Page 13 of Between Dusk and Dawn

"Never did, I was just worried when I couldn’t hear you."

"The mic was distracting," I stated. Pausing, I watched as the woods receded into the distance, the sounds of the firefight fading.

With a satisfied nod to no one in particular, I turned away from the window, my mind already shifting to the next phase of the operation. Closing my eyes briefly, I focused on steadying the rhythm of my heartbeat as adrenaline still coursed through my veins. In the quiet of the van, I allowed myself a moment of triumph before steeling myself for what lay ahead. I had won this war. Everything was going perfectly to plan, and I relished in that.

Chapter Five

Sophomore Year – Night of Spring Bonfire

Pulling Ash out of the van, I held his head down so he couldn’t make out where we were. I had only a few hours left until dawn broke and the spring bonfire was over. I had to make sure the mission was finished by then.

My adrenaline was at an all-time high because I’d caught Ash freaking Ortiz. They’d thought we were going after their leader, which gave us the perfect opportunity to grab him. I was on fucking cloud nine.

The rest of the members were already inside celebrating, and I was pushing Ash through the back door, to get him hidden inside.

"Drop him," a voice whispered in the distance. I whipped my head around, trying to figure out where it came from.

Hoping there’d be at least one of my guys not getting fucked up, I threw Ash into the hallway.

"I swear to God, I will fucking shoot you if you don’t drop him immediately."

I laughed hysterically. "You are a scared little motherfucker, hiding in the woods. Go on, show your face, or are you too much of a pussy?" I shouted.

A figure came out from the edge of the woods behind the house. The wind whipped around as the thunderstorm raged on.

"Come on, Walsh," the person said.

"Rain." It was Ash’s brother, but not by blood. They had grown up together, from what I understood, and were always together on campus. I was surprised to see him alone and to have figured out this quickly that we’d gotten Ash.

"I came alone." Rain gestured around him.

"Why?"

A long pause passed between us. "Because I don’t wanna do this the way it’s always been. Come on, Walsh. Be the bigger man."

This time I laughed maniacally. I was not the bigger man nor would I ever be. I was surrounded by death, so killing my family's mortal enemy did nothing but ignite pure pleasure and satisfaction in me.

"I’m not the man you bargain with, Rain. Not that I see any leverage on your side." I withdrew my gun from its clip. I am a threat. If this fucker thought I was going to listen to his sob story and have a change of heart, his luck had truly run out.

"Don’t do this." Rain was practically begging. He got closer to the light we kept on out back.

"It’s not you I want, Rain. I can kill you and be completely unharmed, it's Ash I need."

"That isn’t the fucking deal. The spring bonfire allows the two leaders to be targets. I’m not after you because you're not the leader."

Luca was the leader of the Alpha house, and the leader of the Den was Trevor Sale, but we were after Ash Ortiz. We broke the rules because Ash was the true target.

"That isn’t what's written in the code. I can kill anyone in the Den tonight." I paused, tilting my chin in his direction. "That is exactly what I plan to do."

"Where’s Luca?" Rain questioned.

I chuckled. Where was Luca? He should’ve been out here, but he was partying inside.

"Wouldn’t you like to know?" I cocked my head to the side. "Anyway, this conversation is boring me. I’m going inside."

Then the little fucker pulled out his weapon and aimed right at me.

I had to give him a lot of credit. To the untrained eye, he looked cool, calm, and collected, but there was a glint of nerves in his eyes and his hand shook as he held the weapon to my face. There was nothing nerve-wracking about killing someone you hated. There was something fucking thrilling about it, and the fucker reeked of fear.

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