by Ella Miles
I narrow my gaze and tighten my lips. I can’t call out Julian’s bluff for what it is—a lie. Julian would never kill me. But the bullet in my leg would feel like a scratch if I outed Julian to Zeke.
“And if I decline your offer entirely?” Zeke asks.
Julian grins, thinking he’s won. He knows exactly how to take out Zeke.
“Then I’ll kill Aria and go after Mr. Black on my own.”
I swallow hard.
Lies.
They’re all lies!
Don’t make the deal, Zeke. It will destroy you.
But some tiny part of me wants Zeke to agree. I want to know that he is still willing to put my life before his own. I still want to be under Zeke’s protection. I want him to save me, even at the expense of himself.
Now, it’s Zeke’s turn to laugh. “Really? That’s your offer? Take your deal, or you’ll kill Aria?” Zeke’s beautiful eyes look to me, taunting me with his disgust for me. “I’ve wanted Aria dead since the moment I learned she was working for you. So the fact that you’ll do it for me if I refuse just incentivizes me to turn down your offer.”
“So is that your decision? You are refusing my offer?” Julian asks, with a smile.
Fuck, this is all part of Julian’s plan. There is no way for Zeke to win.
“Yes, I decline your offer. I’d rather stay in this cell for the rest of my life than take your deal.”
Julian chuckles and then links his arm through mine. “Well, that answers that question. I guess he doesn’t love you, after all, Aria. He doesn’t care if you live or die, which means you are of no more use to me. Tomorrow, you die.”
My eyes cut to Zeke. I know that Julian is bluffing, but Zeke doesn’t. I study Zeke’s reaction; his face is unmoved. His eyes don’t widen with worry; his lips don’t tense with fret; his heart doesn’t thump wildly begging Julian to reconsider.
Zeke truly doesn’t care if I live or die.
Even though I know Julian won’t kill me tomorrow, it still hurts knowing that Zeke will no longer protect me.
8
Zeke
I should have said yes. I should have accepted Julian’s offer, but I couldn’t let Siren have the upper hand again. I couldn’t let her know that I care about her, even the tiniest bit. She can’t have control over me, not again.
I stare at the floor as Siren walks to the cell door, closes it, and then locks it. I can feel her eyes on me, even though I refuse to return her gaze. But I hear the clink of the door and the clank of the lock as the door closes, and I feel her stare on me.
She takes a heavy breath, sighing before following Julian up the stairs.
And then I’m alone. Except for the security cameras, I’m truly alone for the first time in weeks. No guard. No Julian. And no Siren.
Just me with my thoughts and regret.
I made my decision to save myself instead of Siren, but only because I don’t truly think she is in any danger. Julian won’t kill her. He’ll hurt her, torture her, but not kill her. She’s too valuable to him.
But what if I’m wrong?
What if he kills her?
What if I chose myself over her?
I shake the thought from my head. I have more important things to worry about right now—like how to get out of here and protect my friends from Julian.
I walk back to the bed and sit down; my leg is sore and achy. But then I spot the bottle of whiskey Siren brought in. She didn’t take it with her. I grab the bottle and take a long swig, quickly feeling the sting of pain reducing.
At least I have this bottle to keep me comfortable.
I move my legs to swing them onto the mattress, but my leg bumps into something. I look down—the medical bag. Siren left it.
I grab the bag and quickly rummage through it to find something to use to unlock the door. I keep my ears open, listening carefully in case a guard comes downstairs, so I can hide the bag quickly if one does. This bag holds the key to my escape; I can’t let anyone know I have it.
I find a needle.
And then look to the door. Should I try it now or wait?
I can’t wait. There aren’t any guards watching me, at least none in the basement. This might be my only chance. Even if a guard is watching me on the security cameras, it could take a minute or two for them to get down here. This is my only chance.
I run to the door, quickly loop my arms through the bars, and press the needle inside the lock.
One…
Two…
Three…I feel the rattle of the lock turning over, and then I gently push the door open.
I’m free of my cage.
Now, I need to save my friends. I need to escape. But most of all, I need to kill Julian.
I creep carefully up the stairs, completely silent, so if a guard is waiting upstairs, they won’t hear me.
I open the door to the main floor of the house I stayed in for months. A house that was just as much a cage as the bars holding me in the basement, even though it might have been a bit more comfortable.
I squint as the sunlight hits my eyes for the first time in months. I blink several times, trying to adjust. And right now, I can’t decide if I missed the sun or want it to go away again.
Finally refocused, I look around my house and find no guards.
My heart lightens with hope. I might really be able to get free. Or at the very least, protect my friends by killing Julian.
But if I fail, I at least need to warn them.
I move through the shadows of the house until I find one of the guns I hid in the floorboard of the pantry. I pull it out and put it in the back of my pants. Outside the pantry, I find paper, an envelope, and a pen. I stick them all in my pocket.
My time is running out to stay undetected in this house. I need to leave and hide until darkness falls, then I can carry out the second part of my plan.
