Shattered Chaos (Steel Roses Book 1)

by Samantha Bee

  I preen as I hear Kade’s voice, “What the fuck? What about me?”

  Mikey laughs as he takes his turn giving me a hug, “Shouldn’t have been a dick.”

  “Maybe Kade should watch out front, and Ronan and Mikey can come with me,” I smirk.

  “Oh, no you don't, Ladybug. You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Kade retorts. I hide behind Mikey right as he lunges for me.

  “Shouldn’t have been a dick then, Stranger,” I taunt him. He’s given me plenty of reasons to be petty today.

  “Okay, children,” Joe laughs, “Stop harassing each other and let’s get this shit show on the road, yeah?” This is the real reason Luca loves Joe so much. He’s a hard worker and loyal to a fault but his key value lies in his willingness to wrangle Kade and I like we are his two unruly toddlers. As a grown woman I should take offense but honestly? Joe is so full of fatherly affection, it almost makes me want to regress in maturity when he’s around, just to watch him take control.

  I snort at myself, we really are a fucked up bunch.

  We separate out into our different cars and agree to meet at the taco joint. Luca has access to my security feeds so he will be able to keep track of our progress and be able to relay that to the team.

  As soon as we start driving, the atmosphere in the car changes. There’s no more teasing or taunting, no more jokes and laughing. We are all deadly serious, running through everything we need for this to go off without a hitch. I’m calculating all of the risks we are taking, what could go wrong, and what our escape routes could be. I’m so familiar with this part of my life it's like slipping into a second skin.

  This Scar is all ice and hate, a cold pulsing rage, delivered with a silent, deadly accuracy. This Scar doesn’t feel guilt, or loneliness, or insecurity. I’m confident we will be able to pull this off without a hitch. I trust my gut and it's telling me this isn’t a trap, but it is a tipping point. What we do here today will affect the rest of our lives, and I have a feeling exactly how we handle it will determine which way things change. For some reason, I feel like my vengeance is counting on this mission being done right.

  To me? That means killing every fucker there.

  It’s only a few minutes later before Joe pulls us into the parking lot of a small boutique shop. We run through comms one more time with everyone, making sure everyone is situated. All three of them are still driving as their destinations were farther. Ronan and Mikey should be there within a few minutes though.

  The abandoned building is on the Bay and I only live about fifteen minutes from that part of town. Luca will take a few minutes longer to get situated because he's going to be watching from his office at Steel Roses on our secure monitors.

  We head out, since we are going to have quite a bit of a walk ahead of us, it doesn’t matter that they aren’t ready yet. Joe and Kade follow me into the boutique. It’s a cute clothing shop, very modern, geared towards young adults and teens. It’s very popular with influencers so the shop does very well for itself.

  I see Katie behind the register helping a customer, so I just nod to her as I lead the guys into the back, but I notice her mark the time we arrived. Good girl. She’s become a real asset, you would never know she was once a girl from our rescue missions.

  We walk straight to the closet in the back corner, I pull out a key from my back pocket and open it up. The back wall of the closet has monitors displaying the security footage of the store, as well as the front and back doors. There’s a safe to one side that holds paperwork and the cash deposits for the store. All good reasons for the door to be locked but the real thing we are protecting in here is the fake wall opposite the safe.

  Anyone who discovered this place was connected to me and decided to do some digging would be distracted by the safe and wouldn’t look close enough to discover the latch in the wall to open the door to our tunnel system. If it was a locked closet with nothing in it, people would look a little harder to find the reason for the lock.

  The tunnels were there already, I’ve never researched why, prohibition, to help aid in the underground railway, or something as mundane as the sewage, I don’t know but I don't care. They’re long forgotten, never talked about, and not nearly as cool as they sound. However, they are convenient.

  Luca and I discovered them, and we’ve worked tirelessly to keep them secret while also modifying them to suit our needs. The tunnels run across to reach almost every corner of St Graves, connected to hidden entrances in businesses and parks, all requiring a key like the one I always carry with me.

