But one was quite obviously missing.
I waited as each man lurched inside, but still no Ink. My feet began moving forward of their own accord as I watched Arthur, a brand spanking new eighteen-year-old soldier in training swoop between the two doors, his arms laden down with guns. Then there was nothing. Long, drawn-out moments passed and there was still no Ink, only chaos as soldiers spread out around the living area, bleeding and breathless. My feet faltered as I watched in disbelief while Axel and Henry shoved one of the double doors shut.
“No!” And I was moving forward again, pushing Axel aside with enough force to leave a surprised look on his face. “No, no, no…” I pleaded with no one in particular as I stumbled through the doors and out into the freezing night air. I couldn’t lose him, not now I had him. I’d spent so many years trying to get him to see me, to love me as I did him, I couldn’t bear the thought of not having him in my life.
“Gracie? What are you doing?” Ethan snapped, still positioned by the door with his gun butted into his shoulder and his finger on the trigger.
“Get her inside,” Fury’s familiar voice bellowed from the field before me.
The flashing lights and lanterns of our enemy were coming in hard and fast, more bullets shattered the otherwise quiet night. My foot slipped in the worn path of sludge we’d created coming and going, and I would have fallen forward into the icy mud had a hard body not slammed into me, forcing me backward. A pair of strong arms swept me into their embrace and carried me right into the barracks.
“Ink,” I screamed, trying to break free of the hold of whoever had captured me and delivered me safely back into the building. “You can’t leave him out there. I need to go to him. Let me go!” My body struggled, my head filled with images of Ink lying bleeding out in the snow like Max—alone, cold, dead.
“Buttercup, calm the fuck down.”
CHAPTER 24 – Ink
Air was heaving in and out of my lungs, my chest rising and falling as I fought to get my body under control. We’d been weaving our way around the compound for the better part of three hours, causing as much mayhem as possible to give the people of Liberty a chance to fill the barracks. Our last sprint had been from the opposite side of the compound, usually an easy one-mile jog, but at a flat-out sprint we were all gasping for breath.
I kept Gracie pressed to my chest, my hand on the back of her head holding her to me. Seeing her run out the front door of the barracks, and directly toward the soldiers coming in hot on our tail, had almost blown what little sanity I had left. She’d been running for me, looking for me, unwilling to leave me outside those doors. The thought had the potential to bring me to my fucking knees. She couldn’t die, not for me, not for anyone.
Her body shook hard, and I just held her tighter. Gracie hadn’t cried when she took a life the morning Jebediah and his men infiltrated Liberty. She hadn’t cried while watching the brutal fights in Jebediah’s gladiator arena. She was yet to grieve for Connie or Max and the rest of our dead, but right now her anguish and fear had come to a head and she shuddered fiercely against my chest, each of her sobs shredding me. My gaze dropped to Ace who was lying on the cement floor, barely conscious and bleeding like a stuck pig.
“Someone go grab Ashlynn. Ace is gonna bleed out if he doesn’t get medical attention soon. Get the fucking door secured. Make sure all soldiers are armed.”
“We’ve got two on the roof,” Axel explained.
“Get em’ inside, the weather’s only going to get worse. Position men on the third floor, have them watching from all sides. I want eyes on our surroundings at all times. We also need a man on every door into this building. We’ll start a rotating shift system, just like we do with the gates and wall.”
Niall was quick to disappear down the corridor to my back while Axel tried his best to stem the blood oozing from the bullet wound in Ace’s shoulder. My thighs were burning, my head felt like it had been split in two, and I wanted to puke something fierce, but I locked it all down and buried the pain away somewhere deep.
Inhale, exhale.
Inhale, exhale.
Deep in through my nose, out through my mouth.
Slow and steady, I regained the composure I felt close to losing, getting my body back under control, settling my mind as I went over the last few hours.
