Read Marked. Part I: The missing Link Online
Authors: J.M. Sevilla
I wonder how good my aim is when I’m this fucking nervous. Shooting has always been for fun, a way to relax and let out stress. Also, it was always a fake target at a shooting range or in a video game, no real threat involved.
I might completely suck.
A dribble of sweat runs down my back.
The guard has Vault and I move to the seats across from us. Vault lets me know his vehicle is bulletproof and we should be fine as long as we stay inside. I know he informed me of this expecting it would bring me comfort.
It doesn't.
The fact that he even has to have a bulletproof car makes this situation worse. Somehow, I have found myself in a world where guns pointing at you and firing is expected and not something to be feared.
This is Jay's normal. My normal and his normal are in completely different realms. Is it possible for them to merge? Or will we forever be trying to force our two worlds to coexist?
I'm relieved when I don't have time to dwell over this new revelation. I become to absorbed in what's happening.
The driver stays behind the wheel. Vault's two guards get out, guns aimed as they head towards the front of the garage where we entered, waiting for the other car to join us.
I keep my gun aimed between the two doors, ready to shoot anyone who opens it.
Vault gently places a hand on my arms and lowers them. “Chill,” he snickers.
“
How are you so calm?”
“
I'm not. I've taught myself how to always remain level, no matter the situation.”
A black sedan with tinted windows rounds the corner and I suck in my breath. I hear Vault getting his gun ready and he aims it between the two doors.
I raise a brow at him.
“
What?” He shrugs. “It's a good idea.”
A smug grin creeps up the left side of my cheek, “I get my side, you get yours.”
He aims for his, I aim for mine.
“
Jay loves you,” Vault tells me as we watch the car come to a stop in front of Vault's armed guards. From here I can hear them demanding the driver to get out or be shot.
“
Are you telling me this 'cause you think we're going to die?” I half shriek, half yelp.
He has the nerve to chuckle, “We're not going to die.”
Why is no one getting out of that car?
“
His dad's done some shit for me I'll never forget. He would be glad his son has you. Jay's not meant for this life. His dad knew it.”
Tears prick my eyes.
Perfect. You're going to cry right now? Pull your shit together, this is not the time to get emotional.
“
Think he'd be happy living a normal life?”
“
Is anybody happy living a normal life?” He counter offers.
“
I think some people are.”
He shrugs in an “if you say so” kind of way.
We watch our men demand once again that the driver exit his vehicle or they will shoot.
“
Why isn't anybody getting out?” A funny feeling is twisting in my gut.
“
Not sure.”
They inch closer and I'm not liking this one bit; something doesn't feel right, “Should they be getting so close?”
“Lily,” he sighs out my name as though I'm a nuisance, “My men know what they're doing.”
The closer they get, the harder my heart slams into my ribs. It vibrates up my throat and through my arms, traveling out my fingers, making my hands shake and clattering my pistol.
I try concentrating on my breathing. The closer they get to the other car the louder my breathing becomes, reminding me of a scuba diver (or better yet, Darth Vader.)
The men are mere feet away from the sedan when a loud BOOM! Buzzes my eardrums.
The vehicle explodes into flames, taking Vault's men with it, rocking the Escalade like an earthquake, and car alarms go off on all levels of the garage.
“
We need to get the hell out of here!” Vault informs me, like the thought never fucking occurred to me. I catch on that he wasn't talking to me as the driver revs up the engine and barrels towards the flaming vehicle that is blocking half of our exit.
“
Seat belt!” Vault yells, reaching over me to fasten mine on before securing himself.
The flames of the other vehicle pass over us as we swerve around it and for a moment I let myself believe the worst is over.
The sound of a car screeching, rapidly approaching our level, makes me realize that Quake was right, life's not that easy.
Another car is rounding the corner and both vehicles screech to avoid collision, but it's not fast enough and we fishtail, sending us smashing into the oncoming car, the driver's side meeting their front. The impact jerks us forward, making me think I just drank a Slurpee in one giant gulp and am suffering the worst brain freeze of the century. Through the pounding in my head I'm able to force my eyes to absorb my surroundings, and immediately notice that our driver is slumped over the wheel and not breathing.
Shit. I unbuckle and scramble to the door.
“
Lily, what are you doing?!” Vault calls out to me as I'm halfway out the door.
“
It's either us or them. I for one don't want to sit here and wait for them to make the first move. I'm guessing it's time to throw down.”
He follows me out and we squat behind the vehicle. I creep towards the hood and Vault takes the back.
I peek around, gun ready, watching for anybody to dare exit the sedan identical to the previous one.
