“Steel, get back in the fucking truck,” Tyson hisses.
“Bullshit. We’re all watching Rex die,” Steel’s voice is nowhere near as strong as it used to be. But his determination is, “We’re not fucking splitting up again.”
“Jesus!” King snaps. “We weregoing to be quiet, andyou were going to stay in the fucking truck.”
The talking stops but everyone takes a minute to simply reach out to touch quickly, like doing another head count almost to make sure we are in fact all together.
“I brought a torch,” Steel says half apologetically. And the area we’re huddling in lights up.
“To a fucking gun fight,” King growls until his patience snaps. “Enough. Jesus, come on!”
I go to take a reach for Steel but the trauma of what happened between us decides to bitch slap me from out of nowhere. I struggle to get air in my lungs, and my feet definitely stop working. And everyone sees it.
Tyson moves instead, his hand squeezing gently over my hip letting me know it’s okay, and he’s here for me. I take a deep inhale letting the scents of the four of them become stronger than the harsh reminder of seeing Steel. I look at him, deep in his eyes letting him know I hope we’re going to be okay.
Steel takes a shaky breath. “We don’t split up again.”
But I had too, to say the same thing as Steel. “We don’t split up again. Please don’t do that to me.”
I don’t intentionally pump hard on the emotional blackmail, but it comes out like that. I twist, feeling King’s eyes on me and even though I probably would reword what I just said given half the chance, he doesn’t let me.
“You’re right, killer. We can do this different. Maverick get them out of here, and open the tray up for me, lay some plastic sheeting down. Get Tristan a spot in the front, Steel can lie in the back. Tyson can help me deal with Rex. I’d rather take mytime anyway.” King reaches for me, and tugs me into his arms again, leaving me with a quick kiss on the top of my head before steering me back to Maverick.
And this time there’s no stressed, panicked laughing reunion. Maverick sweeps me into his arms, flicking his head at Steel to move out.
“Shut your eyes up here,” Steel says without turning around or saying my name when we come to a part of the house. And I know he’s trying to protect me.
But I don’t need sheltering from seeing the aftermath of my pack finding me. I can’t not look. I need to know that the people who helped Rex keep me prisoner and taunt me with their vile words and disgusting groping have paid the price.
Maverick is different to Steel in the way he protects me. He slows down at the first body, the light from Steel’s torch bright enough so I see the littered bodies. “This fucker was Rex’s second in command, Bash. Tyson shot him between the eyes, then spat in his face as he died. And this fat cunt, Cog, used to make our life even harder than what it needed to be. Cog was a fucking rat who liked to make shit up and also reported on every small fucking thing Steel did. I shot him, but I made it hurt as much as possible before the life drained from him. King took out the first few because… well, he was like a bull in a China shop trying to get to you. We all were, Tris. There’s not enough death in this room for what they did to you, but we ain’t done. And we will never be done making it up to you.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I say, resting my head on his heart and letting the steady beat chase a few demons out of my mind.
“Kind of was. I should have stopped you being taken in the first place,” he says regretfully. He walks slowly around again, so I can see the carnage once more if I want before we go through a doorway.
“Where are we?”
“This is where Steel and Tyson’s mom and their sister lived. When they weren’t locked at the compound.”
“It’s a bit of a shit hole,” I mumble truthfully.
“Yeah. Rex had the money and manpower to fix it up but this way, he stripped them of hope and dignity. Reinforced he was the man they needed to survive.”
I shake my head, and Maverick pulls me in closer rubbing his face on mine, scent marking me up while reinforcing we’re pack and this is not how they’ll be with me.
Outside, the place is surrounded by Fallen members. Close enough to jump into help if needed. Joker is the closest, and he gives me a nod before firing up his bike. Everyone else does the same.
Maverick settles me on the front seat, while he hops in the back and shuffles a heap of gear around. Everything in here is saturated in the scent of them which is exactly what I need.
King and Tyson make their way back in what seems like no time, dragging behind them an unrecognisable Rex. He is stripped to his boxers, every inch of him dotted with marks, bruises, or blood. Parts of him hang at strangely disjointed angles, but I barely look, my attention locked on what is important—Tyson and King.
The both of them are clearly not okay. They look exhausted and haunted, and I don’t think they will ever lose the marks of what happened.
Together they throw Rex in the tray of the truck before walking past me and straight over to an outside faucet to wash down and change. King winks at me as he passes by to speak with Joker.
“Hello, beautiful girl,” Tyson says, wrapping his hands around my face, his forehead resting on mine, breathing me in. “Come on, baby, let’s go.”
As he gives me a quick brush of his lips on the top of my head, I let him know I’m all right. “I’m okay. I just want to go.”