Two fireballs in the sky had directed the militia’s attention away while we extracted Hadley from her cabin. Then we torched the fucking place which also helped create panic and confusion within Jebediah’s soldiers. We’d split up into teams and began creating havoc to distract Jebediah’s men—a fire here, a small explosion there, the occasional dead body left somewhere it could be found. We wanted them to know what was coming for them, this was war and we would show no mercy. It had been Arthur who stumbled across a crate of weapons and ammunition hidden in a room inside one of the storage facilities. The stash was too good to let go.
My men had sustained a few injuries, but we were alive. And now we had full control of the barracks. We had weapons, and we had Jebediah’s NIM. He wouldn’t try and smoke us out with fire, the drugs were too important to his plans, and he’d been stupid enough to store it all in the basement below us.
Bullets ricocheted off the side of the building and I automatically ducked, taking Gracie’s still trembling form with me. Dragging her back toward a wall beside the locked and reinforced front doors, I rested my weight against the brick and listened as gunshots continued to break the silence of the night. Stupid fuckers were wasting bullets. Glancing up at the ceiling, I realized we were too.
“Someone get up there and tell them to hold steady. We don’t have enough ammo to waist on shooting blindly into the night. If they get a clear shot at Jebediah though, take that fucker out.”
A bullet pinged off the window sill to my left as Arthur disappeared down the corridor.
“I just survived running around this compound with a bunch of pansy ass militia on my six,” Niall growled from the other side of the doorway, blood dripping from a cut above his eye. “It would be just my luck that I’ll die from a ricocheted bullet now.”
“Stop shooting!” The rage in that familiar voice brought a smile to my face. “You useless bunch of fuckers,” Jebediah screamed maniacally from somewhere outside.
Grace took a long, deep breath and her sobs died down, but I didn’t let her go. Wiggling her head out from under my hand, she rested her chin on my chest and looked up at me, her eyes puffy with sorrow, her cheeks blotchy and her nose red. The vulnerability and stark fear in those gentle green orbs said so much while those full lips remained firmly pressed together.
“I’m okay,” I whispered. “We’re all okay.”
A lone tear slipped free, but she managed to nod through another shiver.
“Ink, Ink, Ink,” Jebediah yelled from outside. “What have you done?”
“Time’s up, Jebediah, I’m taking back Liberty,” I shouted back.
Not surprisingly, Jebediah laughed.
“It’s called The Arena, you fucker.” There was a short silence before I heard him call out again. “You have a great big set of balls, I’ll give you that. I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you half an hour to get everyone out of there and back in their homes and no harm will come to any of them.”
Arthur stumbled back down the stairs at the end of the long corridor, breathing hard as he reentered the room.
“He’s keeping to the shadows of the trees surrounding the building. We don’t have a shot.”
Sighing, I thumped the back of my head against the wall behind me. Of course just shooting the fucker wasn’t going to be that simple. I refused to negotiate with him. My people were where I wanted them, where they’d be safe, for now. Jebediah could try and talk us out all night long, but I wouldn’t budge. None of my men moved, none of them said a word, we were all on the same page.
“Someone has to pay for the deaths of my men, though. I’ll make sure that comes from your hide, Ink. But everyone else will rema
in safe, you have my word.”
“Your word means shit,” Gracie spat out.
“Oh, little bird, I can’t wait to douse the fire that runs through your veins. I promise I won’t kill Ink, Jeze wouldn’t let me anyway, she wants to fuck him again, and who am I to begrudge my sister’s wants.”
My body instinctively tensed at the mention of Jeze. As if knowing my thoughts, Gracie rubbed her cheek against my chest, her hands wrapped around my back clenching the fabric of my jacket and she pressed herself closer to my body. Having her in my arms helped me focus on the here and now rather than slipping into the hazy, drug-induced memories.
“The next time your sister sees me, I’ll be shoving my knife into her cold, fucking heart.”
Jebediah cackled loudly. “She does love a good knife fight. Last chance, Ink, half an hour… and if this building isn’t fucking empty, I’ll consider this an act of war.”
