Page 18 of Wicked Revenge

I wonder if Cherry is her friend?

No, it doesn’t matter right now. I can’t think about that when Em’s life is on the line. I’ll have to revisit Ella and find out once things settle down. There was just something about her that called to me in a way that I’ve never experienced before.

Pulling down our long drive, I hit the button I installed on my bike to open the gate. You can’t see the house from the gate, the trees are thick on both sides lining our driveway. Our house sits deep in the forest, its black wood frame and solid glass walls giving it a more modern vibe than most of the houses in Shadow Forest.

We picked this piece of land to build our home because it's on the opposite side of town as King's mansion. We wanted to be as far away from him as we could possibly be when we were finally able to get out of his house.

We’ve been buying up properties all around town right under his nose for years. Soon enough, we will own more than him and make taking his kingdom that much easier. He won’t see us coming this time.

We just have to find Em first.

I can’t wait for the day I get to gut him and pull his intestines out through his asshole. He is an evil bastard, and the things even my demented mind can come up with to take him out are too merciful.

The garage door is open when I reach it, Royal and Alek stand propped against the black SUV sitting inside it next to their bikes. Pulling in next to them, I shut the engine off and kick the stand, but stay seated.

I heave a heavy sigh, opening my helmet visor. “Twisted was a bust. Ella’s girlfriend is using her dad’s truck to find a job and house hunt.” Even though I can guess the answer based on their pissed off expressions, I ask anyway, “Any luck?”

“Nope,” Royal responds, rubbing his tattooed hands down his face, a gesture he does when he is frustrated. “Whoever it is, they are good at being invisible. We’ve been chasing our own asses for three days.”

“Then let's just skip this chasing bullshit and go to where we know they are going to be tonight. It’s the fourth day. If they stick to their pattern, they’re going to come to his house tonight to kill him. We will be waiting in the shadows instead.” I’m starting to get excited, bouncing on my seat and grinning like a deranged little kid.

“Let’s go then. We’ve got eyes on Jackson. He is hiding out at King’s place like a scared little bitch, so that works in our favor,” Alek says as he pushes off the side of the SUV and treks over to his own bike.

Before he can mount it, Royal stops him, “Wait.” He grabs Alek’s arm before he can get on the bike. “What if this is all one big trap? What if King made this whole thing up to draw us out as Shadows and take us out?”

“He makes a good point,” I say, clearly shocking the shit out of both of them. “But, I am done living in fear of King. If that's the case, we can just kill them all. We will find Em, one way or another. They can all die right now.”

“He’s right, Royal,” Alek chimes in. Now it’s my turn to look shocked, my jaw dropping open and my eyes bugging out comically as I stare at him. He steps over to me, pulling out of Royal’s hold, and puts his finger under my chin, snapping it closed. A cocky smirk tilts at the corners of his mouth. “Close your mouth Maddie, unless you need me to stuff it for you.” His deep dominating tone has my cock jerking in my pants again.

Fucking hell, he is such a cock tease.

“Knock it off,” Royal grumbles, walking over to us from beside Alek’s bike, and crossing his arms. “I know he is right, but I don’t want to lose either of you, I can’t…” He trails off, his voice thick with emotion. I'm not used to this from him. He is always so serious, and that’s because he thinks he has to be. If he only would realize that he isn’t in this by himself and he doesn’t have to protect us anymore. “Why don’t I go alone? I’ll check it out, and if-”

“No!” Alek and I yell in unison, cutting off his martyr speech before it gets out of hand.

“We do this together, Royal.” Alek grips the back of his neck and brings their foreheads together before continuing. “Brothers bound in blood.” Royal takes a deep breath in, closing his eyes and gripping Alek’s neck back and squeezing. “You aren’t alone in this, and it is not your job to protect us anymore. We are equals now, a team. We won’t let you martyr yourself to save us any more than you would let us do that for you. Now, shut the fuck up, and get on your bike. We need to be there before they show up,” Alek says, slapping the back of his head playfully and shoving him off before stalking his big burly ass over to his own beast of a bike, mounting it with ease.

Each of us pulls our black masks in place, a full head cover with only a small strip open for our eyes, then put our helmets on to completely black us out. They don’t call us Shadows for nothing.

From our solid matte-black bikes to our head-to-toe blacked-out gear, seeing us is nearly impossible unless we want to be seen. They can’t even hear us coming unless we are right on top of them with the modifications we had done to our bikes.

Backing out of the garage and taking off toward the gate, I can’t help but feel like Royal is on to something. It feels like we’re missing something major here, something doesn’t line up. He is either sending us into a trap, or this hunter is a fucking master?

If the latter is the case, maybe we should be asking ourselves why we’re hunting a hunter who’s set on killing our enemy when we could be helping them.

Ya know, the enemy of my enemy, and all that shit.

Chapter 10

The forest thins out the closer we get to town. Jackson lives as close to town as he can without being right inside it. We take the shadow trails that lead all the way around town to avoid being seen– trails me and my brothers made ourselves over the years, so we could watch over the people without King finding us.

The trail is smooth from our years of use, usually making the trip around easy for us to navigate on our bikes. That may not be the case coming out because a storm is moving in that will likely make our trail a soggy marsh. The sparse raindrops are already dotting the visor on my helmet.

Pulling to a stop near the backside of Jackson’s property, I kick the stand out and dismount. My brothers both do the same as we remove our helmets.

Looking around, I notice small boot tracks leading from the trail going in the direction of his house. They are tiny, I’d almost say like an older kid or teenager. Must be some kid up to no good sneaking around. I point it out to my brothers silently, both of them nodding back, and we move in formation through the trees and come to the backside of his house.

“Maddox, take the front, I’ll take the back. Alek, sweep the perimeter,” I whisper, and they nod back silently, before skirting along the side of the house in either direction.

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