Page 12 of Between Dusk and Dawn

Standing by the bonfire out back, the fire crackled, then Maddy flinched and intertwined her beautifully scarred hands.

"I’m not watching this dumbass shit. I’m heading to the apartment. Lemme know if you need anything." Madison gave Cagen a hug. "I’ll come pick you up in the morning."

That's my good girl—so smart. Listen to her, Cagen. Being here, being with me, is dangerous.

I shook my head and ran to catch up with Luca. Because between dusk and dawn, I came alive, and after seeing my muse, I needed to live.

Chapter Four

Sophomore Year – Night of Spring Bonfire

"There are two men flanking your right, Solis." I nodded. Luca was giving me updates through the Bluetooth earpiece.

To anyone else, it looked like a shed, but we knew through surveillance that the Den was outfitting this for the spring bonfire as a hiding spot for their president. The Den had it all fucking wrong this year. We were breaking the rules and going after Ash Ortiz.

It was my job to get inside and pull him away from the leadership with no one noticing, especially the brother he always kept around, Rain Fortin.

Two guns were tucked into their holsters on each side of my belt and two knives hid beneath my pant leg. In my free hand, I had my Glock with its silencer. I wanted to get Ash, but I wanted to be able to get him back to the Alpha house to get more information out of him before I fucking killed him.

But my visibility was shit because of the downpour.

"How much longer does the radar say this storm is supposed to last?" I asked Luca.

"You got another hour."Shit.There was no way I could wait it out. I needed to act before they suspected our plan had changed.

I crouched, my black clothes blending in with my surroundings as I made my way toward the shed. Ash and Rain were standing guard as they were supposed to, so I needed to flank to the left. Backup was behind me, ready to distract the other members, but I needed to handle this on my own to protect my people and get my vengeance.

"Distraction, go," I whispered into the mic, then gunfire popped off to my right near the edge of the woods.

Through the thick blanket of rain, I saw Ash gesture Rain to go manage the firefight in the woods.

He holstered his gun and gave Rain a hug before turning back to maintain guard.

The fight in the woods was increasing, and I only had a small window before the rest of the crew would show up and take Rain’s position.

"Going in," I said, then chucked the mic to the ground.

I was going to do this my way.

Ash’s curly hair fell in his face as the rain pounded down on him.

"Perfect," I said to myself.

Then I grabbed the weapon with the silencer as I approached from behind him along the side of the shed. From the small commotion I heard coming from inside, our suspicions of where they were hiding the leader were correct.

As I rounded the corner, making sure my boots didn’t crunch on any leaves, I grabbed him from behind and wrapped my hand around his mouth.

"Shut up," I whispered in his ear, with my gun pointed right at his temple.

He shifted, turning so he could see me. "Surprise, motherfucker."

With my hand over his mouth, pure adrenaline helped me drag him around the house toward the van, and I was grateful the firefight in the woods was still happening.

When I finally got to the van, I was heaving. Ash was not a light target.

"Holy shit!" Luca exclaimed as I taped Ash’s mouth shut, then threw a blanket over him so he couldn’t see out of the van. He was squirming and attempting to scream, but I got him on one of the benches and kept my weapon trained on him.

"Don’t ever doubt me," I said to Luca, who threw the van into drive, taking us to the other side of town where our house was.

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