“Liberty is mine. This building is mine. You can go suck a dick your crazy, pale fucker,” I growled, imagining all the many ways I wanted to make this man bleed. His death wouldn’t be swift, there would be pain, so much fucking pain he would drown in it before I released him from this world. Hiding in this building went against the very fabric of my being. I was a fighter, and right now I wanted to fight something fierce. But there was more than just me to think of, there was Gracie and the rest of Liberty, people who couldn’t fight, people who needed to hide. My battle with Jebediah would eventually play out, there was no way I wouldn’t be the one to end him, and that thought alone quenched the desire to pull open the door and tear the bastard apart right this moment.
“What makes you think I won’t set the fucking place on fire, burn you miserable shit-stains out?”
Leaning my head against the wall at my back, I grinned. “Because, Jebediah, I hold the most important card in the game…” I paused for effect, relishing the fact I had the upper hand. “I have a basement full of your NIM. I’m no drug dealer, but I imagine the boxes already full of inhalers, and all the supplies downstairs are worth a lot to you. Is there enough room in your plans to take over the Underworld if you forfeit those supplies?”
Silence was quickly lost by an animalistic roar, and I laughed, loudly.
“Jebediah,” a sharp, feminine voice snapped. “Control yourself.”
Jeze didn’t speak often, and I’d never seen her once speak out against Jebediah, or even attempt to chastise him. The few words brought the man’s crazed screaming to an abrupt halt. The world went blissfully quiet again. Glancing around the room, I watched as my men pressed themselves against the walls, much like I did, weapons in their ready and able hands, tired though determined looks on their faces.
“Tell me, Ink, how much food do you have in there?”
I didn’t answer, because I wasn’t sure, and I only hoped it would be enough. My plan to this point hung on the chance that Slink made it into Nelson, and had been able to make contact with Harrigan.
“I guess it’s pretty warm? Plenty of running water?” Jebediah paused. “Not for much fucking longer. Not a single fucking person inside that building will survive, you little piss-ant, and the blood from their deaths will be on your hands, Ink. I’ll kill every motherfucking one of them, even the children, and I’ll leave you and your precious Grace until last. I’ll let you watch while I fuck that defiance from her body then she can watch while you bleed and scream for fucking mercy. And Ink?” He paused his ranting. “I don’t give fucking mercy.”
The sound of heavy footsteps moving about in the snow outside wasn’t reassuring, because I didn’t know what he had planned or what he was doing. Jebediah was a loose cannon, and I was hoping his determination to produce NIM and acquire the wealth he needed for much more grand plans would ensure our safety. For now.
“Fury,” I murmured in the silence of the bright room.
The giant brooding figure stood across the expanse of the living area looking like a Viking warrior of old. His face was covered in blood, his shaggy hair dripped around his face, his body strung tight and ready to snap at a moment’s notice. I needed to keep him busy because a busy Fury meant he didn’t have time to dwell or lose his shit.
“Go find out what the boys on the third floor are seeing, I want to know what’s happening out there.”
Without a word the man slipped away on quiet feet that belied his size, his rifle swung over a shoulder.
“Let’s make sure everyone’s as comfortable as can be. Henry, Douglas, I want you both in charge of food and supplies. Gather up everything you can find and figure out how we can make it last.”
At that moment Ashlynn came down the corridor with a bag of medical supplies in her hand. Glancing my way, I took note of how defeated she looked, her shoulders slumped forward and the pain in her eyes enough to slay a man.
“How is Hadley?” I asked as my men got to work quietly and efficiently.
Ashlynn shook her head just once before sinking down to the floor beside Ace. There was no question that Hadley had been raped by at least one of Jebediah’s soldiers, more than likely three. The smell of sweat and sex that permeated her cabin made my stomach revolt. The blood on her sheets had sent Fury into a fit of rage and placing a limp Hadley into his arms had been the only thing that seemed to calm him. He held her close, digging deep to keep his shit together while trying to offer Hadley comfort he didn’t seem sure how to give. She would never be the same again, that moment in her life leaving deep and unforgiving scars. In some respect, I was grateful I’d been high when Jeze had her way with me. It made the entire ideal more of a distant, vague recollection. It almost felt like I was a voyeur, standing on the outside looking in. Hadley had been very much present for her assault.
Leaning forward, I murmured in Gracie’s ear. “Was that Trigger I saw run out the door right before you?”
