Broken Anchor (Sinful Truths Book 6)

by Ella Miles

  I shove him back. “I’m not afraid of your army.”

  He lands a punch before grabbing my neck and shoving me hard into the stone wall behind me. “You should be. You should be very afraid, my dear daughter.”

  “You’re a monster. You killed your own son. And now you want to kill your daughter.”

  “If I have to, yes. I don’t enjoy killing like your lot do, but I will do whatever it takes in order to reach my goal.”

  “Well, we have that in common then, Father.”

  I head-butt him, and he releases me. I have my gun in the back of my pants. I could shoot and kill him dead and be done with this mess, but I don’t. This is personal between us. I want him to know how strong I am before he dies. I want him to know what he missed by going after this ridiculous mission instead of being a good father to me.

  My father steps back, surprise in his eyes. He pulls out his phone, I’m sure to call for help.

  “Really? I’m just a girl. Don’t think you can fight me one on one?”

  He frowns and puts his phone away. “I just didn’t want you to get hurt.” He rolls up his sleeves, and I roll my eyes. He seriously thinks he’s going to win this fight. He doesn’t know me at all; he never did.

  He swings at me, and I dodge it easily. His swings are slow and lazy. The mark of a man who never has to fight. His men do that for him.

  He swings again, and this time I let his fist brush the side of my ear.

  He smirks like he’s won. I haven’t fought back yet. I’m buying my time, letting him think he’s powerful before I make my move.

  But I won’t let him hurt me.

  When he reaches into his pocket, pulls out a flask to drink, and then throws whiskey into my eyes, I lose it.

  I can’t see, my eyes burn from the liquor, but that won’t be a problem to take down my father.

  I punch him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Then I kick his legs, knocking them out from beneath him. I twist his arm behind his back as I drag him to the staircase in the center of the foyer.

  I blink rapidly, trying to get the alcohol out of my eyes, and then wipe it on my sleeve.

  “You bitch,” my father growls.

  “No, I’m not a bitch.”

  I leave him for a second as I grab one of the frayed curtains and then use it to restrain his arms behind his back and tie him to the staircase.

  “You’re no father of mine. You never were.” I spit on him. “I hope you burn in hell.”

  I start to walk away when he says, “Still not strong enough to finish the job, I see. You just leave me here tied up. I could escape death once again.”

  I turn with an evil grin. “You could, but I’m much stronger than I was before. And trust me, before the day is over, you’ll be burning down with this castle.”

  I walk away, headed toward the front door, stopping at Easton’s body.

  “I’m so sorry, brother. Rest in peace.”

  And then I walk out the door.

  There is a battle ensuing, but I don’t see anyone I recognize. I need to get to the box. Easton told me where it is—on the small island across the channel.

  I sneak around the edge of the castle with my gun drawn. I spot the island through the fog and head in that direction, when two men at the edge of the water draw my attention.

  Langston is on the ground, and Zeke stands above him with a gun to Langston’s head. Zeke doesn’t understand the truth. He doesn’t know what Langston has done, so I can’t let Zeke shoot him.

  “Zeke!” I yell, giving Langston a moment to get away. But when Zeke looks at me, all I see is Zeke, and my heart leaps to him, trying to comfort the pain I know he’s in.

  I start running toward him.

  33

  Zeke

  Siren starts running down the hillside while I run up the beach. I catch her as she jumps from the bottom of the hill into my open arms.

  “I was so scared that Langston hurt you,” I say, holding her close.

  “Just as I was worried that Julian hurt you.”

  I hug her tighter. I wish we could stay like this forever, but there is a battle happening just up the hill. Langston is gone. Julian is loose and possibly has already found the box. And her father is who knows where.

  “We have to get to the island,” Siren says.

  I nod, already knowing this from Langston. “Let’s go.”

  I grab her hand and pull her down the beach to the small wooden boat stuck in the sand. “Get in.”

  “Won’t you need help to get it in the water?”

  “No, get in.”

  Siren jumps into the small sailboat just as a crack of lighting bursts overhead. A storm has moved in right over us, and its dark, heavy rain clouds are about to drown us with rain. Of course, the world couldn’t make this easy for us.

  I push with all my might, my feet digging into the sand as I push the sailboat into the water. Siren, of course, already has the sail up as I hop into the boat.

  I come up behind her, helping her to guide the sail and giving me an excuse to hold her.

  “I love you so much, Siren. So much.” I kiss her neck.

  “I love you, too. But we aren’t going to say goodbye again. We are going to battle this together. Even if we are separated, it’s not the end; it’s not goodbye.”

  I turn her head and kiss her on the lips. “I agree, no more goodbyes.”

  I kiss her again, knowing that even though we won’t say goodbye, this could still be our last kiss, so I make it worth it.

  As we kiss, the rain falls around us. The winds pick up and thunder rolls through.

  Together we grab the sail and hold on, trying to get the wind to push us toward the island. But the wind is hitting us from the side, pushing us further out to sea instead of toward the island. It’s going to be a battle in this weather to get us to the island, or even near enough to jump and swim.

