CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Nadya
I came to feeling like there was a jackhammer in my head. I did my best to stay still and keep my breathing steady. If they thought I was still out, I could use that to my advantage.
I didn’t open my eyes to look around but I could tell that there were at least three different sets of footsteps. One heavy. One light. And one skittish, almost like he was shuffling from side to side with a nervous kind of energy. Lucy had said she could see five, and add in the one that got the jump on me, that made six. There was no telling how many might be outside and that made me feel uneasy.
From my slumped over position, I could tell I was in a chair. My legs were tied to the legs of the chair and my hands were bound behind my back. As slowly as I could, I twisted my hands around trying to feel what I was bound with. Standard handcuff zip ties. I wanted to laugh. I had no doubt that they probably patted me down and took every single weapon they could find, but I could feel the heaviness of my bracelet still around my wrist.
The thing was, sometimes jewelry came in handy. Especially the ones I wore. Be prepared for anything at all times, and I always was.
The only problem I had, I couldn’t get myself free without moving, and moving would alert someone to my now awake state. All I could do was bide my time and wait for the right moment.
“Looks like the big one is comin’ ‘round,” someone said from across the room. His voice was whiny and nasally, it grated on my ears like nails on a chalkboard.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Noah was somewhere in this room. The good thing was, if he was coming to then he must still be alive. I wasn’t too late, I still had a chance to get us both out of this. There was no way I was walking out of here without him. Come of us what may after I told him everything, I was still going to do my damnedest to save him.
“Get another dose ready,” his evil voice rang out through the silent cabin. Savage. The Devil himself. Because there was no other name to call a man that was such a monster. “Get her up. I’m fucking done waiting!” he barked and footsteps hustled across the hardwood floor, coming closer with each step.
“Come on, sweet thing.” I held myself limp and relaxed as he slapped my face. The pounding in my head increased and I resisted the urge to wince. “Fuckin’ wake up, whore!” he spat out as he gripped a handful of my hair and wrenched my head back, and it was all I could do to hold back a yelp.
The sound of a deep growl filled the air and my eyes shot open. Noah sat a few feet across from me tied to a chair just like me. He struggled against his bindings with a ferocious look in his eyes. He was ready to tear someone apart. The only thing that was stopping him was the fact that his limbs were tethered to a very sturdy looking chair. These guys weren’t playing around. They weren’t taking any chances. Each of Noah’s arms had at least four zip ties anchoring him to the chair and more on his legs. There was also a thick cable holding down his waist and chest.
Shit, this was not going to be easy at all.
“Savage,” Noah snarled. To which, Savage only laughed and the sound reverberated through the room with a maniacal edge to it. Noah’s eyes snapped to mine and went soft. I could see the regret spinning in his silver eyes. He was taking the blame on himself, but if he only knew…I was the reason we were in this situation. “Let her go. She’s got nothin’ to do with this.”
“See that’s where you’re wrong,” Savage said before I could open my mouth to speak. He made sure to keep his distance from us. He was smart, I’d give him that much. “She’s the reason you are here.”
Noah’s eyes pinned me with curiosity and my heart broke at the fact that I couldn’t give him the answers he wanted.
“Seems Nadya, here, couldn’t do her job, so I’m here to do it for her,” Savage went on and I knew what was to come next. Once the cat caught the mouse, he was sure to kill it. The confusion grew on Noah’s face and I knew it was a matter of time before all my secrets were revealed. I let my lids fall closed, not wanting to see the hurt and betrayal in his eyes. “Nadya was hired by me to kill you, Tank. Well, not you specifically, though once I heard you made it out of the explosion alive, I had only hoped you would make your way here.”
“You?” Noah said in a low growl. I nodded and ducked my head. “You were gonna kill me?” he asked like it was the most unfathomable thing in the world.
“Tell him. Tell him all about what you do and who you are. Tell him how you’ve been watching him the whole time. How you have cameras all over this place.” Savage raised his hand and motioned with a flick of his wrist. I only saw him through my peripheral but I could feel Savage’s eyes on me. As well as Noah’s.
With the spotlight shining on me I couldn’t make my move. As slyly as possible, I took in my surroundings. It helped that my head was still bowed.
Two men stood near savage, protectively in front of him. One guy was next to me and I really wanted to kill that motherfucker first, because my head still fucking tingled where he had grabbed my hair. I knew there was a guy behind me, though I couldn’t see him, I could hear his breathing. He was close, too, maybe two feet away.
“Tell him!” Savage roared, clearly losing his shit over the fact that I wasn’t being his happy little puppet.
That was when I realized that I’d never lied to Noah. Sure, I’d conveniently left things out. But outright lied, never. So I wasn’t about to start now. Not that I could have really gotten away with denying all that was said anyway.
I took a deep breath, raised my head high, and looked Noah in the eyes before I spoke.
“It’s all true,” I said without even an ounce of hesitation in my voice.
I didn’t rush to spew an excuse either, because there wasn’t one to give. That was the reason I was here. To kill him. That was the job I’d taken. It didn’t matter that I had no idea who he was before I took it. It didn’t matter that I’d seen the kind of man he was, the kind soul he didn’t try to hide. It didn’t matter that at that moment all I wanted to do was save his fucking life. The truth was, I was a killer and I was sent here to a job.
Then the most surprising thing happened, and for me to say that meant it was really fucking off.
Noah smirked at me. Not one of sinister nature, no, it was one that said he had my number—the left side of his lips tipping up more than the right and the softness in his eyes not turning hard. I wasn’t sure what he was hearing or seeing, but that response was the strangest reaction to someone telling you that they had intended to kill you.