I'm getting used to the adrenaline pumping in every crevice of my body. I welcome the feeling and focus on it, letting it help me zone in and gain clarity. I no longer hear my pounding heart or heavy breathing. Everything fades around me and all I can see is the car, my mind and eyes knowing their target.
Four men get out, their machine guns all aimed at our SUV.
No time to think, just aim, shoot, and kill.
My first bullet leaves the barrel of my pistol, landing between the eyes of the driver. They start firing at the car and I duck back, but not before hitting the man behind the driver in the head, taking him out.
Two more to go.
I can do this.
I focus on listening to the sound of their firearms, knowing I have barely a nanosecond to react when they change mags. The very second I know it's time, I brave it, knowing it's us or them. There is no other way out of this.
With speed and clarity, I round the hood of the car and aim for the two remaining men. I wonder if this is how they got the idea for The Matrix as movement slows down, and I can clearly see my bullet travel towards my first target as I observe the second man turning towards me, knowing if I don't get him down soon I'll have a bullet impaling me. As quickly as I shot the first I fire at the second, watching my bullet slice through the air as shots come at me. I whip around to the safety of the Escalade. I feel the vibrations of their bullets hit the exterior of my ride, followed by dead silence.
“
Lily, get in the car!” Someone shouts and everything snaps into view.
Vault is throwing open the passenger door and shoving the driver between the two front seats, before getting into the driver's seat. He has to kick the driver's legs out of the way to give himself enough space to work the gas and brake. I jump in as he tries to maneuver between the sedan and cement wall of the garage. I'm getting thrown around in my seat while I clumsily snap in my seatbelt. I cringe and feel sickened when I'm bumped up and down from driving over the dead bodies.
We make it out of the garage but I don't feel any better. I'm breathing heavier than I ever have and my chest hurts from the pounding my heart is giving it. I try to suck in air, but my lungs won't suck it in fast enough. Everything around me is getting blurry. I vaguely notice Vault extracting the gun from my hand. He's talking to me but I don't register a word he's saying. I rest my hands on the dashboard and hang my head, trying to regain my composure.
I just killed four men and had the most intense adrenaline rush of my life. My body doesn't know how to come down. Every limb is shaking and all of a sudden I feel like I could vomit.
I do, right between my legs until I'm dry heaving, all over the floor of Vault's expensive Escalade.
“
Lily!” He cries, “Are you okay? Did you get shot?”
Oh shit. Did I?
I don't feel any pain, but I know from past experience that that doesn't mean my body's not.
“
Lily, answer me!”
I hold up a finger letting him know I need a minute.
The car jolts to a stop and Vault gets out, coming around to open my side. He steps up to grab hold of my face, forcing me to look at him but my eyes won't focus. He's talking but I don't hear it. His hands brush along my body, looking for signs of injury.
I'm being carried in his arms, loose as a rag doll, my mind replaying everything that just happened. The explosion that killed Vault's men, ammunition firing at me, the blood and brains spraying out behind the men I shot.
I killed someone.
I killed four men.
Four.
Oh god.
Chapter 37
11:56am
I become aware of the gold elevators we enter and the feeling of it ascending. I keep waiting for the tears to fall but they never do. I'm in shock. I never thought I would have death on my hands, that I would voluntarily do it. I know I didn't have much of a choice, but that doesn't stop how nauseous it makes me.
I'm slowly regaining my body, my senses coming back to life.
Vault carries me to his office and lays me down on one of his plush leather couches, hair being shoved off my face.
Once again I feel hands all over my body.
“Lily, are you in pain?” Panic is evident in his tone.
I shake my head no, a single tear escaping the side of my eye.
The tear is wiped away and a thumb caresses my cheek.
“
Lily, you saved my life,” Vault's awed voice tells me. “Where did you learn to shoot like that? It was unreal.”
I don't respond, but I feel a grin twitching on my lips, pleased that finally my badass gun skills are appreciated. The feeling evaporates when I remember that it came at the cost of four lives.
A few more tears escape, a block of ice replacing my throat and lungs.
Vault brings a straw to my lips, encouraging me to drink.
I take a sip and the cool refreshing water feels amazing traveling down my body. I begin to gulp and suck until I hear the slurping sound of an empty glass.
I relax into the cushions, eyes growing heavy and fluttering closed.
“Jay!” I gasp, body bolting upright, remembering he was going back into a suite with that crazy psycho lady.
“
He's not back yet,” a monotone Vault reports back to me.
I frantically search his face, looking for any signs of what he's truly thinking. The crystal clear blue eyes of Benedict Cole remind me of an old soul, one full of sorrow and heartache.
