Tobias lunged, unleashing a chilling bellow of rage. There was no booming of my pulse as I watched the Sons drag my Wildcat into the shadows. Just silence. An emptiness I knew would become my world if I didn’t move NOW!
I palmed my gun, drawing the muzzle high.
Seconds…it wasn’t even that.
But fuck, it felt like forever.
My finger moved too fucking slow, squeezing.
Crack!
A shot tore free.
Crack!
London’s blast came barely a heartbeat later.
Chaos descended as Nick and Caleb both dove forward from the steady stream of returning gunfire. I saw it all…and heard as I leaped into action. The faint sound of an engine starting outside made my stomach drop like a stone.
They were going to take her.
They were going to take HER!
“The FUCK you are!” I howled, and lunged.
Tobias was hit in the shoulder as he ran. It spun him like a damn top and dropped him to his knees. I caught the sight of blood. But I was already charging toward the machinery where they’d taken her.
“Get the fuck off her!” Vivienne screamed. “LEAVE HER ALONE!”
I just knew she was fighting, giving it her all…to protect her sister.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack crack crack!
A bullet narrowly missed me. The muzzle flare, neon in the dark. I aimed for that light and squeezed off a shot as Tobias pushed up from the floor behind me. But as we flew deeper into the shadows of the warehouse, it wasn’t Ryth’s brother who hit them first.
It was mine.
Colt.
No.
Not Colt.
The Beast.
He slammed into the dark outline of one of the Sons, slamming him back against hard steel. The grunt that followed was soon replaced by terrifying screams. Hands flailed as I took aim, desperate to protect my blood…but there was no need, the bullet would be wasted. My brother, the beast, grabbed the Son’s head in his massive hands and with one sickening jerk, snapped the bastard’s neck.
Crunch.
The Son’s knees buckled and he dropped to the floor. Only, the beast wasn’t done, not by a long shot. He followed the attacker down, slammed him to the concrete floor, and savagely attacked, driving his face into his neck. Sickening, tearing sounds came as he thrashed his head, savaging the male like an animal.
“What the fuck?” Tobias stared, horrified.
Rage flared as I jerked my gaze upwards, fighting the need to aim my muzzle in the Banks brother’s face and roar, LOOK AWAY IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE IT!
But the truth was, not even I could handle what my brother had become.
Then there was a moan. A soft, fragile sound as Ryth called, “Tobias.”
The Banks bastard snapped his terrified stare to a crouched figure in the dark, one that slowly pushed upwards. Cold night air washed in, hitting my legs, and traveling upwards. Goosebumps raced along my spine and the sound of that car’s engine grew louder. London raced forward, then dropped to the floor, his feet skidding out from under him as he rolled under the partially open roller door.
“Colt!” I bellowed as I charged after him.
That bestial gnawing ended as I followed our father, dropped hard to scurry under the door, and pushed upwards. Screams filled the night. Vivienne’s and Guild’s, jerking my gaze to the bodyguard as he stood directly in front of the dark four-wheel drive, bathed in the blinding headlights. The engine of the vehicle revved, blowing gray exhaust fumes against the door I’d crawled under. His gun was in both hands, aiming at the driver behind the wheel.
But the third Son had his arm across Vivienne’s throat and his gun pressed against her head. That empty stare found mine. I knew exactly why he’d come. It had nothing to do with reclaiming a Daughter.
He was here for revenge. Pure and simple. I was the one who’d killed their leader.
There was panic in her wide eyes and her lips were ashen. Fuck, that hurt to see. My lips curled as I jerked my eyes back to the bastard’s stare as the last moments of the attack outside the restaurant came flooding back.
The leader of this renegade group of Sons had tried to abduct her as we’d fought for our lives. I’d almost lost her then. Hell, I almost lost myself. But we’d survived…and he hadn’t. I’d left his body slumped on the ground at that derelict building, and now they’d come for payback.
“There’s no way out for you,” London said calmly, standing in front of them. “Not alive, at least. Let her go and we’ll let one of you live.”
In the corner of my eye, Colt rolled under the roller door and pushed to stand. Blood was smeared all over his face. He took a step forward, snarling. But the bastard who had Vivienne whipped his gun toward my brother. “Come closer and I’ll start firing.”
“Beast!” Vivienne cried out as she fought the bastard’s hold. “No…no, you hear me? No.”
Desperation filled her stare, fixed on my brother.
Even in the face of her own danger, she thought of us first.