So that’s exactly what I do. I run outside and down the beach, away from Julian’s property, until I reach a neighbor’s backyard filled with enough bushes and trees for me to hide in until nightfall.
If I only wanted to save myself, then I should be in search of a boat. But as usual, I’m at the bottom of my own priority list. I need to save my friends, and the only way to do that is to kill Julian and…Siren, if I have the strength to do it.
Siren may follow orders now, but if I kill Julian, she will be the one in charge. He may not have announced her as her second, but since he put her on the most important task he had—me, I know that she would take over. And she would continue her boss’s mission.
I can’t let that happen.
I shouldn’t distract myself with thinking about Siren. Right now, I need to warn my friends, and I need to kill Julian.
I take out the pen and paper to write to them in warning. I put my pen to the paper to write to Enzo, but at the last second change my mind, and instead write to Kai.
I smile as I think about Kai’s future. About how strong she is and how she will one day rule—either by Enzo’s side or on her own. She will claim the Black kingdom; I have no doubt.
Thinking of Kai reminds me of who Siren really is—how strong she is. I can’t leave Siren alone. Because she will claim her power, the same as Kai.
Darkness falls hours later. My feet have fallen asleep, my leg has swollen, and my back aches from leaning against a palm tree and squatting behind a bush all afternoon.
I’m thirsty, hungry, and exhausted.
But I’m more determined than ever.
I move through the night, silent as the gentle wind, barely making a whisper for anyone to discover me.
I know enough about Julian Reed’s property and routine to know I’ll be faced with a high tech security system and dozens of guards when I reach his property. But nothing and no one is going to stop me from completing my mission.
I move across the property, crouching below windows, as I make my way to Julian’s house. I need to get into the garage, that’s where the power is. I won’t be able to di
sable the security system junction box, since he has it locked up in a vault, but I can disable the power, which should shut off the security system for a few minutes.
I pop the garage side door open, find the power, and disable it. The hiss of the electricity immediately dies. Then I hear the shuffle of men inside. I draw my gun, careful to know exactly how many bullets I have left—six—and that I need to preserve at least one for Julian.
I wait in the shadows as the men throw the house door open and start flowing into the garage.
Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
I take out the three men that ran inside the garage. I run to the first man and take his gun, then quickly make my way over the dead bodies and up the stairs into the house.
The house is silent, but that doesn’t shock me. The first men attacked loudly and wildly, but the rest of the men will hide and wait to attack me unannounced.
Behind each corner and each wall is a possible threat. But I take my time. I have all fucking night. And this is where I thrive. Even with a bum leg, I love the adrenaline of hunting men down and making them suffer.
I hear the creak of a floorboard in the silence.
Mistake number one.
I turn the corner and fire before the man even has a chance to aim his gun in my direction. I watch the man fall and hit the floor loudly. If the gunfire didn’t already, it draws every man’s attention to my location.
But I’m ready for them. Bring it on.
Fire.
Fire.
Fire.
And then…
Fall.
Fall.
Fall.
I take out every guard until I hear silence in the house. Not even the sound of another man breathing leaks into the tranquility. I’ve disabled the security system. I’ve taken out his guards. Now it’s time to kill Julian Reed.
Even with my wounded leg, I run up the stairs of Julian’s house. Ready to complete my mission. Ready for Julian to be dead.
I’m sure Julian has heard the commotion downstairs and is awake now, but when I get to his bedroom door, I hear snoring—loud and thunderous. I creak the door open enough for me to see him lying in the middle of his bed with a face mask and earplugs.
I grin.
He won’t even see death coming.
Maybe I should torture him, but I’m not going to. I just want him dead. Torture won’t protect my friends; only death will.
I push the door open. Then I aim my gun. I don’t even need to go into his bedroom to kill him. I have excellent aim. I could have shot him from across the entire length of the property if all the buildings weren’t blocking my way.
I begin to squeeze the trigger and then…
Bang.
My body slams into a wall, my hand barely gripping my gun as it smashes between my large frame and the drywall in the hallway. My head spins for a second from the abrupt impact, and I know that I just busted open the stitches holding my wound together.
But that’s all I allow myself—one second of pain before I begin to attack back.
I spin, throwing the body off mine. Before I even look at my attacker, my instinct tells me who thwarted me.
Siren.
Still, my body automatically aims the gun in her direction. I can’t pull the trigger, even if I should.
She smiles back at me. “Finally got the balls to aim that gun at me?”
I frown. “Still giving your loyalty to the wrong man?”
She glares, putting her hands up like she’s about to enter a boxing match with me. “I’m loyal to no one but myself.”
I raise an eyebrow, keeping the gun on her body. “You just saved your boss’s life; I think you’re loyal to him.”
“You and your loyalty, Zeke. Sometimes people do things not out of loyalty but because they want to.”
I cock my head to the side. “You and I don’t.” I don’t know how I know her so well, but deep down, she’s doing this out of loyalty. I just don’t understand why she gives her loyalty to that monster.
Siren stares at the gun. “You going to shoot me? Or are we going to fight fair?”
