He’s a good man.
I’m sure of it.
Doesn’t mean I want him overhearing us and knowing a goddamn thing about what’s going on in our family with our fucking mission to find the rats.
“The trees are good cover. It’s also the only spot we’ve never been to before.”
I shrug and glance behind us right as we hear the sounds of approaching vehicles. “That might make it the obvious choice.”
King turns around. “Good. No time I want these fucks coming after us more than when we’re actually here to see it. Secondhand accounts only tell us so much, I need my blood here seeing it all. Keep ‘em peeled, Tomi. Without Rue here, you’re the best set of eyes we’ve got. The curse sings to you two better than us old assholes.”
I scoff and mumble, “Yeah, and it’s fucking screaming right now.”
Hellion starts unhooking the trailer from the truck, prepping everything so we can hand the guns over and leave without hanging around, trying to mitigate the chances of this ending in a fucking shootout.
When the cars pull up a scowl creeps over my face.
I don’t recognize them.
I make eye contact with Hawk and he starts walking over to me and King, ready to shield our Prez if that’s where this shit is heading. Hellion starts cursing the second the first car stops and the doors are thrown open, but when I glance back at him, his eyes are on the cars.
It’s not our buyers.
There’s a pause and then Cole curses and throws himself at King, taking him down to the ground as bullets rain down on us all.
Hawk bypasses King and Cole altogether to shove me behind the truck, then he dives towards Hellion only to get pinned down behind the motorcycles.
The bullets are flying out of the first car, but it’s clear when the second car joins the firing squad because the bullets come in thicker and at a different angle, one that is much more fucking likely to get King killed.
They really fucking want our Prez gone.
I can’t see any of the shooters, to stick my head out is to catch some lead between my fucking eyes, but they don’t seem to be fucking worried about running outta fire power.
There’s no way we’re getting out of this alive, not all of us.
From where he’s crouched behind the motorcycles, Hawk sees it in my eyes before I make a move, shaking his head at me as I scowl but I’ve never been one to listen to what I should be doing.
Best way out is with a distraction.
I can make it down the side of the truck without being in the firing line but whatever I do, I’m doing it on my own. It’s a fucking weird feeling, I’m never in these situations without one of my cousins backing me up. Maybe if Rue were here this would go down smoother but there’s no fucking time to be having regrets.
I stay low, creeping my way forward and keeping my feet as silent on the ground as the dead leaves and twigs will let me. None of the bullets are flying at this end of the truck, they’re all focussed on where Cole is using his own body as a shield for King, and I have one chance at getting some headshots in.
Take some fuckers out and draw their fire this way.
Deep breaths, make it count, clear your fucking mind of all of the bullshit and just take these fuckers out.
There are three guys in the second car.
Grimm Graves himself is in the first one.
I can’t get him but I take out two of the three in the second car before all hell breaks loose.
A fucking third car rides up and I blow out its front tires, unfortunately that means all four of the guys in it see me and draw their guns.
Time to get outta Dodge.
The forest is dense on either side of the clearing and I’m near the downward slope of the fucking mountain we’re on so I make a dive into the tree line, staying low and tumbling down the fucking slope. I feel the burning pain of a bullet grazing my arm but that doesn’t stop me from rolling my way through the shrubs.
If I hit a tree I’ll probably snap my fucking back so I stick my legs out to try to slow myself down. The slope is gradual enough that I manage to slow my descent and come to a halt, the sound of gunfire finally petering out.
Fuck, I hope that doesn’t mean they’ve taken the others out.
Hawk’s face as he shoved me behind the fucking truck flashes into my head. He came for me before his Prez, his instincts as a father kicking well the fuck in apparently.
If he’s dead I’m gutting every last Demon on this fucking Earth.
I mean, if any of them are dead and I make it outta here that’s the fucking plan but, fuck, there’ll be an extra fiery need if they’ve killed my pops.
I walk slowly down the rest of the slope until I reach the small creek at the bottom where the trees thin out a little. Until I’m sure the Demons have fucked off I gotta stay the hell here.
I check my phone but the screen is busted and I can barely use it. I could take a call but not make one, I can’t risk that shit right now.
I’ve stopped for about a half-second when the snap of a twig tells me I’m not alone but I don’t have any time to react.
The cold barrel of a gun presses against the base of my skull.
“We’ll take him in, Cliff. Can’t get a dead man to give us what we need.”
The beast of a man grunts and lowers the gun, the sound of boots crunching on the dead leaves on the ground telling me there’s movement somewhere close by. I try to scan the woods without moving my head too much but there’s nowhere I can get cover.
I guess the curse was singing about my death.
Fuck, I hope Rue keeps Angel safe.
I hope Trink figures out her shit with that dumbass she’s chasing. I hope Speck lives a long and happy life. I hope Hawk, King, and Hellion find and kill all of the fucking rats.
I hope this doesn’t fucking kill my mom.
There’s a lotta things a man about to die hopes for and every last one of them comes back down to my family so I know I’ve lived my life right.
My only regret is Angel and not fixing her shit a little faster.
I just gotta believe Rue and Speck will sort that shit out for me, same way I’d watch over Poe until my last fucking breath for my cousin if the roles were reversed.
Pop.
The sound is soft enough that with the shouting and gunfire around us I almost miss it but the crash of a man going down is unmistakable.
I assume Hawk or Hellion have found me.
I’m wrong.
I turn around to see ‘Cliff’ on the ground with a neat little bullet hole between his eyes. I’m sure the exit wound on the back of his head isn’t that neat but it’s too fucking dark to see much.
I look up to find a Demon twisting a silencer off of his gun, before throwing it at me.I catch it on reflex. It’s still warm to the touch even through my gloves.
His cut has the Graves tag on it but it’s the eyes that give him away.
Colt Graves, Poe’s half-brother and the fucking heir to the Chaos Demons.
I look down again at the Enforcer of the Chaos Demons but he’s still fucking dead at my feet, killed by one of his own men.
I glance back up at Colt like a fucking idiot but he’s too busy looking around for his own men to give a shit about me gaping at him like a fucking dumbass.
The sounds of guys getting closer filters through the woods and finally Colt looks up at me.
He lifts a finger to his lips to tell me to keep quiet and then jerks his head at me for me to run.