Agony plunged deep into my chest like a damn knife.
It was that fucking dressing room all over again. In my head, she lay across my brother with her arms outstretched, putting her own life on the line to protect him. Just like that desperate glare she had for my brother now.
The bastard who had her shifted the gun back to her head. “You.” He stared at me. “Gun down and on your knees, or I’ll put a bullet through her head.”
“NO!” she screamed, thrashing against his hold to drive her elbow into his stomach. But he saw it coming and shifted his stance at the last second, narrowly avoiding her blow.
“You won’t.” I shook my head. “She’s a Daughter.”
His lips curled into a smirk. “One less won’t worry us.”
Someone flinched. I didn’t know if it was Colt or Guild. But the sonofabitch saw it. He yanked his gunhand backwards and with, a growl, cold-cocked her in the side of her head. Dazed, she stumbled sideways, her knees buckling before the hold around her throat yanked her back.
Ryth tore around the side of the warehouse. Her stepbrothers and father followed, spilling out around us.
“Stop!” Jack Castlemaine bellowed, lifting his hands into the air.
Helene King was right by his side, a gun in her hand, aimed at the asshole who had the woman we loved.
“Take me.” Jack stepped forward. “Take me instead.”
“The fuck?” London glared at the man who had no stake in this fight. Still, the bastard was determined to make it about him as he took another step forward.
Crack!
I flinched as the shot sounded, terror ripping through me. But the bullet landed in front of Castlemaine and bounced off the concrete.
“One more fucking move,” the Son warned, breathing hard. “And I will splatter her goddamn brains everywhere.” He turned back to me. “Now move.”
I lowered my gun and took a step forward.
There was no getting out of this.
And it was okay.
I held her stare and slowly nodded.
It was all okay.
I sank to my knees. The thud of the landing tore up into my thighs.
If I had to leave this world, then this was the way I’d want it.
London and Wildcat would protect my brother.
After all, she carried their children.
They would love him and care for him. I fixed my gaze on the woman I loved and knew in my soul…this was meant to be. The gun moved from her head to point at mine once more.
“No.” Vivienne thrashed, a stream of blood spilling down the side of her head.
“Pet,” London murmured carefully.
But I couldn’t look away from the dark muzzle of that bastard’s gun.
“Exactly how I showed you.”
What?
I shifted my gaze as her wide brown eyes fixed on London. She slowly dropped her hand and reached behind her. All I could see was that bastard’s finger squeezing the trigger, the gleam of steel reflecting the moonlight, until he suddenly flinched, then scowled. In the space of a breath, the color instantly drained from his face. He dropped his hand and doubled over with a guttural, agonized roar.
Movement simultaneously happened all around me.
London swung his hand with the gun.
Wildcat lunged at the same time my brother did.
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM…BOOM…BOOM…
The night exploded with gunfire. Guild and London unleashed, shattering the windshield and killing the Son behind the wheel as the beast tore Vivienne’s abductor apart. His screams started and never stopped, not when Colt savaged his face, tearing at his lips with his teeth and driving his fists into his face.
There was nothing any of us could do to stop him.
Not even if we’d wanted to.
I shoved upwards, catching Vivienne as she fell.
“I got you.” I yanked her against me as London strode forward.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her from my arms to check her. “Look at me…hey. Look at me, baby.”
He ran his hands over her head as the rest of us stared at my brother.
Wet, gurgling, repulsive sounds silenced the Son’s screams stopped. Still the beast ripped, beat, and tore. There was no end to the savagery. Nothing stopped his wrath, not even death.
There were no words this time.
No turning away from what we are.
Even Ryth and her father watched the nauseating display. Eventually Guild walked around and yanked open the driver’s door of the SUV. The dead Son fell out as he reached in and killed the engine. In the silence, the stomach-churning sounds were louder.
“Who the fuck are they?” Caleb Banks snapped.
“Sons,” I answered, still staring at my brother as he ripped the dead man’s throat apart. “Working for someone to abduct the escaped Daughters.”
“What the fuck?” Tobias shot me a glare. “Who the fuck is sending them?”
“I have a fair idea,” Jack Castlemaine murmured, drawing everyone’s gaze.
“If you say King, I’ll put a goddamn bullet in the man’s head myself,” London growled, looking away from Colt’s grotesque attack. “Just as soon as I find him.”
“You won’t have to look far,” Helene answered.
“Oh, yeah?” London glared her way. “Why’s that?”
She met his stare. “Because he’s right here.”
