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“Fuck!” Bastian swears. “I’m going tokillthose bastards. They lay a hand on her and they’re all dead, every last one of them!”
“We need to go, now,” Dominic orders, steely determination in his voice. “The longer we take getting to her … who knows what those vipers will do to her.”
My jaw clenches, entire body tense. “Let’s go.”
We mount our bikes, engines roaring, echoing the way my heart pounds in my chest. “Hold on, Sienna,” I whisper. “We're on our way.”
The acrid stench of exhaust chokes the air as we push our bikes to their limits, the roar of the engines drowning out the frantic beating of my heart. Determination to find her and bringher home grows inside, eclipsing my fear and filling me with righteous rage.
26
BASTIAN
Fury radiates through me as I realize that we’ve been set up. The fight was a damned distraction, their real target was Sienna this whole time.
The question lingers in my mind even as we race to find her. Why did they take her? Why are they after her? What is she to them?
I told Caleb I didn’t think she was working with the Serpents, but I can’t be sure. Is it possible she’s been playing us this whole time?
As we ride, my mind returns to the last time I was with Sienna before the blow-up. I kept pushing her away every time we’d get closer, so if she did betray us, I could understand why. She gave me so many chances and I screwed up every time.
Not this time. I vow that no matter what it takes, I’m going to treat Sienna the way she deserves once we get her back.
We pull into a parking lot so Caleb can check the GPS tracking app. He’s got her location but if they move her, we want to be prepared.
“I can’t believe they had the nerve to take Sienna,” Dominic says, a tick in his jaw. “Those snakes haven’t been in CaspianSprings in more than ten years. They just started showing up last year again, and all of a sudden they’ve ramped things up? It doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s like they feel bold now that a lot of the old guard has died off or left Caspian Springs,” I comment. “They started popping back up after the Haven Center closed but they weren’t making as much trouble until now.”
I breathe out, trying to control my frustration. Why here? Why now? That’s the question we keep circling back to, over and over. There’s something we’re missing but I can’t put my finger on what it is.
“They didn’t have the numbers before,” Caleb says, sitting up straighter. “Think about it. When the Crimson Blades drove them out of town all those years ago, a lot of the Serpents were killed or jailed. So they didn’t have the resources to come back, or even to try.”
“But now they’ve boosted membership,” Dominic adds, a puzzled look on his face. “They’re getting cocky because they think they have the backing to take over again.”
“We can’t let that happen,” I say, voice grim. “If they take over, they’ll do worse than what they did today, and they’ll run this place into the ground.”
“I got a lock on her location,” Caleb says, balancing his laptop on his bike. “I don’t know if she has her phone still, or if they took it but it’s just here,” he points to the screen. “They might have moved her, but we should be able to get there within the next ten minutes.”
“We need a plan,” I say. “Before we go in there, guns metaphorically blazing, we need to figure out how to get her out without bringing their full wrath down on us. It won’t help Sienna if we all get taken out.”
The sun is low in the sky, casting long shadows over the abandoned parking lot. I cup my hand over my eyes and squintas I face my brothers. “Sienna needs us right now, so we need to be smart about this. Caleb, what’s our best approach?”
“We could use a distraction to draw them out while one of us sneaks in,” he suggests.
“I can handle the distraction. You two focus on finding Sienna.” Dominic says.
The rage inside me is on a simmer, replaced with a tightness in my chest. I hope Sienna is alright, I hope they haven’t hurt her yet. I feel responsible because it was my deal that Sienna agreed to in the first place. I’ve already hurt her, and I won’t be the reason she gets hurt again.
“What building is that?” I ask, pointing to the spot where the phone signal is blinking.
“That’s the old tire factory,” Caleb says. “It’s been abandoned for a long time. That’s probably why they have her held there.”
I get an idea. “If we take this street here,” I say, pointing at the map. “We can hide our bikes behind this building. We should have a decent vantage point from there, so we can figure out what’s going on and where they’re keeping her. It means we have an advantage because they won’t know we’re there.”
Dominic nods. “Good idea. Maybe we should have equipped ourselves first.”
“Probably, but it’s too late now,” I say with a shrug. “We’ll just have to do this old-school.”