“Fair? I don’t think there is anything fair when it comes to us.”
“You’re right; we don’t fight fair.” And just like that, a knife flies at my hand and jabs into my palm, causing me to drop the gun.
I growl as blood pours out of the gash in my right hand.
And then we both run full speed toward each other—full of anger, frustration, lust, need. Everything fuses together. We both fuel it all into this one outburst of emotion about to collide.
And collide we do. Siren’s legs wrap around my body as she tries to climb me like a spider. Her hands grip my hair and pull hard, her other fist plummeting into my neck.
In return, I slam her back hard against the wall, my arms dancing with hers, unable to decide if I’m trying to fling her off or pull her tighter.
Our bodies flush, full of blood and nerves, hopelessly in need of a release. But we aren’t going to get it, at least not in the sexual way.
Siren digs her nails into my back, trying to get me to free her, but it’s not going to happen.
“You’re willing to fight me? Why don’t you fight him?” I say into her hair, taking a deep breath of the flowery scent of her shampoo. The scent calms most of my body and hardens other parts.
Pain springs into my vision as she head-butts me, and we fall backward. I’m barely able to stay on my feet with Siren tangling her limbs around my body like she’s trying to suffocate me.
“Is that the best you got?” I taunt her. “Because if so, this is going to be a quick fight.”
She smirks. “Men and their cockiness. Just because I’m a woman, doesn’t mean that I’m not capable of taking you down.”
“You and what muscles?”
She laughs. “Fighting isn’t about strength. Fighting is about knowing your enemy, knowing his weaknesses, and exploiting them.”
“You may know my weakness, but there is nothing you can do to exploit it, when the people I care about aren’t here.”
She jumps back, “Maybe not, but the people you care about aren’t your only weakness.”
I feel like I’ve been stabbed as she presses her thumb into my wound. Holy fucking hell! That shouldn’t hurt that bad, but it does.
I’ve never punched a woman. Never fought against one. Never had to hurt one. Maybe that’s sexist to think that women are any less deserving of being fought than men are. But over the years, I’ve started to learn differently. Siren is the one who will finally correct my outdated thoughts.
Women are just as capable as men.
Siren lets go of me, and I grunt in pain, griping my leg like she just cut it off. She’s walking toward the gun on the floor, and I have no doubt if she gets it, she’ll shoot me. And I don’t plan on getting shot again.
I run at her, letting go of the pain in my leg as I throw her over my shoulder. She yells, punching my back. “Put me down.”
I slap her ass. “Not a chance.”
I point the toe of my shoe under the gun, flick it up, and catch it in my left hand. I start walking to Julian’s bedroom. I’m not going to let Siren stop me from killing him, not this time.
I’m sure Julian is awake after the commotion we made. And when I enter the dark bedroom, I no longer find him in the bed. My eyes scan the room, searching, but I don’t find him. The snake is most likely hiding in his bathroom.
I start toward the bathroom, when Siren flips her body up, her legs throwing themselves around my neck and face, tightening hard, making it almost impossible to breathe.
“Drop the gun, sweetie,” she says.
“Sweetie? Really?”
I can feel her smile even though I can’t see it. “I’m sure you’ve already called me every endearment in the book: sweetie, baby, lovely. That’s what every man I fight usually does to try to make me feel inferior. You’re no different.”
I try to pull at her l
egs with my wounded hand, but her legs are much stronger than my bleeding hand.
“I. Would. Never. Call. You. Sweet,” I say each word slowly, gasping for oxygen.
She bites down on the top of my ear, in both a harsh and seductive way.
Jesus, she’s going to kill me while my dick is hard and begging for her. I’m not sure which is worse. Worse that she is strong enough to kill me, or that I’m going to die wanting her and never having her?
“Good, because I’m your siren. I’m not sweet; I’m not innocent. And I don’t need a man to protect me.”
Why are her words so sexy?
I can’t pry her legs off me, but I can spin her around, so that’s what I do—spin her until her pussy is at my face. I grin, knowing exactly how I’m going to get her to let go of my neck. Or she’ll tighten her legs, and I’ll die with her taste on my lips.
Either outcome is a win.
She’s wearing tight jeans, but that isn’t going to stop me. I may not be able to get to her skin, pussy, or clit directly, but I’ll tease her enough through her jeans.
I open my mouth and groan into her pussy, biting down over her clit beneath her jeans.
She moans for a second before composing herself. “What are you doing?”
“Exactly what you want me to do.”
She gasps when I lick and bite harder, slowly pulling all of her sex from her body as her pleasure soaks her jeans. Until I can taste the one part of her that is sweet.
I wait for her to release me. For her to jump off my face, with the need to attack and not let me control any part of her. But my tongue is magical when it comes to pussy, and she is a woman after all. She may not need a man for protection, but she needs a man for this.
When was the last time she was touched by a man before me?
From the way she’s moaning and tightening her legs like a vice grip around my face, she at least wants my mouth and tongue.
And god do I want her too. But my teasing her is having the opposite effect to what I really need. I need to get her off of me so I can go kill Julian.
