Authors: Raven Monet
Chapter Fifteen
My uncle and Elias had the three men restrained when I came out of the bathroom, my face cleaned and free from the blood and vomit. Elias looked over at me, concerned. Deacon did too. Both men were worried about me, which I thought was cute. But I was more worried about them getting hurt – especially my aging uncle. At one time, I didn't doubt he was a fearless warrior who could take anyone down. But these days, he moved a lot slower than before – even in lion form. His slow reaction time could mean death for him. I could handle myself getting hurt or dying, but Deacon? No way.
Elias could be in danger too, though. And the idea of him getting hurt also caused a pain in my chest.
“You okay?” Deacon asked me, wiping the sweat from his brow. He'd slipped into some pants since I'd gone into the bathroom.
“Yeah, I'm good,” I said, reaching for another beer to get the taste of vomit out of my mouth. “You?”
“Could be better, but I'm alive, so that's good,” he said.
Elias had joined us, all of us keeping an eye on the three men. Arturo was still not awake. Either he was faking it or Elias knocked him out cold. His chest was still rising and falling, so I knew he wasn't actually dead. What a shame, I thought. His leg was bleeding heavily from my bite, though, and without medical attention, he'd at least lose the limb – if he didn't bleed to death first.
Neither Elias nor Deacon seemed all that concerned about it. Hell, I wasn't. Whatever happened to him, I couldn't care less. The poor kid – Gabriel – on the other hand, him I felt sorry for. He kept looking at me, begging for help with those eyes of his.
“What's the plan?” I asked, still looking over at Gabriel.
“We wait until the man calls Arturo's phone, let one of those two answer and play along, and we go from there,” Deacon said calmly. “Let him think we're dead.”
“What if one of them gives us away?” Elias asked. I had the same thought,
“They won't,” Deacon said knowingly. “Because if they do, we eat them alive. And they know we can do it too.”
The mere mention of actually eating another human being caused my stomach to roil, but I tried not to let it show. This was all talk, I knew it. I couldn't imagine Deacon or Elias eating another human being either. Or maybe they did and I just didn't know it. They were known to be a ruthless, blood-thirsty gang of guys. I guess I fit in nicely with them now too.
Which made me think – maybe to these guys, maybe we were the villains. Who knows what stories these people were told about us. From afar, we were pretty damn scary and brutal. And looking at it from that perspective, it was easy to believe we were the bad guys.
“Gabriel,” I called out, staring at the kid. “Why are you with these assholes?”
Gabriel looked stunned at first, then looked over at Juan before answering. That look said it all.
These two were brothers. Which could come in handy if we needed to torture one or the other for information. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that, however.
“Our parents were killed,” Gabriel said, “And we had nowhere else to go, no one to feed us. Our boss took us in, trained us, put us to work and paid us well.”
Juan nodded. I realized that yes, he was older than Gabriel, but not by much.
“Is Arturo your brother as well?”
Elias gave me a look, I guess he hadn't pieced it together just yet. But I had.
“No, we just met him before we came out here,” Juan said. “We were told to obey him at all costs, or else.”
“Or else what?” Deacon asked.
Gabriel ran a finger across his throat. No need for words. That said enough.
“Do you think you could keep us safe?” Juan asked, eyes wide.
The three of us – Deacon, Elias and me – all looked at each other. Keep them safe? We hardly even knew these guys. But then I felt my heartstrings being tugged – they were just kids.
“Listen, we didn't want to do this,” Gabriel chimed in. “I'd never even held a gun before today. Arturo handed it to me and – ”
The phone Deacon pulled from Arturo's pocket rang, silencing everyone.
“Want us to keep you safe and alive?” I asked, grabbing the phone from the table, walking over to the two kids. “Then do exactly as we say. You tell your boss man, whoever he is, that you killed the two guys and captured the girl, who's only injured. That Arturo was killed in the fight and only you two remain alive. Got it?”
“He won't believe it – ” Juan said.
“What other choice do we have?” Gabriel asked.
I handed the phone to Gabriel, putting all my trust into that scared little boy. “He's right, Juan,” I said, cooly. “What choice do you have?”
Chapter Sixteen
Gabriel played it off well enough. He sounded terrified, but considering he'd never been sent to kill people before, it sounded realistic enough.
“Yeah, we killed em,” he said, looking at me as he spoke. “The guys, yes. The girl is knocked out, but she's still breathing. I don't think she's dead, but she's hurt. Really hurt.”
Then I heard him saying, “Uh huh, got it,” a lot, without knowing what the man on the other end was saying to him. “Where is that?” he asked.
Gabriel's eyes got big. “Yes, I think Juan and I could get their heads for you – ” His voice cracked as he spoke.
“Got it,” Gabriel said quietly. Then he said something in Spanish, something I couldn't understand. That sent a chill down my spine. But then Gabriel turned to me and said, “He hung up.”
I pulled the phone away from his ear and kneeled down in front of him so I could be eye-to-eye with the kid. “What did you say there? At the end? In Spanish?”
“It was an oath of ours, it was just a way of saying we'd be loyal to the end, that's all.”
“I don't buy it,” Elias said from behind me. “They're lying to us.”
“No, no, I swear!” Gabriel said.
Juan joined him. “He's right. We had to swear an oath to our boss and the group, and he made us remember it – even made us carve it into our own skins. See?”
He lifted up his shirt and on his chest were the words his brother had said. At the end, it said, El Monstruo. It wasn't a tattoo, but scars. From a very sharp knife.
Gabriel lifted his shirt too. Same thing.
“You had to do this to yourself?” I asked.
The boys nodded.