  I have to let Siren go so we can both go yank on the sails. The rain pours down in sheets, until we are both soaked.

  “Steady the boom,” Siren shouts through the wind.

  “Get in front of the tiller,” Zeke says.

  The boat rocks hard and back forth. This tiny boat wasn’t meant to withstand this level of storm. We shouldn’t have taken this boat out, but it’s too late for that now.

  That’s when I see the other boat coming—yacht, to be exact.

  “Siren,” I shout through the rain. She looks at me, and I point in the distance. She sees the yacht as well.

  We don’t know who is driving the yacht—Julian, Enzo, or Kai.

  We don’t know if help or danger is coming toward us.

  “We have to get to the island,” Siren says, not wanting to wait to find out the intentions of the yacht.

  I know what she’s about to suggest, and I hate it.

  “No,” I say.

  She lets go of the rope she’s holding. The boat rocks hard as she walks to me. “Get me to the island. I’ll get the box. It’s the safer job,” she says.

  I rub my arms up and down her arms, knowing none of this is safe.

  “Kill Julian,” she continues.

  “I can’t until—”

  “My father is tied up in the castle. Tell Enzo or Kai to blow it up.”

  I blow out a breath. I can barely see her through the rain. It’s impossible to see or feel anything but the heavy rain.

  “Just get me close to the island,” she says.

  “I’m not dumping you in the ocean in the middle of a storm.”

  “Yes, you are. I’m a big girl. I can swim.”

  She kisses me again.

  “And don’t kill Langston, promise me. Not until I return with the box.”

  “Why? I have to kill him after what he did to you and...” I can’t bring myself to finish without turning into a blubbering mess.

  “I know, and he’ll pay for what he did. But I need to be there when it happens. Promise me,” she says.

  “I promise,” I say, al
though I don’t understand it.

  “Kill Julian; I’ll destroy the box,” Siren says.

  “And then we will live happily ever after in our forever.”

  She kisses me hard, yanking on the rope to turn us hard toward the island.

  It takes all my strength to let her go, but I have to. If Julian is on that yacht, I don’t trust that she will be safe.

  I watch her dive into the ocean; she’s close enough to the island now to make it. I watch nonetheless as she swims through the waves. Siren is an excellent swimmer, and for once, the waves seem to be working in our favor, pushing her quickly toward the island.

  I wait until I see her standing on the beach, and then I turn toward the yacht that is still headed toward me, and I make a stand. Julian will not get to the island. He will have to go through me first. And finally, I have the power to kill him.

  34

  Siren

  I stand on the island as I look back at Zeke. I’m terrified that we are going to lose, and that I just lost my chance to explain to Zeke what truly happened. But now wasn’t the time to explain to him the truth, the sin I committed.

  He has a battle to fight against Julian, and I have a battle to fight inside this castle against the obstacles that Easton setup. He told me the main keys to getting through the castle and obtaining the box, but it doesn’t guarantee that I’ll survive, especially given the final obstacle.

  I stare up at the ruined castle. While the castle on the mainland was complete, this one is in pieces, although twice the size.

  I grip my stomach, knowing the cost of failing. Zeke would never forgive me. I would never forgive me.

  I won’t fail. I can’t.

  Just like Zeke won’t.

  Or Enzo and Kai.

  I walk carefully to the edge of the castle. There are three main security obstacles in place before getting to the final room, where the box and one final obstacle wait. The three main obstacles don’t seem too hard. The hard part is figuring out which room the box is hidden in and then claiming it.

  The first room is the easiest—lasers.

  I open the door to the old castle. It feels the opposite of modern. It shouldn’t have a security system like this in it. I don’t know how Easton managed to build such a feat, but I’m guessing it took him years to build this.

  I take one step, and the lasers turn on. I take a deep breath as the lasers come near but never touch me.

  I’ve got this.

  Two steps forward.

  Three to the left.

  One forward.

  Two to the right.

  I repeat the steps Easton gave me, with the memory of him saying he would never help me playing in the back of my head. I hope his instructions are the truth and not a trap.

  I take my final step out of the room and exhale a breath. First obstacle down.

  The next is deciding which of the three doorways to head through.

  When in doubt, follow your heart, Easton’s voice rings through.

  I step forward into the center room. That’s what my heart tells me, so that’s where I go.

  This is one of the rooms I’m dreading. The smoke that starts billowing confirms that I chose the correct room. The door behind me slams shut, locking me in here.

  You have sixty seconds once the door closes to pick the lock at the other end before the smoke kills you, Easton’s voice reminds me.

  I run to the other end of the room, coughing as the smoke begins to enter my lungs. I pull out a hairpin and go to work on the door. There are three separate locks—two deadbolts and one on the doorknob.

  I start on the two deadbolts first.

  The first unlocks.

  Then the second.

  I have plenty of time left to unlock the third and easiest one, but the pin breaks off in the lock.

  “Fuck,” I cough.

  I try to use my nails to dig it out, but it’s stuck. I rattle the door handle, but it doesn’t budge.

  I feel my lungs fill up with toxic smoke. It burns worse than the last time I breathed in smoke like this. This smoke is ten times as toxic.

