Page 44 of Peaceful Chaos

"Sin," Ted tries to intervene.

My head whips around to glare at him. "Everyone else is back at the apartment complex, including Amber. Do you see how many guards are here?"

I gesture to the four men bound at our feet. "That's close to what we left them with, but Damien usually has more than fifty here at any time."

There's a moment of conflict I can see as it crosses over his face, and then he makes a decision. "Do what you need to," he agrees and steps back.

"Did you hear that?" I ask Greg and tap the gun against his head one more time. "He said do what I need to. Do I need to kill you to find out what I need to know?"

Please don't talk, I think to myself. One of the last trips Damien tried to send Lucien and I on, one Lucien refused to take, was a mother and daughter who witnessed one of Damien's crimes. Greg not only didn't refuse, but his team took pleasure in the torture and murder of two innocent people. Lucky for the other three men here tonight, they don't appear to be Greg's usual team.

"How exactly will killing me tell you shit?" he scoffs.

I look past him to one of the other men tied up next to him. He's new since Lucien and I have been gone, but I don't need his name to sense his fear. I turn Greg's face with the gun. "I'm willing to bet if I pull this trigger, your friend there will tell me."

"Bullshit. You were trained the same way we were. You know no one is going to talk."

"How about we try it and find out?" I pull the trigger without letting him say another word. He wasn't lying about the fact he wasn't going to talk, which made him useless to me.

Blood and brains blow back, covering me with gore. I can't think about that now. Later, when I can allow my feelings to creep back in, I will consider how much darker my soul has become. Right now he's in my way. I push him over with my foot.

"How about you, new guy? Are you more interested in talking than Greg here?"

He releases a whimper. Definitely not Damien's usual cold blooded soldier, but more likely to talk. "Mr. Blackthorne left for California. He said he left you a message at your clubhouse."

Javier looks between both of us. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

Lucien and I look at each other. "The cabin," we say together.

"Decide what you're doing with them," I gesture to the three remaining guards with my gun. "We need to haul ass to the cabin and see what message Damien left for us."

"We're not killing them," Javier insists.

"Of course not," I say. I look down at my hand, realize I'm still holding the gun, and holster it.

Lucien steps up next to me and faces Javier. "Don't worry. He's not going to go on a killing spree. Sin only kills murderers and pedophiles, and Greg here was both."

"In that case, I wish I put a bullet in him myself." Javier looks at the other three and points to Greg's body. "Is this a problem for you?"

"Fuck no. He was the only one here by choice," the same guard speaks.

Javier pulls a knife out of his pocket and flips it open. "Lucien, Ted, and Sin take a unit and go check out the location he mentioned. I'll cut these guys free and get rid of the body."

"Let me do it," the guard offers. "Damien has a spot in the woods where he disposes of bodies.

I narrow my eyes at him. "What do you want in return?"

"We want what you managed to take back. Freedom."

"Go," Javier repeats. "I've got this."

A few of the Chaos soldiers rush off to retrieve the bikes we left in the woods. We turn them on, and they purr as we race across the wide open lawn. There's no concern about being found this time, since clearly we were expected. The need to turn around and head straight back to the airstrip nearly chokes me.

It only takes minutes to reach the cabin. The second we pull up in front of the dilapidated building I dump the bike on the ground. Before taking a single step inside I pull out my phone and try to call Raven. She doesn't answer.

"Luce, Ted, try everyone. Raven isn't picking up." I'm frantic. There's not a damn thing I can do to protect her over two-thousand miles away.

"I'll keep trying," Ted says, taking out his phone. "The two of you get in there and see what message Damien left for us."

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