Page 6 of They Will Burn

I storm down the hallway, my head pounding with every step that I take, but I don’t let it slow me down.

“Bishop,” Crew calls from behind me, his heavy footsteps falling on the hardwood floors as he chases me down. “She’s not here.”

I burst into her room, her vanilla and strawberry scent hitting me the second the door swings open. But as I survey the room, I realize my suspicions were correct. She’s not here. She’s gone.

Kovu stands in the middle of the room, his eyes murderous as he takes in the feminine space around us. It didn’t start that way. It was just a basic room with all the things a guest would need, but over the six weeks she was here, we bought more and more that helped to make the space seem like it was hers, rather than a spare bedroom.

I’ve seen my best friend look angry before, more times than I can count, in fact, but never have I seen him look quite so unhinged.

“Where the fuck is she?” he growls, advancing on me before I can even think to answer him, but before he can hit me, Kaos steps between us, his hulking body acting as a barrier between us.

“Fighting isn’t going to get us anywhere,” he says calmly, but there’s a tension in his words I’m not used to hearing.

“Was it you?” Kovu snaps. “The four of us are the only people in the city aside from Wyatt who can shut down the security system in this place, and seeing as I had eyes on Crew the whole time and Wyatt has been with us, that only leaves the two of you.”

The accusation hangs heavy between us, but I know it’s true. I knew it from the moment we stepped foot out into the cold New York evening.

Davenport told me the only way I was getting out of there alive was for us to hand over Camilla, and from Kaos’s silence, I think it’s pretty fucking obvious that’s exactly what happened.

“I spent the last few hours tied to a chair, so it sure as hell wasn’t me,” I grit out.

I turn to Kaos and guilt tells me everything I need to know.

He did it.

He handed over Camilla.

The woman who made me feel for the first time in my life. Who gave me a piece of myself I never realized was missing.

Before I’m aware of the decision, my fist sails toward his face, and he doesn’t bother blocking it.

Perhaps he knows he deserves whatever we’re going to do to him, because for every bit of pain she feels, I’m going to make sure he feels it a thousand times worse.

CHAPTER FIVE

CREW

Fights are bound to happen when there’s this much testosterone in one place all the time.

We live together, work together, and aside from a few friends, we’re all each other has, which makes for the occasional scuffle.

But I’ve never found myself wanting to see one play out quite like I do this one.

I’m mad, fucking livid is probably a better description. But maybe I shouldn’t be. Maybe I should have seen this coming. After all, Kaos made his dislike for Camilla very fucking clear from the day she arrived. Of course he was the most willing of us to hand her over to Davenport.

The thought of that pig having his hands on my sweet little menace makes my stomach churn uncomfortably. He could be doing anything to her, and right now I’m powerless to save her. At this point, I don’t even fucking know what happened to lead us here, and until I do, I’m not going to get any closer to bringing our woman home.

I step between Kovu and Kaos, knowing if I don’t end this before it begins, the room will be trashed by the time we get to discussing how we got here.

“Fighting isn’t going to bring her home,” I growl. “And make no mistake, Camilla will be coming home. We don’t rest until she’s back with us, where she belongs.” The words fall from between my lips before I can catch them. It’s been so long since I’ve cared about anyone who wasn’t family, and I’m not sure how I feel about admitting it out loud, to having a vulnerability as great as this one.

Bishop rubs the back of his head, wincing as he runs his fingers through his hair. Clearly he’s hurt, and I quickly shoot off a text to Rogers to get here to check him out. He’s probably fine, but I’m not willing to risk it.

“I got jumped not long after we went into the warehouse. No fucking clue how they knew about the trackers in the rings, but when I woke up tied to a chair, I knew immediately that I wasn’t wearing mine anymore. Davenport was sprouting shit about how sick of following the rules he is, how he’s preparing to overthrow us, and then he told me that the only way I was being returned alive was if we handed over Camilla.” He turns accusatory eyes to Kaos, who can’t meet any of our gazes.

There’s a bruise forming beneath his eye, and his lip is split from the few hits Bishop landed before I tore them apart, but he doesn’t bother wiping the blood away.

“They told me they would kill Bishop if I didn’t hand her over,” Kaos whispers. “I didn’t know what else to do. I promised myself I would never let a woman come between us, that I wouldn’t lose any other family because of a bit of pussy.”

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