by Layna Snow
So, the guy’s name was Foster. He’d have to remember that. It might help in the future. And the guy needed to be killed. He was just way too cocky for his own good!
“Shit” the man muttered making Sin smirk. Yeah, they had messed with the wrong fucker. They didn’t even see the genuine sadistic delight that must have shown on his face. He really wasn’t the best at hiding his feelings.
I am going to rip the skin off your bones and feed them to your parents for breakfast, you little shits! Oh, that would be fun! Maybe he’d keep them alive and make them watch before slowly killing them. OH OH!!! Maybe acid would be interesting! They could scream as they were slowly eaten alive by it!
What is with your preoccupation on food torture? The Adrian part of him asked, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. Eating is what keeps us alive, and it’s sort of ironic that it is the way people die. He could feel even that moral Angel part of him hum in appreciation. It really was ingenious.
And he got so much pleasure from it!
“What should we do?” Big Ears asked.
“We take him. Angus mentioned that they were looking for Angels. This one will be good. We’ll get a reward for it. We will be one step closer to our goal.” Foster responded. But no, they would be one step closer to their deaths.
Another set of cuffs were slapped onto his wrists, as if two was better than one! His weapon harness was taken and then his shirt was dropped back to cover his scars.
Did they think that it would hide who he was? Or was it simply to keep attention from them when they took him outside. Surely they weren’t going to walk him out the front door. This might be a little town but surely people would notice!
Apparently they were smarter than he gave them credit for because instead of the front or the back, they took him up a hidden staircase to the main house. It was quant and quiet which was nice. Hopefully they didn’t kill the resident in order to do this little sting.
They took him through the kitchen to the garage where they apparently had a vehicle waiting. He didn’t know what he expected but the thing in front of him looked like a regular SUV. It wasn’t black and the windows weren’t tinted. He thought that they’d take a big white van, maybe. But certainly not this thing!
Maybe they did understand how to blend in. Go figure!
After loading him, a little roughly, into the back area they ordered him to lay down. The hatch shut with a bang, and Sin sighed.
He looked around, noticing that it was all reinforced metal. So, no getting out of it that way. He couldn’t even see the window, being caged in a tiny little place. It was warm and cramped and Sin was pissed!
So, he agreed to be taken, and to be experimented on. The Hunters had told him it as his first mission. But he never agreed to be put in a metal trunk and be felt up!
Gage had a lot to make up for! And Sin was going to make sure he paid it all in full!
The deal was that they joined and that one of them, specifically Sin actually, went on this mission to get inside one of the facilities. They needed more insider information and they couldn’t send anyone else. Apparently his love of pain and his pissy attitude were known throughout the Hunters and they were just waiting for a time to toss him to the wolves.
Thane couldn’t do it because they’d realize his strength and make it impossible for him to get anything. Not to mention that he wouldn’t talk enough to send back information!
And really he was the best person to keep Sophie safe!
And Phie would be protected as long as Sin carried out this ridiculous mission! He was going to be away from his sub for months and Thane got to have all the fun. They better still love him when he came back all damaged and weird.
Like you’re not damaged and weird now?
Maybe he’d come back perfectly normal. A church goer who never swore! That would be funny.
But as long as he did this, Thane and Phie would get to stay at the Hunters’ compound and be guarded. Then these men couldn’t get their hands of her.
Of course, it seemed now that they didn’t want her anyways. Apparently, they wanted Brooklyn dead.
Doors opened and then shut real quickly before the vehicle started.
Sin slammed forwards, hitting his head off the metal in front of them as they reversed, and then was smashed back as it took off forwards. This was going to be a long fucking trip!
But before he could settle down and really relax himself there was a really loud bang that rocked the car, pitching him into the side of the damn box!
But no one said anything, and there wasn’t any bullets so Sin had to assume that whatever was done was intentional. And if he had to guess, that sounded like an explosion.
And if he had to press further, he’d say that these shitstains just blew up the whole fucking house! Sin damn hoped that Sophie and Thanatos were out and long gone because if anything happened to them, these men weren’t just dead, they would be dragged into the bowels of Hell to be tortured in the most extreme ways possible.
There would be nothing that would ever protect them from Sin’s wrath.
Thane and Sophie were his family and he protected what was his.
38
Sophie took a deep breath and settled into her chair. It was comfy and the people around her did their best to make her feel better, but she couldn’t relax. She shouldn’t be here without Sin.
Thane had told her, in his halting way that this had been planned. Well, most of it. Apparently they had assumed that the team would go after Sophie, not her sister. They thought that they’d be attacked on their way to or from Brooke’s house, not while in it.
The men who helped them escape told her that Brooklyn was killed, that Sin was gone.
It seemed impossible. Horrible. How could they know? But their sniper was watching, and couldn’t protect Brooke.
She felt heartbroken, even if Brooke had been horrible, she still deserved a life!
So, that was why her guys wouldn’t let her go to Brooke’s by herself. It was also why they fought about her leaving the house at all. They knew that she’d be in danger and they didn’t tell her!