  My body wants to crumble to the ground.

  You promised me, don’t give up, Zeke’s voice echoes in my head.

  I keep myself standing, and I study the door as best as I can through the smoke. I can’t find any weaknesses in the door. The door isn’t too thick. Maybe I can break it down?

  I kick the door as hard as I can. It only makes a small dent, but it gives me enough motivation to keep trying. I kick over and over, hoping it’s enough to make a crack that will give me a means to escape.

  I cough harder, my head growing dizzy and light. It won’t be long until I pass out, and I won’t be able to make it out of here alive.

  Suddenly, the door is thrown open, and a man’s hands grab me and pull me out of the room.

  We both cough loudly several times as we grip the floor.

  “Can we agree that you won’t walk into a room filled with smoke anymore?” Langston says between coughs.

  “Thanks for saving me again.”

  “You don’t need to thank me for saving you.”

  I smile at him until I see the blood and sweat covering him. “Langston! You’re hurt. What happened?”

  He rests on his back as he slumps against the hallway. I lean against the wall next to him.

  “The next room got the better of me.”

  I frown and remember what Easton said. Bullets capable of penetrating any armor.

  He nods.

  I pull his shirt open, until I find a bullet lodged in his chest. “Oh, God.”

  “It looks worse than it is. It missed my heart. But I failed, I couldn’t get the box.”

  “If you hadn’t had failed, you wouldn’t have been here to rescue me.”

  He smiles at that.

  I rip the bottom of my shirt off and use it as a bandage to wrap around his shoulder. “Do you have a way to contact Enzo and Kai and let them know where you are?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” I stand up, my head no longer pounding, and I’m able to stifle a cough.

  “Don’t go, Siren.”

  “I have to.”

  “No, you don’t. You could die. The next room is no joke. I won’t be able to come in and save you. You’d be on your own.”

  “Call Enzo and Kai. Tell them to be ready to pick you up soon.”

  “Pick us up,” Langston says.

  I turn and walk to the next room.

  “Siren! Don’t!” Langston tries to get off the floor, but he’s too weak from blood loss.

  I can’t think about Langston. All I can think about is Zeke and our future. I have to do this, so that we will have a future instead of living in constant fear. I have to protect Zeke.

  35

  Zeke

  The yacht continues straight at me. And if I didn’t know before, I know now who is driving the yacht—Julian.

  If it were Enzo or Kai, they would have turned by now instead of ramming the side of my tiny sailboat.

  I brace for impact. I could jump into the water, but I’m tired of being in the ocean. I’d rather stay standing for as long as possible, even if I’m just as soaked on this boat as I would be in the water.

  I hold on tightly as the yacht hits my small boat—the sound of the wood breaking cracks as loud as the lightning. The yacht drives through the heart of my boat. And just before it pierces me, I jump, grabbing onto one of the ropes hanging from the side of the yacht. I quickly begin climbing up the side of the yacht as more thunder cracks over and over, the weather warning me of the danger ahead.

  I reach the top of the yacht and am immediately punched in the head. I take the hit but stumble backward.

  “I thought we were on the same side,” I say.

  Julian laughs. “We were never on the same side. We were always just using each other to get what we wanted.”

  I pull out my gun and start shooting at him. He ducks, avoiding the spray.
r />   “Where is the box?” Julian pulls out a grenade launcher and aims it my way.

  “Go to hell,” he says.

  I dive just as he shoots it, blowing a large hole into the ship.

  “Really? Going to hide behind a gun instead of fighting me face to face?”

  “I really don’t care how I kill you, just that I do.” He fires again, blowing another huge hole.

  Kill him, Siren’s words play through my head on repeat. Blow up the castle.

  Julian’s gun is out of rounds, and he fumbles with finding ammunition. I pull out my phone and type a quick message to Kai and Enzo to blow up the castle and then pick Siren up on the small island.

  Julian has changed to using a machine gun to fire at me as I hide behind a wall. Thank goodness the entire ship is bulletproof.

  I look up at the sky, trying to come up with a way to kill this psycho.

  The storm picks up the wind, until I have to grip the door handle behind me to keep from blowing overboard. The ship moves far out, away from the land.

  I hear an explosion and see smoke in the distance.

  Enzo and Kai succeeded in their first mission. Hopefully, Siren did too. Now it’s just up to me.

  I don’t hear any more bullets. Julian must have moved inside where it’s safer.

  I yank open the door and throw myself inside, out of the wind and rain—the boat rocks in the huge swells. I know how strong these boats are, and I know how much force it will take to bring one down. But the sounds the boat is making, the creaking, and the screeching have me worried.

  A bullet whizzes past me. I’ve found Julian.

  I run after him, shooting whenever I spot him. I catch his shoulder. He fires back as the yacht lurches sideways. I take an incorrect step, and the bullet hits my chest, knocking the wind out of me.

  Don’t stop. Kill him. And then come back to me.

  I march forward, chasing Julian through the ship, us both exchanging shots at each other.

  We reach the bridge just in time to see lightning strike the yacht igniting a fire. We both realize the yacht is sinking.