AllFreeNovel
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When Evie was here, all I could see was potential in front of me. I wanted to race her on this track, watch as Damien drove her, and see the taste of freedom in her eyes. Now, all I see is emptiness. The trees look less green and the snow has a blankness to it that feels ominous. Like everything will only get worse from here.
“How is Laney?” I break the silence, knowing Evie’s best friend is hurting just as much as the rest of us, if not more.
“She won’t talk to me.” I nod in response, having heard their fight after Arrow slipped into a coma just moments after losing her best friend. “She won’t leave his side and won’t let me in the room. The nurses are concerned for her. She hardly eats.”
He has been looking for Evie but is also distracted. I know he is no less motivated though. Bringing Evie home would help bring his girl a slice of peace and comfort, as well as the rest of us.
I say nothing, knowing that the words I would have to offer would be hollow right now. There is simply nothing I can do for him. If there were, he would have already asked.
“How are you holding up?” he asks while sitting on the side of the bike.
Her bike.I look over the machine and remember every day we spent riding together. I try to hold onto those good memories, but the only thing I can see when I think of her is the video footage of her limp body as they threw her into the back of their car. So I just shake my head and let the anger consume me instead.
Havoc seems to think for a minute, then nods. I have zero doubts he understands how I am feeling.
“Walk with me?” he asks, moving around the bike and heading towards the tree line before I can answer.
There are no trails here, so I am not sure where he is planning to go, but I follow because I have nothing better to do. We walk in silence for a few minutes before he speaks up.
“When E was taken, or rather Adrik let her be taken, I spent weeks searching for her. He knows how to hide his plans, but I think we are getting close. The women there are working to get her location for me as quietly as they can.”
I nod my head, already knowing this from the debrief we had this morning. The chill of the air starts to set in as we come to a clearing on the side of the lake. The snow crunching beneath my boots is the only sound around us. That is, until my head is jolted to the side and a ringing builds in my ears.
I look back at Havoc, whose fist is already smeared with blood. Wiping my cheek I look down.My blood.
“What the fuck?” I yell at him.
“We both need this. Don’t pretend you’re better than a good, dirty fight. Get your fists bloody, Alexi. It will help us think straight again.”
My heart is already pounding with adrenaline, my face numb from the cold air around us. There is a lingering ache in my jaw, but other than that, this really is what I need. Being cut from the same cloth, I know he sees this side of me and recognizes it in himself. My pulse hammers wildly at the thought of using him as an outlet while violence permeates the air between us.
His stance is perfect, so I circle him to assess his posture. You can tell with every move of his body that he was trained to fight. Every muscle ticks in precise synchronicity with his movements, staying on guard but loose at the same time. It makes me have more appreciation for Evie. If this is who she grew up learning from, it makes sense that she was able to take me down.
Havoc and I go back and forth for a bit, landing a few hits here and there, but nothing like I want to do. He senses my hesitancy.
“You think when we get her back she will be proud to hear I knocked you out in the middle of the woods?” He is trying to distract me, but it just makes me snort.
“She would likely give you a high five over it.” I step in and take a jab, landing a soft hit to his side, but he spins out of reach quickly, lessening the impact.
“Would she give me a high five if I told her about how you plan to tag her just like her uncle?”
Now I see what this is all about, he is pissed.
“I plan to at least ask her permission first.” I lose my footing for a moment and he takes the opportunity to land an uppercut which sends me stumbling to the side. He lets me recover, but continues speaking.
“But you’re not going to allow her to say no, are you?”
I choose not to respond because we both already know the answer to that.
“You’re going to lose her, you know.”
As soon as the last word leaves his mouth I charge him, wrapping my arms around his waist and taking us both to the ground.
“I have already lost her. She’s not here!” I land a punch to his face beneath me, and I know he is letting me for my benefit.
“She is not here, and I would rather die than feel this way ever again. I will not live without my WIFE!”
Havoc lifts his hips and flips our positions, landing a solid hit to my cheek so hard that blood drips into my eye. I blink it away furiously. It feels too much like crying, too much like I’ve lost her.Just too fucking much.
