“Better make sure those ropes are extra tight,” I growl. Her eyes round at the corners, a hint of fear flashing as quick as lightning. Bitch may be ice fucking cold, but that doesn’t make her immune to my fire.
“Lead the way,” I encourage, gesturing before me. Claire looks me up and down, a scowl forming on her face at my superior tone. She’s gotten used to people sniveling at her feet and bowing to her commands like metal beneath a torch.
She has yet to learn that I’ve never been just a man.
With a sniff, she turns and walks away, making a point to keep her back turned as if to prove a point. I’ve never needed to acquire fear in order to kill, but I don’t mind teaching lessons. Addie can attest to that.
Jay’s stare is searing into the side of my face, a panicked look radiating from his hazel eyes. He doesn’t need to say the words; his expression says it all.
We’re going to die.
Not if I have anything to fucking do with it. I have too much to lose that’s worth far more than my own life.
Her chicken-legged companion, Patrick, allows us to pass before he falls into step behind us.
“Try not to stare at my ass,” I drawl.
He growls and nudges me forward with a meaty hand, his gun poised in his other hand threateningly. Slowly, I twist my head to stare at him over my shoulder, eyes wild and a grin I can’t feel on my face.
“Shut up and walk,” he snaps, but his voice betrays him, wobbling at the last word. How hard it must be to feign bravery beneath the stare of a heinous monster with a malicious smile.
The smoke is beginning to thin. Bodies are strewn across the cave, an ocean of blood soaking into the rock. Following Claire, my foot knocks against a severed arm, the limb rolling directly into a decapitated head, the man’s face frozen in terror.
The howls of pain are slowly fading as the mortalities grow, and I can’t help but marvel at the fact that the Society sacrificed their own people’s lives just to ensure that I would be caught. That speaks volumes.
Not only am I a threat, I am catastrophic.
Claire leads us to the door that she disappeared out of after handing me the knife. From the quick sweep of the room, I hadn’t seen any of my own men, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not mixed in and possibly dead.
My chest tightens, hoping that’s not the case. They understand the risks, but their deaths would be another responsibility to shoulder.
We follow her down a dimly lit hallway, an exact replica of the one I entered the cave through. Strips of LED lights line either side, giving off an ominous glow against the black walls and tiles.
This hallway steeply inclines upward now that we’re coming from underground. It feels like climbing a mountain with the way my body aches.
Jay walks stiffly beside me, periodically glancing at me with fear and anxiety. It’s clear that he’s never been in a dangerous situation like this before. He’s always behind the computer, never on the front lines. I don’t know how to assure him. I’ve never been one to lie, and while I’m confident I’ll get us out alive, I can’t guarantee it.
In a matter of minutes, Claire is pushing open the door and leading us out into a dark alleyway, scarcely lit by the moonlight and a streetlamp at the end. The sweat gliding down the sides of my face is instantly cooled by the brittle, Seattle air.
Claire wastes no time leading us toward a nondescript black van waiting at the mouth of the lane, its tinted windows so dark that you couldn’t see through it even if your face was smashed against the glass. Incredibly fucking illegal, but those license plates will prevent them from getting pulled over. They would only need to see Claire’s name to look the other way.
The closer we get to the vehicle, the more Jay stiffens.
I lean closer to his ear. “Just think of Claire as your fairy godmother, and this is the pumpkin carriage that’s going to whisk you away off to your princess.”
“Or prince,” Jay corrects through gritted teeth. He’s sweating profusely and his eyes are dilated. “I wouldn’t mind either.”
I shrug. “As long as you still make me Uncle Z.”
He scoffs, peering over at me as if I’m cracked. “You seriously think I’m going to have kids after seeing this shit every day?”
I shrug a shoulder again, pursing my lips. “Why not? Uncle Z will keep them safe. I can be their personal bodyguard. They may not like it, but I’ll fucking do it.”
He shakes his head, the tiniest of smiles tipping up his lips, understanding precisely what I’m doing.
I’m giving him a future. Painting a picture of him surviving and finding happiness, whether he decides to breed mini gremlins or not.
As we step off the curb and approach the black van, the back double doors open wide. Claire turns and nods her head towards the dark interior, indicating for us to get in.