“It doesn’t mean he's not okay,” he rushes out to reassure me. “It doesn’t mean he's not okay,” he murmurs under his breath, and I think this time it's to reassure himself.
I find comfort that I'm not in this alone, that I'm not the only one worried whether he lives or dies.
“What happened to that car?” I ask.
“
A bomb. My guess is Laz sent one of her men to drive the car to take out my men, making us easy targets for the others.”
“
Why would the driver of the car sacrifice himself like that?”
“
He might not have known. It's not uncommon to use a minion to drive a car where it's needed, making them think the other car will be the one to explode when he presses the detonator.”
We keep staring into each others' eyes as we continue digesting everything that happened.
The office doors fly open and men come stumbling in.
Vault jumps to his feet and hurries to them. I sit up straighter, searching for Jay in the small assembly in front of me, but I don't see him.
I scramble to my feet, making my way past the couch and floor rug closer to the men.
“
Jay?” I ask, but there's such a commotion no one hears me. I say his name louder and no one acknowledges I’m here as they are trying to assess their wounds. The men look a bloody mess.
More men enter, but these men are in scrubs and get to work on any injuries, evaluating who needs more intensive care.
I cover my mouth, eyes wildly moving back and forth, taking each one in and how none of them seem unharmed. Every one of them has taken a hit and is damaged.
None of this is good.
My breathing becomes shallow; I can't seem to remember how to breathe.
I hear them tell Vault that they were ambushed. Lazra had men hiding behind the bedroom doors. I drop to my knees, eyes now glued to the door. I'm praying and waiting for Jay to walk through, swiping his head, eyes intently studying me. I hold on to that image, hoping that if I picture it enough it will happen.
“Arianna?” Vault inquires.
“
Gone,” one of his men responds.
The block of ice lodged in my throat turns into a thick tree trunk, it's roots overtaking my chest, and the branches run along my jaw, tightening it in. Tears hit the marble floor, splatter after splatter, sounding like raindrops in a storm, but I'm sure to everyone else nothing more than a fallen leaf.
“Jay?” Vault asks next.
I'm not sure I can hear this, I'm not sure I can emotionally handle it.
“Here,” a voice I'd know anywhere speaks, coming through the doors. “Where's my girl?”
A sob escapes and my palms hit the cool marble. I didn't see him but his voice was enough to send me over. A thumping hits the floor and I see bent knees sliding across it. Familiar arms embrace me into the hard body of the man I love.
“Baby, are you okay?” I cling tighter with each word that leaves his mouth, breathing in as much of him as I can. “Vault, tell me what happened.”
“
We were followed. My men got bombed when they approached the other car.”
Jay tenses and his lips kiss all along the top of my head.
“She saved my life. Where did she learn to shoot like that? It was like watching a female Bruce Willis action hero.” He sounds in awe and disbelief, thinking he must have gone insane and not remember it accurately.
“
Fuck,” Jay mutters. “Baby, talk to me. I need to hear your voice.”
I dislodge the words stuck deep inside, “I killed four men.”
“Baby,” he sighs, stroking my hair, “Four men who wouldn't have thought twice about killing you.”
I know that, but it doesn't change the fact that I played God and took a life. I know that there was no other choice and one day I will come to terms with that, but after all that I've been through it's too much for me. I want to be home in my warm, cozy bed, my mom bringing me canned soup that she somehow burned in the microwave, a brown frothy web swimming on top, my brothers poking their heads in to make a witty remark that makes me laugh and roll my eyes, Naomi coming in and hitting me with mounds of chocolate bars before forcing me to make room for her on the bed. We'll watch a romantic comedy that leaves me swooning and Naomi hating every minute of it, but I know she secretly loves it.
Jay loosens his hold on me but I'm not ready to let go. I climb up onto his bent legs to sit on his lap.
A hiss rings in my ear.
“Baby, I'm hurt. I need to get checked out.” He tries sliding me off but he seems to be in too much pain to manage it.
I pull away and scoot back, noticing his hand's over his left lower stomach, covered in blood.
“Omigod!” I cry, “Are you okay?!” It comes out frantic and panic-stricken, which is calmer than how my insides feel.
Jay reaches his other hand to stroke my cheek, “Baby, it's just a bullet wound. I'll be fine.”
I throw my hands up and let them fall down and slap my thighs, “How silly of me. Why be worried over something so mundane? Ignoring the fact that you're covered in blood!”
He chuckles and winces in pain, “It may hurt, but it's not life threatening. I'll look back on it as proof that Lazra is six feet under ground.
My jaw hits the floor, “So when you told me that some of your scars hold good memories, this is what you meant?