She was still pissed about that! It wasn’t fair for them to make decisions without her. She would be having a talk with them! Or… with Thane. Since Sin wasn’t here!
She didn’t understand why he let himself get caught. She didn’t care about any missions, or what their boss said.
She wanted him there with her, not gone.
Not for so long!
Thane dropped to sit in the seat beside her and grabbed her hand in his. It was nice, but she couldn’t feel complete without Sin there too. It just wasn’t right.
“Comfortable?” he asked, and Sophie looked around. They had been taken from Brooke’s house and brought to a secluded airfield where there was a private jet waiting. Apparently being a part of the Hunters had some privileges.
But she knew that she wouldn’t be allowed back to town. She wouldn’t be able to get anything of her own. She wouldn’t have anything from Brooke to keep with her. She had Annie’s necklace, but all she had from Brooke was back at her parents’ house.
She wouldn’t let them keep her from Brooklyn’s funeral though. That was one thing that she couldn’t miss!
Sophie couldn’t believe her sister was gone!
Both sisters.
Annie was in an accident and had been in a coma, Sophie had always been a little prepared for Annie’s death. She knew that it could happen and got a warning when the doctors had realized that she was declining.
But no one ever expected their perfectly healthy sister to die. Not so young! She always had an idea of having babies and Brooklyn wanting to babysit. She had visions of having to make excuses because who would want Brooke to take care of a baby?
She pictured her sister finally calming down and realizing that there was more to life. Heck! She even thought that maybe she’d get pregnant from one of her one night stands and have to figure out how to become a mom.
In none of her daydreams and visions had she ever thought that Brooke would be shot.
And, it was all her fault.
Sophie had contacted the Alliance. She had put Brooke back on their radar.
“We have a few more hours until we land. You might want to take a nap.” One of the team members said, coming up the aisle.
But she couldn’t.
Every time she shut her eyes she remembered Brooke holding the needles, ready to stab her.
Every time she let her mind wander it took her right back to that house. To what she could have done. What she should have done.
Saved Brooke, made Sin come with me.
She knew what this was. Shock. She felt cold, confused. It was too difficult to think. Her brain ran in circles, but she couldn’t calm it down.
Sophie looked around, hoping to be distracted by anything besides death and destruction.
The plane was small and so in the hour they had been here, she had learned a little about the guys who had been used as backup. They were part of a team that was run by a man who couldn’t be here.
The one who approached her now, Colt, was nice. He was quiet but she could tell that there was something caring about him. He had looked her over when they boarded, introducing himself as the medic. He had a scruffy look to him, with big blue eyes and a hearty build. He was fit, but not as streamlined as Sin.
Oh, Sin…
Sophie shook her head, she couldn’t sleep now. She was sure that she’d imagine all the different ways that Brooke could have died and all the different scenarios that Sin could be going through. “I don’t think I can.” She mouthed to Thane.
Thane squeezed her hand before pulling it towards him. Sophie got up and then cuddled into Thane’s lap, curling herself into his body and letting him hold her. His skin was warm, his scent strong and comforting. She needed him to be there for her, and he was.
It will be okay. Sin will be safe.
It had to be okay. She wouldn’t be able to accept anything else.
The man nodded to her quietly and then left, moving back to the group of strong men.
In a way, they reminded her of Thane and Sin. They were so close that she could feel the bond between them.
They would always have each other’s back.
The Asian man eyed them wearily before turning back to the group. They called him Phoenix, although she was pretty sure that wasn’t his name. All the men had been nice to her, but this one had kept his distance from Thane. He wasn’t openly rude, but he seemed sarcastic when Thane asked a question, and he kept the big black man in sight at all time.
She had thought that he was just a guarded guy, but he was nice to her and teased his team in a way that she had seen brothers act. He made bets with them, and goaded them. Of course it seemed that only Colt humored him. The one named Steel pretty much ignored the bad behaviour.
Steel, she had to say, was named correctly. He took up more space in the room with his presence than he did with his body. He was tall and strong, although not as big as Thane, obviously. His hair was cut short and his blue eyes were sharp. Military. He looked like he was in the military.
He was quiet and in command, on top of all the details. And when he called the two men to be quiet, they listened.
“We need to prepare. This won’t be the last time we see them.” Steel said, his voice low but sharp enough to be heard across the small plane. There really wasn’t enough room to have any privacy.
“Shoot man! I never thought that we’d see our old team on a mission. They aren’t in the Military anymore.” Phoenix complained. “Why would they choose the dark side? I never thought that they would work for the Alliance!”
Colt nodded. “They were our team. Are we going to tell Connor?” he asked.
That seemed to perplex the other two. And if Sophie wasn’t so upset and if she hadn’t needed the distraction, then maybe she wouldn’t have listened.
Unfortunately for them, she didn’t want to be in her head right now. Listening to other people’s problems was much easier then thinking of her own.
