Page 48 of Intertwined Souls

“I’m saying all of this because I want you to be aware of how much you are impacting everyone. I know you’re allowing all these new people in and learning to trust again yourself, but just remember they’re doing the same thing, just in different ways. The boys, Sugar, Rage, everyone honestly.”

Attempting to lighten the mood from all this heavy information I don’t really know how to process, I say, “You?” with a smile.

He turns his pain-filled eyes toward me. “Yes. Me, as well. I think this must be how it feels to have a younger sister. I want to wrap you in a bubble and protect you at all costs, but then I see the others wanting to do that, too.

“So I want to be by your side, helping you cause chaos while also knowing I can be there in case you need me. And watch you grow with my brothers. I want to see you all become who you are meant to be.”

He whispers the last part, then abruptly changes the subject, just about giving me whiplash.

“Alright, vest,” he says, grabbing a bulletproof vest off a rack on the wall that holds a bunch of them. He tosses it to me. “Put it on.”

Taking off my hoodie, I strap it on over my shirt, then toss back on the sweatshirt.

“I don’t know exactly how much Ryan taught you, but are you comfortable with a Glock 19? It’s a good one to have just in case,” Noah remarks.

“Yeah. That’s what I usually shot with him. There was another one too, but I can’t remember the name of it.” I chuckle and glance over his shoulder, scanning the rows and rows of guns they have in a large safe against the back wall. They have masks, vests, and other dark clothing on the left wall, along with other weapons on the right wall by the door and a few tables in the center of the room with chairs.

“Alright, princess, hopefully everyone is ready to go by now,” Noah comments as he grabs what he needs, and I tuck the gun into a holster that attaches to my jeans.

Rolling my eyes, I watch him lock the room back up and we head upstairs.

Here goes nothing… or everything.

Chapter Twelve

Harley

It takes about twenty minutes before we pull up to a house that no one currently lives in. Nerds said it’s a foreclosure, so we can park here and walk the last mile to the warehouse.

Grayson, Ryker, and I are in Noah’s truck with the others on their bikes behind us. Grayson hops out and runs up to the garage door, where there is a small keypad. He enters the code that Nerds gave him, and both garage doors start opening.

Everyone parks, and Gabe calls out, “Get what you need and let’s go. I don’t want to hang around here too long and have anyone asking questions.”

Ryker blocks my path as I go to leave the garage, then raises my hoodie up, feeling the vest I am wearing and tightening the straps on it.

“Are you done manhandling me?” I raise a brow.

He smirks. “I haven’t even started yet, babe.”

Rolling my eyes, I push past him, and we meet everyone in the driveway. Once Grayson gets the garage doors closed, he leads us with Gabe towards the path that should take us through the woods behind this neighborhood towards the warehouse.

“According to the old maps of this place, it sits on five acres and it’s all heavy woods besides one gravel road going up to it. So, it might be dense, and we can’t use lights since we don’t know if they have security out here,” Grayson whispers as we walk to the start of the woods. “I have a device that picks up on any electronic signals, so we will have a warning if we are coming up on any alarms or cameras.

“I gave Gabe the dimmed flashlight. As long as he keeps it angled down, it’ll give us enough light to follow a path, but no one should see it unless they are within a few feet of us.”

Gabe and Grayson walk in front next to each other with Ryker and I behind them and then Stone and Noah behind us.

“Eyes and ears open. If you see any kind of light, say stop, and if you hear something, raise a hand and tap the people in front of you,” Noah murmurs.

We trudge through the thick woods for about fifteen minutes before Grayson signals for us to stop. He gestures for Gabe to turn his light off, then murmurs, “To the right in front of me, you can just barely make out a light.”

“Looks like a house light,” Noah whispers from behind.

“I’m keeping the light off. Move slowly and stay close together. Stone, when we come into sight of it, go ahead and run it,” Gabe responds as we all start moving again.

I have no idea what run it means, but as we reach less dense woods, the warehouse comes into view, and I find out when Stone takes off running to the right. He stays within the brush but loops around behind the warehouse. He is perfectly silent as he sprints; you would never hear him coming. I want to ask what exactly he is doing, but I know now isn’t the time.

The warehouse is a two-story brick building. There are windows running in a row across the upstairs floor that look like they have some kind of bars on them. Everything is dark besides a couple of old house lights that sit on either side of large double doors.

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