  The tunnels connect directly to the abandoned Sheriff’s station, to another closet. It’s incredibly convenient. Not every building has access points, but we have secured enough that there is always one nearby. They make a great getaway option.

  We start jogging down the tunnel, trying to move quickly without getting separated. There are a lot of tunnels branching out from this section, mostly leading to different abandoned warehouses since that side of town is a hotspot for criminal activity. We wanted as many access points as possible.

  It's easy to get lost down here but I know these tunnels like the back of my hand. I helped map them out and as soon as they were completed, I started running down here. Memorizing every turn, every dead end, every single access point. These tunnels could someday be the difference in life or death. They’ve already eased our escapes more times than I can count.

  Luca’s voice fills my ear, but even his throaty tones can’t warm through the ice in my veins right now, “Okay, let’s pick up the pace. I want you there in the next ten minutes.”

  I nod, knowing he will catch it on the security cameras we have throughout all the tunnels. We don’t half ass our operations. I pick up my pace, Kade and Joe following my lead, flanking either side.

  Luca’s voice rumbles out all the details he can pick up from our security system as we run. There are three girls and a guy being led into one of the cells on the bottom floor, all sedated, but he thinks it’s fading. All of them are walking without assistance, so they should be able to get out on their own without too much help from us.

  Sometimes these poor girls are so drugged up, they can’t move on their own and we have to mostly carry them to safety. Having a guy isn’t as common as saving girls, but it’s also not that rare for us either. This guy was unexpected though, we thought it was four women. It’s not usual our intel is wrong, even about gender but it doesn’t change anything. It’s still four bodies.

  We reach the outlet in the tunnels for the Sheriff’s station. I turn and pause, waiting for the all set from Ronan and Luca. As soon as I hear both their voices in my ear, I signal to Kade and Joe to get ready.

  This exit is a little tricky, since it leads directly into a building frequently used, we had to ensure that the entrance was undetectable. I press against a little alcove in the rocks that allows me to open another latch where I can insert my key and open a nearly invisible door that blends into the wall.

  We walk into the new room on silent feet. We are directly under the building now. There’s a ladder waiting for us, as always. I climb up and repeat the process of uncovering the hidden lock for my key, I insert it as silently as possible.

  “Two guards on the first floor, one by the stairs, one by the cell. You’re going to have to dispatch them,” Luca’s voice rumbles.

  My pleasure, I smirk to myself. I’m still planning on taking out as many as I can.

  “Closet is clear.”

  “Front is clear. No sign of backup.”

  “Systems are down. You’re good to go, Scar.” I had everything set up on my laptop for Luca to hack into their security and shut it down. All he had to do was push okay and give me the greenlight. We are good to move.

  I push through the door, opening the floor into the closet. I put my hands on the ledge and push myself up and pull myself over the ledge into the closet. I pause only for a second before pushing through the door.

  “One of you stay behind, so she d
oesn't have to unlock the door again.”

  I hear Kade and Joe arguing underneath me about who should come, but I ignore them as I push through the closet door. It’s in a forgotten unused part of the first floor. Traffickers rarely even realize the closet is here, only really caring about the convenience of the cells.

  I pause outside the door and can hear the low voices of the guards talking. A moment later Kade follows behind me. I smile when I see it's him and not Joe. Kade may have sided with Luca about this being an in and out job but when it comes down to it, he won’t stop me.

  I signal to him to close the closet door and wait before moving across the room and blend into the shadows. As soon as I’m ready Kade purposely makes noise as he settles into the closet, loud enough for one of the guards to call out that he’d check to see what it was.

  I hear his heavy footsteps coming closer as he grumbles about rats. From my vantage point I can’t see the other guard, but it also means he won’t be able to see me or his friend.

  As soon as he is in front of me, I hear Luca in my ear, signaling to Kade to open the door. The moment the guard looks towards him, I’m behind him with my blade in my hand and slicing across his throat before he can even make a sound. The gurgling sound of him choking on his blood is music to my ears as I place my now bloodied hand over his mouth to muffle the sound of his death.