His lips jerk to form a childlike smirk, “Yeah.”
I shake my head and let out a grunt, “You need to learn what it means to have good memories.”
He tucks my hair behind my ear, his eyes softening, “I'm never going to be able to eat or smell pumpkin without thinking of how good you taste and feel.”
My cheeks flush and he winks. Despite the circumstances, I'm turned on. Damn him and what he does to me.
A doctor leads Jay over to lie down on a couch to take a look at his wound, which has saturated his shirt in blood. I follow and stand on the back end of the couch, reaching a hand over to hold his. I give it a squeeze and he pulls it up to kiss the top before resting it on his chest.
As the doctor gets to work removing the bullet, Jay has Vault recount in detail what happened.
“
She actually used the words – It's time to throw down,” Vaults adds, after he finishes briefing him.
They both laugh, Jay stopping to wince in pain, and the doctor warns him to stay still.
Jay kisses the top of my hand again, “You're so damn cute.”
I huff, “It fell out.” I glare at Vault and shake a finger at him, “Didn't I just save your ass? Show some respect.”
Vault only chuckles before turning gravely serious, “My men told me Arianna's gone?”
Jay sucks in his breath and tightly closes his eyes as the doctor begins stitching his wound.
“Son of a bitch that hurts.” He kisses my hand, leaving his lips on it, breathing in and out until his body relaxes back, getting used to the pain, the pain I wish I was feeling instead of him.
“
She's not gone.”
Both Vault and I let out a sigh of relief.
“When your men and I entered shit got crazy, but she's smart and ducked back just like I knew she would. She crawled toward the door and I used my body to make sure no one got past me to get to her. Unfortunately, I didn't notice Henley leaving too. It wasn't until after shit ended that I realized he was gone too. One of your men saw him take her with him and followed, but they hit the elevator first. Your man made it outside with enough time to shoot Henley in the back of the head, but Arianna was already in the car and it sped off. I have no fucking clue where they went. I have some of your men looking into it right now.”
The doctor finishes and puts on a fresh patch of gauze.
“Will that be all, Mr. Cole?”
“
Yes, thank you Doctor Kline. One of my girls up front has your cash for you.”
He tips his head in farewell and leaves.
I move around to the front of the couch to help Jay sit up. He clutches his stomach the whole time, trying to hide how much agony it causes him. He adjusts his bottom for comfort, then pats next to him for me to sit. I get as close as I can without being on top of him. He brings his arm over my lap and I take his hand into mine. His head leans down to kiss the top of my hair and breathe me in.
“
Lazra's gone?” Vault asks for confirmation.
“
Yeah, did it myself. Two to the head, three to the chest.”
“
Needed to make sure, huh?”
“
Fuck yes I did. Wasn't easy either. It was like a fucking war zone in there,” his eyes turn haunted. “She had more than double the men we did. She planned that all out better than I had thought she was capable off.
“
Any of her men left?”
“
No. Your head has men in there now cleaning it all up.
Vaults nods, “Good.”
“Vault, can you give us a minute alone?”
He nods while he stands, “I have a lot to do to keep this under wraps.”
“Can you get your plane ready and my box?”
He nods again and leaves.
“Plane?” I question, not liking the expression forming on Jay's face.
“
Come, sit on my lap.”
Very carefully I move to straddle him. He takes hold of my face to look me in the eye, “I have to send you home.”
“What? Why?”
“
You’re safest there. Nobody else but Vault's men know about you now, and they won't touch you. I can't have you near me with Dragoni coming after us.”
I start to shake my head no, “I can't leave you.”
“I don't want you to go, but I can't have you anywhere near him. The idea of his eyes even looking at you...” he trails off and I take the opportunity to peck his lips, “I also need to find Arianna. I owe her that. I was so hell bent on making sure you got out of that hotel I convinced myself I'd be able to keep her safe. I should have made an effort for her to leave with you. You were right, I fucked up. Now it's my responsibility to get her back.”
“
Do you think she's okay?”
“
No fucking clue babe.”
“
I'm scared, Jay.”
He pulls me into him and we both bury our faces in the other.
“Once you kill him you'll come back for me, right?”
Jay stiffens.
“Jay?” I plead, why won't he answer?
“
Lily, you deserve better than all this.”
I vigorously shake my head no and push back on him, “No, Jay. You get that bastard and then you come back for me. Promise me. You can't leave me again, not if you love me too. I won't ever be able to move on with my life if I know you're somewhere out there living yours without me. Promise you'll come back to me. When he's gone, it's over anyway, right?”
He's avoiding direct eye contact, “Yeah.”
“
Then promise me.”