emmett coming through the double doors with his arms laden with guns.
My friend gulps beside me, clearly intimidated by all of the weapons Emmett’s carrying, but my phenomenal Viking reassures him, just as he did with me. “We’re going to bring her home, take care of her, and make sure we can help her in whatever way she needs. We don’t know what that looks like just yet, but the fact is that sheiscoming home. Straight to me, straight to Scar, and straight to you.” Emmett holds out a few guns in my direction and I take them so they can slap hands together, sealing a pact between them. “I trust her with you and with you alone.”
“Even after what I did in there?” Shift murmurs, nodding toward the garage, and Emmett grunts.
“Especiallybecause of what you did in there.”
My eyes dart to Axel, Ryker, and Gray as they filter out of the compound, giving these two a moment. Maggie appears in the doorway after them, eyes wide and skin pale. She knows. Before I can even take a step, she’s cutting the distance between us until her arms are wrapped around my neck.
“Bring her home.” She presses a kiss to my cheek, squeezing my shoulders before hightailing it back inside. Well, that was a whirlwind.
Wordlessly, we load the vehicles up with weapons, but a niggling thought keeps playing at the back of my mind. Ryker shuts the trunk on the SUV and turns to face everyone, but before he can speak, I step forward.
“It’s not going to work if we just storm in there.” It’s hilarious that I’m saying this now after all of the conversations I’ve had with Axel, but it’s true.
“What do you mean?” Gray asks, coming to stand beside me.
“We need the upper hand.”
“We can’t get the upper hand without being inside first. It’s no longer an option. The only alternative would be to call on Graham and Declan, but the men we brought here as backup can no longer be trusted to have our back, so it looks like this.” Ryker waves his arms around at the five of us.
Shaking my head, I know I’m going to be hit by wall after wall with them, but I push on. Pulling the tattered letter from my pocket, I press my finger beside the bottom of the words and turn it for each of them to see.
“It specifically says, ‘I’m going to enjoy watching you drop to your knees for me after all this time. Even more than that, I’m going to enjoy making you mine for them to see.’ Which means we need to follow the path he’s leading us down.”
