Conrad

by Emily Rose

  The house was on fire and it could collapse in on us at any moment, but all I could think about was finding Miles before it was too late. I had no idea where he would be, but I was going to check every single room in this godforsaken house until I found him and clearly, Jax wasn’t going to let me do it alone.

  Pushing these thoughts aside, I reached the stairs that lead up to the exit I had taken with Jersey and raced up them. Feeling around on the wall, I found the loose brick and pushed it in.

  The door slid open and I lifted my arm to block the intense amount of heat that blasted me before I darted into the hallway with Jax right on my heels.

  Flames roared up the walls, destroying everything in their path and smoke filled the space, making it hard to breath or see anything clearly. But I pushed on and reached the first door. I was about to grab the doorknob when Jax grabbed my wrist, stopping me. My eyes shot to him and he spoke.

  “Don’t touch it. It’ll burn you,” he said and then stepped in front of the door before he lifted one boot, kicking the door with enough strength that it swung open, nearly cracking right down the middle.

  I looked up at him and tried to say thank you in the best way I could without speaking before I darted into the smoke-filled room with him still right behind me.

  “Miles?!” I called his name out, but there was no answer.

  Searching the room as best as I could, I realized that he wasn’t in this one. Spinning on my heels, I raced back out into the hallway and checked the next door. Just like the other one, Jax kicked the door in for me and we continued this process until every single door in this hall had been checked. There was still no sign of Miles, Marcus, Kevin, or the girl who had brought me food back when I stayed in my room instead of the cell.

  The fire was getting worse and it was so hard to breathe that I couldn’t stop coughing, but I couldn’t turn back now. I had to find him.

  And Jax didn’t seem to think it was a good idea to try and talk me out of it as he followed me down a set of stairs I hadn’t seen the first time I came here. This led to another hallway and even though it wasn’t engulfed in flames, the smoke still lingered throughout the air, spreading throughout every room and hallway in this house like a cancer.

  When we reached the end, I saw a set of double doors, but one of them had been kicked open at some point. The broken wood was enough to tell me that much and my heart rate spiked. This had to be the way Miles or one of them went. I darted through the door and stopped suddenly, causing Jax to almost trample me.

  He stopped in time and looked over my head at the scene in front of us. We were outside and if I had to guess, it was the backyard. There were green plants all over the place, some of them growing through the cracks in the broken stone decorations.

  A black metal archway sat at the end of a stone walkway that looked like it was being taken over by the grass. The arch had what I saw as black roses bushes growing through it and led into the thick forest that had fog lingering like smoke, just above the ground. Behind me, I could feel the heat coming from the house as it continued to burn and in front of me, I could see the orange glow the flames left on the landscape.

  I shot forward and raced toward the trees.

  “Lesley, wait!” Jax called me by my name, but I couldn’t think about how he knew it and kept running.

  And he followed.

  My heart pounded and my breathing came quick as I kept running down the dirt covered pathway that lead me through the twisty turns. Without the light of the fire or the lights from the house, the darkness seemed to creep in on me, but I didn’t stop. I just kept running, hoping that I would come out somewhere and I would find them.

  But the deeper into the woods I went, the thicker it got and the more turns I ran into, but I never hesitated. I let my heart take the lead and it carried me down the pathway as if it knew exactly where to go.

  Finally, after what seemed like forever, I came into a wide-open grassy field with trees surrounding every corner. I slowed my run to a complete stop, still breathing hard. I wasn’t sure if Jax was still behind me, or if I had left him, but I couldn’t think about that. All I could see was what was in front of me. With my heart pounding from the run, I took in the black helicopter that sat in the center of the field.

  But that wasn’t all I saw.

  Not even close.

  They stood about twenty or thirty feet in front of me. First, I noticed Marcus who looked as if he were holding his hands up in defense. Next, I saw the girl who had brought me food the first night I was here standing next to the helicopter with what looked like something wrapped in a pink blanket in her arms.

  And then I saw him.

  Miles stood with his back to me wearing all black, but I didn’t have to see his face to know it was him, because he held someone captive against him.

  It was Kevin.

  And the full moon reflected off the silver knife that was in his hand as he held it tightly against Kevin’s throat.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Lesley

  As I stood there, Jax finally came out of the tree line and stopped beside me. Like I had done, he took in the scene in front of us, but he stayed silent. None of them had noticed us yet and I wasn’t sure what to do now that I was actually here.

  In the distance, I could hear the roar of approaching thunder and looked up to the sky to see a huge thunderstorm slowly coming over the top of the trees, lightning flashing deep within the puffy clouds.

  And I realized that this moment was where it ended. It was now or never, but either way, some of us wouldn’t walk away from this moment.

  So with that thought in my mind, I held my head high and willed my heart to calm down as I slowly took a step forward.

  “Lesley…” Jax said, but I ignored him and kept going.

  I got about ten feet from Miles when Marcus and the chick with no name noticed me, but when their eyes found me, so did Miles’. He glanced at me quickly and I saw the eerily calm rage that burned in his eyes as he held the knife to Kevin’s throat, who looked at me with a look that made me want to smile as he held onto Miles’ forearms.