  I look up and make eye contact with Kade as a grin spreads across my face. I hear Luca chuckling in my ear, “That grin is maniacal, Scar.”

  Joe’s, Mikey’s and Ronan’s chuckles follow after. They should know by now that warm blood running through my fingers really triggers my inner psycho.

  Kade is smiling as he walks towards me, avoiding the blood splatter covering the floor now. Slit throats tend to be pretty messy when they’re done right. Severing the carotid artery usually causes them to choke on their own blood but even if they don't, the lack of oxygen being delivered to the brain causes them to pass out fairly quickly. Blood sprays everywhere though. Totally gruesome, extremely satisfying.

  Even though Kade was clear across the room, he has some light splatters on his legs. He shrugs when he sees me eyeing them and we both wait for Luca to give us the next all clear.

  As soon as he relays to us that the guard left didn’t notice anything, we start moving towards where the cells are located. Luca continues to give us any details he can as we silently and quickly move forward.

  The guard left is still by the stairs with his back to the cells. Idiot. This also puts his back to Kade and I as we enter the main part of the first floor. I nod towards the cells and he immediately pulls out his lock picking kit. This is his hidden talent. I’m fucking good at getting things unlocked but Kade is even better.

  I wonder if I could kill the guard before he can get the cell opened.

  Luca echoes my thought through my earpiece, and I see a smile spreading across Kade’s face to match my own. We both nod at the same time before setting off in opposite directions.

  Only one of the girls and the man have noticed our presence so far, the other two are leaning against the wall with their eyes closed. The girl who noticed us has long stringy black hair and blue eyes, she can’t be any older than seventeen. My stomach turns for this poor girl.

  Her eyes go wide as she stares at us and she starts to sit forward and open her mouth. Kade and I both start frantically shaking our heads to cut her off but thankfully, the man is sitting next to her and quickly slaps his hand over her mouth, muffling the sound.

  Kade reaches the cell and is about to start picking when the guard turns towards the cell, having heard the girl. I quickly grab the blade at my ankle and lunge towards the guard in one fluid motion, stabbing the blade through his eye and into his brain. Leaving my knife embedded in his skull, I slap both hands over his mouth before he has a chance to scream and sweep my foot under both his legs as I push back against his mouth. Using my own weight to force him down, I go with him but stay in control as I keep his mouth covered. As soon as he’s on the ground, I quickly rise and slam my foot down on his throat, once, twice, three times. Effectively crushing his windpipe.

  I hear a click of metal and turn smiling to find Kade opening the cell. I lean down and pull my blade out from the guard’s eye and slip it back into my ankle strap.

  I walk over to the cell to help get the victims out and get them moving back towards the tunnel. I’m also ready to gloat because I totally beat him. I can already feel the smug ass smile on my face.

  “Kicked your ass,” I smirk as I reach his side. Chuckles sound out through the comms piece.

  “No fucking way,” he says turning to look back at the body slumped and bleeding out on the floor.

  “He’s still alive,” Kade says, gesturing towards the body.

  “The dude is dead,” I scoff. I always finish the job.

  “He’s definitely dead,” a hoarse voice sounds from inside the cell, “she stabbed him in the eye and stomped on his windpipe. Fucking brutal.”

  I turn towards the voice and meet the lightest green eyes I have ever seen on a person. Kade and I both have green eyes but mine are deep green like the forest while Kade has warm green eyes with flecks of gold in them. This man has gray green eyes, light but bright and stunning.

  Kade tenses, ready to attack, thinking he’s a trap but I don’t think so. Why would he help keep the girl silent if he was part of it?

  I look at the three girls and then back to the guy, he’s simultaneously in worse and far better shape than the girls. He’s beaten and bloody, with wounds still open and untreated but the girls are emaciated and lifeless. He still has defined muscle tone, his brown hair is well kept, short on the sides and slightly longer on the top but not overgrown. He only has slight growth of hair on his jawline.