“He has enough to worry about at the moment. We need to take care of this ourselves. We need inside information. We have to know what they are doing even before they do. We cannot let them get ahead of us again. They chose to be the enemy and we have to treat them as such for now. Phoenix, get in contact with Malyk and see if you can get any information from him, or if he has anyone in place that can report to us. This has nothing to do with the Hunters and so Gage doesn’t need to know about it.”
“Sure. I don’t see any problem with this. Just our best friends and the men who had our backs are now on our biggest enemy’s side. It will all be good.” Phoenix sassed, rolling his eyes.
“Phoenix, stop acting like a child.” Colt cautioned, and for the first time he sounded a little angry.
“Its fine, Colton. He needs to blow off some steam. He can be as sarcastic as he wants now, as long as he is serious when things get bad. Because I have to tell you. This story isn’t over. Foster and the crew are up to something. We were a good team with them, but we can’t let this get in the way of our mission. When it’s time to bug out, I expect you both to back me up. It will be difficult, but we have to be ready.” Steel cautioned. And Soph saw the look of disillusionment on the other two men’s faces.
“Yeah, you’re right, man. You know that we’ll follow you or Connor wherever we need to go.” Phoenix said, seeming chastised.
“We will be ready.” Colt said back. But he looked sad. Maybe he did know what it was like to lose someone. And even though things were winding down for Sophie, things seemed to be getting worse for these men.
She had the love of two men and she would wait for Sin to come back. She would always be with them and be taken care of. These guys only had betrayal.
Good luck, she thought to them. You’re going to need it.
Epilogue
Sophie sat in the room that she had been given to share with Thane. It was a nice day out today but she couldn’t go out alone. Everyone was worried that with Axel gone undercover the Alliance could be watching the house. Of course Soph thought that was silly, but she wasn’t going to argue.
It had been a couple months now and she was settling in nicely. Everyone who lived there was super cool and she liked spending time with them.
Eden was lovely, but she was often by herself. Sophie decided to befriend her. Really, she was the most like Soph anyways.
Jai was always working out and even though she promised to train Sophie, the Shifter was always busy with other things. And it was getting a little late in the pregnancy to start getting physical.
She had even started showing. Just a little.
The guys all seemed like alpha males. Gage scared her and she didn’t really like being around him. Connor was kept separate because he often got out of control. Malyk was apparently undercover and so Sophie hadn’t met him yet. Julian wasn’t often there, either.
She barely saw the guys that had been on the plane. Whether they ignored her or were busy, Sophie didn’t know. So she spent more time with the girls.
Sasha was really out there and her personality reminded her a lot of Sin. She was nice, and tended to joke a lot, but she wasn’t really the kind of person that Sophie would generally hang out with.
She was brash and abrasive, and although she wasn’t as rude as Brooklyn could be, she was still someone who made her feel off balance.
Sasha’s team however were really friendly. They talked to Sophie and often watched TV with her. Sonja was the first Witch she had ever met and although she expected the girl to be ugly and do tricks, the blonde was actually really kind. She taught Soph how to do her makeup in a new way and talked a lot about her life. Angie was a little different. She was smiley but she didn’t speak a whole lot. Apparently Sirens could hypnotize with their voice. She had shown Sophie one time and Soph found herself dancing when she never would have. Although Sonja thought it was funny, the
black haired Siren looked a little embarrassed.
It didn’t matter how full the people here made her life, she was always a little sad. There was just so much she was missing. Sin wasn’t there to make her feel better with his jokes. He wasn’t there to hold her or call her interesting nicknames. She wanted him to come back safely, and soon. She didn’t want him to miss the birth of the baby!
And she missed her sisters, both of them. Annie might have been missing for most of her life, but Sophie had always been calmed just knowing that she was still there. She pretended that her sister listened when she talked and hoped that somewhere, she knew how much Sophie loved her.
Brooke might have been a pain in the butt, but Sophie had gotten used to looking out for her older sister. Maybe she had been addicted to helping, because now that she couldn’t, she just felt empty.
Sure Brooke had been a little crazy, and yeah she had wanted Annie dead, but Sophie couldn’t help but feel that she wasn’t a bad person. She just made mistakes.
Sophie also missed her parents. They weren’t dead and she could call them, but they wouldn’t answer. They were mad when Brooke died and Sophie wasn’t there for them. But they were furious when they realized that not only was she living with a man she wasn’t married to, but that she was also pregnant and she couldn’t tell them whose child it was.
It hadn’t taken them long to figure out that she was with two men, and they thought that she must have conspired with the Devil. If only they really knew.
So she no longer had the family that she once loved. And although she still had her friends back in Cold Wood, and the people here, it wasn’t the same.
The ringing from her computer caught her attention and Sophie smiled. Finally Emily had gotten home from work and messaged her back. It felt like she had been waiting for hours. And maybe she had.
Sophie pushed the button to receive the video call and smiled at her friend. Emily looked happier than she had before, but she still wasn’t the same girl that she used to be.
