"No phone calls," he growled, looking me in the eye as he took the shitty thing between his hands and began to exert pressure. "No texts, emails or anything."
"Wait-" I lunged for the phone, but it shattered before I could grab it from him and he threw it in a muddy puddle without so much as a flicker of regret in his eyes.
For a moment I just stared at it with my mouth hanging open. I had no money, no way to replace that thing. Hell, I only had it in the first place because he'd been given a new one a few Christmases ago and had given me his old one. Without it how was I supposed to contact any of them? I didn't know their numbers by heart and it wasn't like I was going to be allowed to visit. How would I know when they were coming for me? Because this had to be an act, right? Because Luther was watching and it had to look real. But then why didn't they just say that? It wasn't like he could hear us out here in the storm while he sat in his van.
"You have to go," Maverick said, his eyes shining with regret but not a hint of weakness. He wasn't changing his mind, but he was the only one of them who at least seemed unhappy about it.
I threw my arms around him and hung on tight, sobbing uncontrollably now as I tried to figure out how the fuck this was happening to me. How could I be losing them right now? How could this be it?
"You promised," I breathed. "You promised I'd always have you."
Rick wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight, but Fox's hand clamped down on my elbow and he tugged me back.
I let go of Maverick, thinking Fox was about to embrace me too, but the moment I released him, Fox tugged harder, yanking me off balance and tossing me down in the mud at his feet.
The shock of my impact with the ground echoed right through my body until it was tearing cracks through my heart. No, not cracks, great uncrossable ravines full of darkness and pain which I knew in my soul were never going to heal over again.
My mouth fell open as I just sat in the mud, staring up at him, unable to comprehend how this was my Fox, my boys, all of them doing this to me.
JJ cursed and Chase hung his head as I just stayed there in the mud, crying and begging, not knowing what else I could do, not caring that they saw me breaking for them, just praying they'd realise I couldn't survive this. That I’d rather die than this.
"Leave her there," Fox barked, moving towards Maverick and gripping his arm as he turned him away from me.
And then they were all walking away and I was watching them with so much pain consuming me that I didn't even notice the man stalking over to me until he hauled me up and started dragging me away.
I kicked and screamed, reminded of the way Axel had overpowered me as I was dragged against the man's chest and I knew I needed to escape him more surely than I'd ever known anything in my entire life.
I thrashed and screamed, calling the boys’ names and pleading with them to help me as they all just piled into Luther's van without a word.
The guy holding me rounded to the trunk of his car and popped it open.
My screams intensified as I realised what he was going to do and I fought with all I had as he forced me into the trunk.
My gaze caught on JJ in the back of Luther’s van a moment before the trunk slammed closed over me and I was plunged into darkness where I thrashed and screamed and cried and kicked and no one came to help me.
Not Fox or Rick or Chase or JJ.
None of my boys came for me when I needed them like I never had before. And the weight of that betrayal settled over me so thickly that I was drowning in it. Never destined to see light or joy or happiness ever again.
T he journey back was completely, suffocatingly silent. But the sound of my heart breaking was louder than anything I had ever heard. It tore down the middle of me until I couldn't breathe. I didn't feel anything but pain. No regrets of killing that guy. No remorse over putting him in the ground. I didn't want to say it out loud, but Luther's words had rung true with me. Clive had fucked over our girl. He'd stood and watched while Axel had hurt her and had done nothing to help. He would have stood there and seen her life destroyed and I was fucking glad he was no longer drawing breath.
But Rogue...shit, I hadn't wanted it to be like that. I knew she had to leave, knew that everything was fucked, but watching her break had broken me too. Which was why I was going to go after her. Fuck this life. I wasn't staying. I'd always been an outcast in Luther's house anyway. I'd never been a real son to him, never been born to greatness like Fox. The only thing that had ever given me purpose was Rogue. And I'd die before I let her escape me. Seeing that asshole push her into the trunk of his car had twisted up my insides and I'd nearly unleashed the demon in me once more. I'd managed to hold myself back though. I might have been angry, but I wasn't stupid.
There was one thing I'd learned tonight that I couldn't unlearn. I could kill without blinking. I could do any unthinkable thing for the sake of my girl. And I would do it again and again until she was back in my arms.
Chase's shoulder pressed to mine beside me in the van and the silence between us all made my anger even sharper. Shouldn't we have been coming up with a plan? Why was everyone so fucking quiet? Part of me feared what was going through their heads though so I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to get them in trouble for knowing what I was gonna do.
Leaving my friends behind wasn't something I wanted. But if I could just get to Rogue, take her somewhere safe, then I could contact them. There was still a chance we'd all end up in our new life. I wasn't giving up.
The van pulled to a stop and the door opened. We were home, back in the garage and Luther gazed in at us with pride in his eyes.
"Chase, Johnny James, you can stay here for the night. Out you get." He beckoned us forward and Fox got out first and the rest of us followed.
JJ's face was cold and empty and my gut twisted for him. I hadn't wanted this fate for him. For any of us. But we’d had to do what it took to save Rogue. I just hoped he didn't blame her. That none of them did, because the hollow look in their eyes told me this was gonna impact on them forever. It wasn't like I was unaffected exactly, but I was more worried about my girl than some snitch in the ground. I'd always known there was something missing in me when it came to blood and gore. And I was glad of it now. My mind was clearer than theirs. I could focus on what still needed to be done and work out the details later.
"Strip," Luther commanded, heading over to a metal storage box and taking out a garbage bag. We all pulled off our clothes, dumping them into the bag, underwear and all then Luther jerked his chin at the door that led inside. "I'll dispose of these. You all head into the house and get showered. Fox, Rick, give your friends some clothes."
We nodded, none of us breaking the silence as we walked inside, heading upstairs all the way to the first level and Fox directed JJ and Chase into the guest bathrooms before looking to me.
"We have to do something, Fox," I whispered and he frowned, shaking his head at me.
"It's over, Rick," he said, his harsh tone making my breath catch.
He walked silently into his room before he kicked the door shut and I growled under my breath, pushing into my room and heading straight into the en-suite which was half the size of my brother's. I set the shower running then moved to the sink, washing my hands and face of blood before returning to my room and pushing the bathroom door shut. I hurried to my closet, dressing in some jeans and a black hoody before lacing on my Converse and grabbing the backpack I'd stuffed in here earlier after Luther had caught us. I checked my crypt key was still there before pushing another warm hoody into the bag for Rogue then put the bag on my back and headed to the door.