“Do you see why we want out now?” Gabriel asked me, his eyes pleading with us. “We don't want to do this. I'm scared. I don't want to kill anyone or hurt anyone, but it's either that or – ”
He didn't need to continue for me to get the idea. I knew in my heart what we had to do.
We had to protect these boys.
“Don't worry,” I said, standing back up. “We're going to kill that bastard and put his head on a spike.”
“Good,” Gabriel said.
Juan didn't look as convinced as his brother did, but at least they both stopped fighting us.
“So tell us,” Deacon said, speaking up for the first time in awhile. “What did your bossman say on the phone just now?”
“We have to bring him your heads,” Gabriel said. “And the girl. Or else he's going to blow this entire building up, with us in it. We have an hour to meet him at a checkpoint.”
An hour.
“We better get to work then,” I said, walking over to the man whose throat I'd ripped out.
“What are you doing, Ava?” Deacon asked me.
“Getting the man what he wants a couple of heads. Elias already got one, I'm going to get the other.”
I looked around for something sharp, but Elias had beaten me to it. His hand turned into that sharp talon that I'd seen before, and he lifted the guy's head into the air, twisting and digging the talons into the flesh, ripping the man's head off before our very eyes.
As he stood there, the man's head in his talon, we locked eyes.
“Thank you,” I said, feeling myself overwhelmed by just staring at him. Even holding the head of a man who tried to kill me, he was still so damn sexy. I could stare at that chest all day and forget about the mess all around us.
“Anytime,” he said with a wink, dropping the head to the ground. “Let's get some bags to put them in. After that, I'll head over to the checkpoint before we give the bastard an excuse to blow us up.”
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Chapter Seventeen
There was no way we could let Arturo out of our sight, and the boss man specifically requested me... so it left a fight between Elias and Deacon on who'd be coming with me, as the backup.
“Neither of you should be there,” I said. “Because you're both supposed to be dead.”
Both men scoffed at that idea.
“There's no way you're going alone,” Elias said. Deacon agreed, looking rather pleased with Elias' answer.
I looked at both men, trying to decide who should be the one to accompany me. Let's be honest, I didn't want either man in the path of danger. My uncle was my only living relative, and Elias was... Well, Elias was Elias and my feelings toward him were complicated, to say the least.
In fact, the very idea of losing either man choked me up.
“There's no way I'm letting both of you kids go alone,” Deacon said, standing up as if he was ready to head out. I looked at Elias. I also knew that he had his reasons for wanting to go, and who was I to deny him his opportunity at revenge? Feelings or not, if I was going to die, might as well let Elias seek out what he so desperately wanted in life. The same thing I wanted.
“Uncle,” I said, forcing the words out, “I think Elias needs to do this. Just like I need to do it.”
Elias had started to argue with us both until he realized I was on his side. He looked at me and whispered, “Thank you.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked back at him, nodding. Letting him know I had his back.
Deacon sighed, rubbing his hands together and looking between the two of us. “I really can't--”
“Deacon,” Elias said, standing up. He walked over to my uncle, hovering over him. Elias was tall, so very tall. He placed his hands upon Deacon's shoulder and looked down at him. “I'm not a child anymore. You don't have to protect me.”
From Elias' height to his broad shoulders, there was no questioning that he was not a child. Yet, Deacon still looked at him as such.
Elias continued, not letting Deacon speak. “Do you know what it means to need something so badly, that nothing else in the world matters? That's what this is for me, Deacon. I need this. I can't continue to live my life without seeking revenge, and if I did because of it? So be it. But if you die, I could never live with myself. I need this, Deacon. I need this more than you possibly understand.”
From where I was standing, I saw tears welling up in my uncle's eyes. He looked over at me, then back at Elias. He wanted to fight this. He wanted to fight it so badly.
“They killed my brother and my--”
He cut off before he mentioned my mother. I knew he loved her, and not in a sister-in-law sort of way. My uncle never married, never even dated a woman seriously. And I believe the only woman he'd ever loved was my mom.
“They were my parents, Deacon,” I said softly. “And Elias'. We need to do this.”
Deacon nodded. “I know you do,” he said. “You need this more than I do. And from what I've seen of both of you, especially from today, if anyone can kill that bastard, it's you.”
“Does that mean what I think it means?” Elias asked.
Deacon gripped Elias' shoulders, pulling him close. The two men embraced, hugged like a father and son might do. Knowing that this very well could be the last time I ever saw my uncle, I walked over and hugged both of them too.
“The clock's ticking,” Gabriel said softly.
He was right. We needed to go. Or else all of us would die.
“I love you,” Deacon said to me, kissing my forehead.
“I know,” I said. “And I loved you too, Deacon. You've always been more than an uncle to me and I knew it.”
The two of us stared at each other for a moment.
“Honestly, I'm more your daughter than I ever was my dad's,” I said, sniffling and wiping my tears away. “You and I are a lot alike.”
“I know,” he said, holding onto my hand so tightly, I was afraid he might not let me go. He turned to Elias and while he didn't tell him he loved him too, you could see it in his eyes. “Take care of her.”
“I promise.” Elias nodded. He loved my uncle too. You could see it in those green eyes of his.
“You take care of him too,” Deacon said to me, letting go of my hand. “Don't let him do anything stupid.”
“I promise,” I said, smiling through the tears.
And as we walked away, I feared that might be the last time I ever saw my uncle again. I hoped to God it wasn't, there was still so much I wanted to learn from him. If he was indeed my biological father, he'd get me in ways my parents didn't. And looking over at Elias, I realized I had a family again.
And I just might lose that family as quickly as I got them.