“So now the big question is, who am I going to kill first? Which one of you do I want to suffer more?” Savage went on in the background. “Tank, your death will send more of a message, so maybe I should save that for last and make it real good. But then again, I do hate to be betrayed. And you, Missy, have really pissed me the fuck off.”
Time was running out. I had to come up with a plan, but I was currently stuck.
Not giving a fuck if the guy behind me saw, I moved my bracelet down and my fingers stealthily gripped the pointed charm.
Getting out of zip ties was easy if you knew how to do it. Struggling against them would only end up hurting you. The easiest way for me right then was to move the locking pin to the side or break it. One little, flimsy piece of plastic was in my way to freedom—of my arms, at least. With ease, I was able to loosen them enough that I could slip my hands out when the time came. For now, I decided it was best to let everyone think that I was still bound.
Now, my legs were a different story. I could do the same thing, but that would require time and movement that would be too noticeable.
Looking around, I located the closest weapon. That happened to be that motherfucker standing right next to me, his gun tucked into his waistband like a dumbass, his shirt tucked behind it like a loud siren screaming at me to take it.
“No, I think I’m going to give you another dose and have my boys here fuck her as you pass back out. Then I’ll kill her and there is nothing you can do. Because I can see that look in your eyes.” Savage let out a laugh. “You somehow fell for her. Maybe this turned out better than I’d hoped. How does it feel to lose all those you care about, huh? That poor boy of yours, dying all because you chose to stand behind your club and not give a second thought about him in that decision.”
Noah went crazy, struggling against his bindings like a man about to come unhinged. The growl that escaped him was loud enough to pierce my ears. A man stepped up behind him and stuck a needle in his neck, but it did nothing to settle the beast.
Then like all the energy had been drained from his body, he relaxed. He was still able to hold his head up but I could see his eyes becoming unfocused. Now was the time to make my move. There was no way I could carry Noah out of here on my own and I needed to get him to move while he still could.
The window shattered as the sound of a whizzing bullet flew past my head. The guy behind me dropped to the ground with a dead thud. I didn’t have time to think about where that shot came from or who might be behind it. I threw myself back as I freed my hands, the chair hit the floor and broke apart. The only problem was, the bottom half remained intact.
With all the strength I could muster, I swung my legs, and the chair bottom, at the asshole that was beside me before he had a chance to duck. My hand grabbed his gun and I brought my legs up at the same time. Once he was on his back on the ground, I wasted no time slamming my legs down on his face. Blood spurted from his nose as he wailed in pain. That worked! The chair broke enough that I was able to pull the splintered pieces away from my legs. Jumping to my feet, I aimed the gun at Savage.
Aim at the king and all the pawns will fall in line to take the bullet. And as the rest of the men scurried back, I realized it was so true. But what I’d missed was Savage pulling a gun and firing at me. There was no ducking out of the way at that point. I just prayed that it wouldn’t be a deadly blow.
“No!” Noah’s voice rang out and from the corner of my eye I saw him all but rip himself out of his bindings. It was insane and un-fucking-humanly, to say the least. And before I could blink, his body was in front of mine, taking the bullet that was meant for me.
“Fuck, Noah. No, you jackass,” I said, the words coming out a bit more calm than I felt inside. Another shot rang out, this time from behind me and another one of Savage’s pawns fell to the ground.
Silas. I thought as I got to my feet and all but dragged Noah behind me, heading for one of the downstairs bedrooms. I knew Silas would provide enough cover fire for us to find a way out.
Noah wasn’t doing well. Not only had he been given a dose of something that was obviously meant to put him to sleep, but he’d also been shot. Without much thought, I ripped a drawer out of the closest dresser and threw it against the window, never losing stride. I pushed out the broken glass as much as I could without getting my hand sliced the fuck up.
Looking back over my shoulder, I saw Noah struggling to keep his head up and I knew he wouldn’t last much longer. I just needed to get him into his truck. I grabbed the back of his shirt, and with all my might, hauled him up to his feet. Next thing I knew, his weight was toppling me over and out the broken window. I hissed as the jagged pieces sliced my skin. We landed with a hard thump on the gravel driveway below.
“Come on, you need to get up,” I all but begged Noah. He started to rise but with the pace of a donkey.
“Help me get him up,” Silas’ voice came out of nowhere as he magically appeared beside me.
We hauled Noah’s lax body up and managed to get him to the truck, his feet occasionally moving to help the process along. Once inside the truck, he slumped against the door and I could tell he was doing his best to fight off the drowsiness.
“Here.” Silas handed me a burner phone. “Now go,” he said as he shut the door and disappeared into the darkness.
Without wasting another second, I fired up the truck, thankful that the damn key was right there in the ignition. I took off with a speed that was not safe at all for the one lane, narrow road down the mountain.
Once I was a good distance away from the cabin, I picked up the burner phone and called the only person that could help me.
“Hello,” Lucy’s voice sounded strained. Then I remembered that she probably didn’t recognize the number.
“I’m out, but he’s hurt. I can’t take him to a hospital and I need to know where to go,” I blurted out all at once.
Tears stung my eyes as I chanced a quick glance over at Noah. He looked peaceful, but I could see the blood soaking the side of his shirt. If only I could have stopped for a few minutes, I’d be able to tell how bad it was. But that wasn’t an option. All I could do was hope that we made it somewhere safe soon.
“I’ll text you directions. There is a chapter of his club a little over an hour away.” Then she was gone and a few moments later I heard the ping of her text hitting the phone.
An hour could mean life or death. Hell, a minute could.
I shot another quick glance over at Noah, not wanting to take my eyes off the road for too long, and noticed that the blood spot wasn’t spreading. A little sigh of relief escaped my lungs. All I could do was hope that it was just a scratch.