  It was fear.

  Pure, beautiful fear and it was the look I had dreamed of seeing in his and Marcus’ eyes more than once since I arrived here.

  Before I could stop myself, I spoke directly to Miles. “Do it, Miles.”

  He blinked slowly, but it wasn’t him who spoke.

  It was the woman. “No, Miles. Please don’t do it. I know how much we have hurt you, but please, I’m begging you,” she said before she sat the pink bundle that was in her hands on the ground beside her.

  It was at that moment that I realized it was a baby girl. Looking between her and Kevin, I quickly connected the dots and my heart fluttered. That baby was Kevin’s daughter. It was so clear in the woman’s eyes.

  Miles looked toward the woman before he responded. “Rachel, you were like a sister to me. I trusted you with every fiber in my being and you betrayed that. Do you really think I care about your fucking tears right now?”

  “He won’t do it. He can kill, but we are his family, his blood, and that matters to him. Doesn’t it Miles?” Marcus asked, dropping his hands back to his sides as if he were not at all worried about this now.

  Miles met his gaze and spoke calmly. “You are not my family. You have tortured me. You turned me into a fucking weapon, so that I could kill for you.”

  “Yes, but don’t you see the power I have given you!? Don’t you feel it running through your blood? You’re a Cross. You will always be a Cross,” Marcus said.

  “Power? I don’t feel the fucking power, Marcus! I feel the fucking souls I’ve taken screaming in my fucking head every-time I close my goddamn eyes,” Miles said.

  My heart ached for Miles, but I stayed silent as he continued to hold the knife to Kevin’s neck as if he could slice it at any second.

  “That is weakness, Miles! This is what I’ve been teaching you this whole time! You cannot feel for
those people. They were traitors. They didn’t deserve to live,” Marcus said.

  Miles laughed once, but it held only evilness. “You live in this house like it’s your damn kingdom,” he stopped and then shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying, “Well, look at your kingdom now, Marcus. Burned to ashes by the very same people you fucking trained, so I guess I should thank you for giving me the ability to be a ruthless killer,” he finished.

  My gaze met Marcus’ and I could see the change in his eyes, like he finally saw the killer he created.

  “Kevin is your half-brother. He is your blood!” Marcus said, and for the first time since I had met him, I heard the fear in his voice.

  Kevin was the son he never turned his back on. He was the one who was supposed to carry on Marcus’ dark legacy, but that was a weakness for Marcus, a weakness Miles clearly caught on to before anyone else did. My eyes drifted to Kevin and I could see the tiny bit of blood sliding down his neck from where Miles held the knife to his throat, but it was his eyes that told me that despite what Kevin wanted everyone to believe, his worst nightmare was about to come true.

  And that was losing to Miles, the black sheep.

  “Come on, Miles. Listen to him. If you let me go and come with us, all of this will be forgotten and we can rule brother. We can live like kings,” Kevin said, gripping Miles’ forearm as if he were trying to pull it away from his throat, but Miles’ grip was locked in place and there was nowhere he could go.

  “Forgotten? Nothing about this psychotic fantasy you guys live in will be forgotten, and I might be your blood, but I am not your brother. You are not a fucking king and neither,” Miles lifted his gaze to Marcus, “are you,” he said.

  I barely had time to register what he had said before I saw it. There was no other sound like it. That slice, that moment when a body hit the ground, that moment when that person struggled to breathe through the blood that poured from their neck.

  Normally, that sound would disgust me, but I couldn’t look away as Kevin dropped to the ground at Miles’ feet, gasping for breath and grabbing his neck with his hands, blood oozing steadily through his fingers from the slice Miles’ had inflicted.

  The woman, Rachel, screamed, but it was Marcus who reacted.

  “NO!!” he yelled angrily and rushed Miles, crashing into him.

  My heart hit my throat as they crashed to the ground, but then I saw Rachel. She shot forward as if she were about to attack Miles as well. I moved before I had a chance to think about it. My body slammed into hers and we hit the ground hard, with me on top of her and I just started swinging. Like every moment of anger I had felt these last several months was finally releasing, each strike brought blood and my knuckles erupted in pain.

  “Don’t,” I punched her.

  “Even,” another hit.

  “Think about hurting him!” I screamed with another strike to her face.

  My heart pounded and my fist froze in the air as I stared down at her. She coughed, but only blood poured from her mouth. Her face was destroyed, and she gasped as if she couldn’t bring oxygen into her lungs.

  “You’re dead! Do you hear me!? Dead!”

  I heard Marcus scream from my side and looked over my shoulder to see him on top of Miles, trying to strangle him. I jumped off Rachel and took off at a full run toward him. It was only a second before my body crashed into his, shoving him off of Miles and causing us both to roll through the grass.

  Before Miles could get up from the ground, Marcus attacked me. His large body covered mine and his hands locked around my throat, cutting off the air to my lungs. I gasped and stared into his devilish eyes.

  “YOU WERE THE FUCKING PROBLEM!! YOU STUPID BITCH!!” he said and tightened his grip on my throat.