Unlinking her arms from behind me, Gracie stepped away, and I reluctantly let her go. She sniffled and gave her face a good rub, dragging the beanie from her head to reveal the shorn hair that still took me by surprise.
“Yeah,” she said with a nod. “He came in all confused, didn’t seem to know what was going on. Then Skye spotted him and accused him and freaked out, and he took off.”
Why would Skye freak out at seeing Trigger? My entire body snapped to attention.
“Where’s Skye?”
Trigger had no idea what was going on because I’d kept him out of the loop. One of my men had dragged his drug-dazed body out of Charlie’s cabin and told him to haul ass to the barracks. He might have been going through something I didn’t really understand, but I wasn’t about to leave him out in the cold for the enemy to fuck over. Gracie shook her head and looked around the room as if she might find Skye here, standing amongst us.
“I don’t know,” she confessed with a shrug. “She panicked when she saw Trigger and took off. We’d dumped our gear in your old room, so maybe she’s hiding out up there.”
“I’ll go find her.” Axel was standing now, trying to wipe Ace’s blood from his hands with a cloth Ashlynn had handed him. He disappeared down the corridor which led to the stairs. My room was on the second floor.
“Come on, buttercup. We need to make sure this place is locked down tight, and everyone is settled, and then I need to crash for a few hours. My head is fucking killing me.”
Taking my outstretched hand, Gracie watched me closely with a concerned frown on her mouth. Her teeth tugged on her lower lip, and my dick jerked with appreciation. She had a damn pretty mouth, full lips, and a beautiful smile. Imagining what she might be able to do with that mouth was making me hard at the most inappropriate of times. Reaching her lip, I used my thumb to pull it free.
“Stop that,” I growled in a low voice. “It’s distracting.”
Gracie’s eyes narrowed. “How?” she asked, honestly bewildered by my body’s reaction to her.
“Because it draws my attention to your beautiful lips, and then I wonder about all the incredible things you could do
with your mouth.”
“Oh,” she mouthed, her gaze flaring with both wonder and intrigue before a hint of amusement filled them.
“Like…eating snow cones?” Licking her bottom lip, she tried to fight a smile and I groaned, rubbing a hand over the knot that sat coiled in the back of my neck.
“Baby, you are going to be the death of me, but damn, what a sweet death it will be.”
CHAPTER 25 – Grace
The cold had slipped past my layers of clothing, through my skin and was now settled deep into my bones. It had been thirteen hours since the electricity to the Barracks had been cut, and the small backup generator could only be accessed from outside the building, which was presently being watched by at least fifteen of Jebediah’s well-armed militia. The claustrophobia from the walls surrounding me was taking a toll, and I could scarcely imagine how those who had been trapped in the Underworld longer than me were coping. It was dark, cold, gloomy. Moral was low. People were scared, frustrated, anxious, no matter how hard Ink and I tried to appease their fears.
On top of the crushing feeling the walls in the basement were giving me, and the heavy dread hanging in the air from the people of Liberty, I was worried about my two friends, Skye and Hadley. Axel had found Skye and Ink disappeared to go talk with her forever ago. I wanted to join him, but I’d been sitting with Hadley at the time, torn with conflict, my two friends both needing me. And my beautiful Hadley, she had been reduced to a listless form, unable or unwilling to utter a single word, her gaze set on the clean, white ceiling. It was the empty look in those eyes that smothered me with hopelessness.
Hopelessness that was quickly replaced by anger, a deep, churning fury that began deep inside, causing my hands to tremble with an almost obsessive need to seek revenge. Clenching those shaking fists together I glanced around the cold basement. Ink’s room had been swiftly overrun, so I’d dragged my blankets down here. The chemical smell from the NIM had all but gone, or I’d become used to it. The basement was a large, windowless space which four of my entire cabins could easily fill, but it was currently stuffed to bursting point with boxes and supplies for Jebediah’s drug production. Two long tables were scattered with mixing and measuring equipment, along with jars and cans of liquid and what I could only describe as black goo, and sealed bags of powder.
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