  It’s obvious he hasn’t been in captivity for long, but he has had the absolute shit beaten out of him. The way he carries himself, favoring the right side and almost curling in on himself, makes me think he has some broken ribs. He will heal fairly quickly though. He seems to be in good shape compared to most we rescue.

  “There’s another girl. They kept her with them when we got here.”

  Kade and I trade looks, he’s still tense, with his own blade in his hand, poised to attack at a moment's notice. I’m more concerned about this other girl. Any reason they kept her with them won’t be a good one.

  “Look, buddy, step the fuck back,” Kade grinds through his teeth.

  “Please, she’s young,” the guy goes to grab my arm but before he can Kade has him pushed up against the wall.

  “I know you’ve been through hell,” Kade grinds through his teeth, “but I don’t trust you. Don’t touch her again.”

  I call Kade off, more concerned about this girl than myself, I trust in my abilities, even if this is a trick, I’ll be fine. He backs off the stranger but keeps himself positioned between the two of us.

  “What’s your name?” I ask.

  “Ryder,” he answers, “I broke into their last compound with a group to try and free some girls,” something flashes in his eyes, but it’s gone so fast I can’t be sure of exactly what it was. Anguish? Grief? Panic? Maybe guilt, but I don't think he’s lying, whatever it was, it was real as hell. “They caught us, everyone in the group and a few of the girls were killed,” he hesitates and takes a deep breath before continuing, “They thought I could sell well, to make up for the lost merchandise,” he finishes explaining, and the last part is sneered with his obvious disgust.

  I recognize the emotion that fills his eyes now. Pure unadulterated rage and disgust. I’m very familiar with that look, I see it in the mirror every day.

  The puzzle pieces start clicking together, our intel being wrong, his healthy albeit beaten state, and maybe even that glimpse of whatever I saw. Although, I feel there is still more to it. He’s right too, he would sell for a prime price at the skin markets. He is gorgeous with hard lines, smooth golden hued skin, and his eyes are absolutely arresting.
<
br />   Okay I believe him.

  There should be four maybe five more guards upstairs based on what their schedules have been, easy enough, even without Kade for backup.

  “How many?” I ask.

  The guy, Ryder, looks confused but that’s okay, I’m not talking to him. Luca is letting loose a string of curses through our comms devices and Kade is shaking his head at me.

  “This could be a trap, Scar,” Kade says, turning to look back at me.

  I shrug, “His story makes sense.”

  “You just want an excuse to kill more people,” he argues.

  “Can you blame me?” I retort back. Trap or not, we aren’t risking leaving behind another girl. No way, no how.

  “You could just knock out the guards,” new guy interjects, unhelpfully. I think he’s trying to be helpful? But it's not the killing that Kade is worried about.

  I would roll my eyes, but they’ve hardened as I pin the new guy with a glare, “Anyone involved in the skin business deserves death. No exceptions. You’ll do good to remember that,” I warn him. “I show no mercy. So, if this is a trap, just know that I will gut every fucker you send my way, and then I’ll come back for you. I won’t just slit your throat or crush your windpipe either. I’ll take you home with me and enjoy every second I can of carving you up, of breaking every bone in your body until you’re begging for death. You will be my new guinea pig to experiment all the new torture techniques I’ve been wanting to try, and just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any worse? I’ll cut your dick off and shove it down your throat until you choke on it. Got it?”

  Both Kade and Ryder have their hands over their junk, but Ryder just nods and swears it’s not a trap.

  The black-haired girl who first noticed us draws my attention away from him as she gets up on shaky legs, “Can you really do that?”

  I tilt my head towards her trying to figure out if I scared her. Last thing I want to do is admit that I can, and traumatize her more. It’s mostly curiosity and maybe a little awe I see in her eyes, so I decide to be honest. I give her a quick nod as I start to slowly move towards her, not wanting to spook her.