  My head started pounding, my legs kicked, and my nails dug into the skin on his forearms as I fought to break free. Everything was starting to look strange and I knew I was on the verge of dying. I could feel it. It was a strange feeling, like being completely calm yet scared to death all at the same time.

  I only had seconds left.

  And then I saw Miles. He came up behind Marcus with rage burning in his eyes and blood on his skin.

  Without a word, Miles reached around and sliced the knife across the skin on Marcus’ neck in one smooth motion, causing his blood to spray directly onto my face. He fell to the side, gasping for air like Kevin had done, and latched onto his own throat as if that would somehow prevent him from bleeding out.

  Coughing, I rolled onto my side and pulled oxygen into my lungs as quickly as I could before I looked up in a daze at Miles. He slowly walked over to Marcus and stared down at him with the blood-soaked knife still in his hand.

  “Do you feel that, Marcus? That desperate need to breathe, yet you’re not able to? That’s called death and it is the same feeling my father felt when you killed him, it’s the same feeling all of those innocent people felt when you had me murder them in cold blood. I hope their screams, their cries for help, haunt you in Hell. I hope this feeling never ends for you, I hope you live in Hell, gasping for every little piece of air you can get, but not able to reach it. Then, just maybe, you will know what it feels like to be me and all of those people you killed,” he said, watching as Marcus died a very slow, painful death.

  Marcus stared up at Miles with fear in his eyes and did just that. He gasped for air and it was the most rewarding sound ever.

  I heard Rachel cough from where she laid on the ground and then I heard the baby girl that still rested on the ground a few feet from her. Stumbling to my feet, I held my hand gently to my throat and walked toward the baby. Rachel’s bloody gaze met mine and even though she couldn’t speak, she reached for her daughter.

  Just before she was able to touch her though, I eased the baby into my arms and stood up, making my way back toward Miles, never looking back at Rachel as she watched me carry her daughter away.

  My gaze lifted from the baby girl only long enough to catch Miles’ eyes, and even though no words were spoken, he still understood what I was telling him to do.

  His dark gaze pulled away from me and then he slowly walked back toward Rachel with every intention of letting the killer inside him have one final moment of sweet, beautiful revenge.

  I looked down at the baby girl as she watched me and started singing a song my dad used to sing to me, all the while, smiling through the blood that coated my skin.

  When I got closer to Jax, I lifted my eyes and locked them with his gaze. He stood firm and without a single glimpse of fear or judgment in his eyes. Looking away from him, I dropped my gaze back down to the baby and walked back into the thick trees.

  As I did, I knew Jaxson Steele and Miles Conrad followed on either side of me like fallen angels within the night.

  EPILOGUE

  Part One

  2 years later

  Lesley

  My life would never be the same. I would forever remember the pain and suffering that I’ve had to endure, but somehow, I was strong because of it.

  I was alive despite everything Marcus and Kevin did.

  And so was Miles.

  These thoughts ran through my head as we traveled across Hampton in his Chevelle like ghosts. So much had happened since the night Marcus and Kevin were killed.

  First, everyone thought Miles was dead way before that night and they still thought he was dead. The only ones who knew the truth about what happened was myself, Jaxson, Dare, Lila, and the girls who were trapped in Marcus’ house of horrors.

  That was it.

  While the other girls were taken back to their families and questioned by the police, they never said a word about Miles or any of the guys who helped save them.

  I wasn’t sure if it was because they had asked them to not say anything or if they really just wanted to keep them out of trouble, but all of the girls gave the same story to the police. That they were taken by Kevin, kept and sold. That the fire caught in the house by chance and myself and them wer
e the only ones who made it out alive.

  I wasn’t sure how we all managed to keep our stories straight or convince the police to believe us, but we did, and for that I was grateful.

  It wasn’t until later that I found out that Marcus had been on the FBI’s most wanted list the last twenty years and he also ran the largest human trafficking ring in the southern United States.

  But now, he was nothing.

  Brought down by the same people he thought he controlled.

  His world burnt to ash.

  It was finally over and not just for myself or my family, but for every single person he had hurt. I knew without a doubt that there were girls we couldn’t save, but I hoped that somehow they saw what we did and smiled down on us from Heaven.

  I hoped they knew we got justice for them.

  For Lucas.

  “You okay over there?” Miles asked from where he shifted the Chevelle.

  I looked over at him and our eyes caught. I still wasn’t sure what we were exactly, but I knew it was something.

  After that night, I had finally got to see Noah again and I told him the truth about everything, but considering Miles’ situation with being a ghost to everyone, I had to make a choice to either walk away from him or walk away from my life as a normal teenager.

  And I had chosen him, even though he had yet to kiss me or do anything sexual with me. But I was okay with that, because to me, it wasn’t about sex. Yeah, that was important and one of these days I would do it, but right now, I was okay not putting a title on us. And it seemed that he was alright with that too.

  I smiled at him. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

  He looked away and shifted the car down, turning down the familiar street. We had done this several times the last two years, but I knew this time would be the last.

  Slowly, Miles pulled to a stop next to the curb a few yards down from the house and cut all the lights off except for the parking lights before he relaxed back in his seat, staring at the house with the same unreadable look he always had.