Page 45 of Masked Darling

Sadie shot out one of her feet to catch the door with her boot. “Hold on,” she said and reached down to pull another gun from the booted foot that wasn’t holding the door open. “Trade me, that one only has 3 more shots in it, this one is still loaded.”

Madison and Kade both blinked at her in surprise.

“Did you bringtwo gunswith you in your fucking shoes?” Kade asked incredulously.

Sadie shrugged. “I wanted to be prepared.”

“Jesus Christ,” Kade muttered as he switched guns with her. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No,” Sadie shook her head. “I killed Mont first. I was the one who started it. There were still a couple of girls on the floor when the Rebels moved in but I think Jagger has them.”

Kade nodded as he did up his pants in a rush. Madison was looking over Sadie to see if she was hurt anywhere, running a hand over her skin wherever she could reach from her spot beside her on the ground as they knelt together. Sadie was rambling and there were only moments before the shock would set in.

“I jumped offstage into Jagger’s arms and he dragged me to the bar. That woman from the gang that brought Madison in was dead behind the bar. She was so mean, she was bragging to us about all the things that she helped them do. Jagger has never killed a girl before, did you know that? He’s not going to be okayno matter how awful she was. Oh! And then Jagger–he grabbed the keys so I could get in here and–oh, my god, your Dad, Kade–he was incredible. There’s a lot of blood on the floor now. Like, a lot. I don’t think I can clean it all in time to open tomorrow but I–”

It was Madison who cut her off by grabbing her face to meet hers. “Hey, hey. Let’s not worry about that right now. You did so good,” Madison mumbled against her hair as she kissed it. Several areas on her body had smears of blood on them, but it seemed none of it was her own. “You’re safe now. Everything’s going to be okay.” Madison pulled her close as Sadie started crying again, her shoulders shaking as she rubbed her hand along her back.

“I’ll be back,” Kade assured them and shut the door before grabbing the keys off the desk and shoving them in his back pocket on his way out into the bar with the gun drawn.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The stench of blood and gunpowder stung his nostrils as Kade scanned the room. The aftermath was a grotesque scene; bodies strewn across the floor, crimson stains splattered on the beds and walls. Even the neon lights, which once bathed the room in colorful hues, now cast a hellish glow over the area. He searched desperately for Jagger among the noise and bodies. His eyes looked over each lifeless form until he spotted movement by the back entrance near the stage. Scales lay there, clutching his side, gasping as a dark pool spread beneath him.

“Scales!”Kade yelled as he rushed toward him as his gut clenched.

No girls were in sight, but outside, their shouting rang through the air. As he collapsed at the bouncer’s side, Kade helped him sit up against the wall and made sure to check that the bullet wound wasn’t anywhere vital. The back door burst open and the men looked up to find his father and brother locked in a brutal dance with two men whose faces Kade remembered from when he went to the Inn, their masks long gone.

Without hesitation, Kade joined the fight, throwing punches like a man possessed becausefuck them.

Fuck them for what they’d done.

As blood flew from broken lips and split cheeks, they kept going. Kade caught one of the men with a solid hit to the jaw, feeling it crack under his knuckles, and Jagger grunted a thanks without looking up from the Green Light man with the long beard as he used his momentary dizziness from the hit to get his hands behind his back.

“Why aren’t we ending them?” Kade shouted over the scuffle, struggling to understand why they were throwing punches instead of slitting throats. His father, Warren, ducked a wild swing from the other man before slamming his fist into his stomach.

“We need them breathing,” he grunted, wiping blood from his brow with a forearm. “They know where they’ve sold the others.”

Kade nodded sharply, a different purpose moving through him as he worked to subdue rather than destroy. His heart hammered with every strike, every block, but within another minute they all were able to knock out both men successfully.

Kade and Jagger dragged the unconscious men toward the stage, being careful not to slip in the crimson puddles on the hardwood floors. Warren followed, wiping his bloodied knuckles on his trousers.

“Scales, talk to me!” Jagger shouted from the stage as he looked over at his friend.

“I’m alright, man,” Scales coughed out, the pain evident in his voice. “Just a scratch.”

“He needs help–badly,” Kade exhaled as he helped Jagger prop one of the men up against the pole bolted to the stage.

“We need help here!” Jagger roared towards the back door as Warren shoved the other man up on the other side and togetherthey bound the men tightly to the pole, back-to-back, ensuring they weren’t going anywhere.

Gremlin rushed in, tense and ready to kill with Camille hot on his heels, her face drawn tight with disbelief as she looked around. Scales lay crumpled against the wall by the door, his eyes fluttering as he fought to stay conscious. All the blood. The bullet casings. The discarded black masks.

“Hold on, brother. We’ll get you out.” Gremlin’s voice shook as he pressed down on Scales’ wound, his hands quickly turning red. Scales’ breath rattled in his chest as he fought to speak, his eyes pleading.

“Take my car,” Camille said, tossing Gremlin the keys. “It’ll be faster.Go.”

Gremlin nodded, already moving as he caught the keys. Without another word, he sprinted toward the door, Scales cradled in his arms.

Jagger turned toward the door, his eyes narrowing on Camille. “Wait, if they’re gone, who has the girls?” He started to rush outside but Camille grabbed his arm as a feminine voice drew their attention to the now open entrance where Jazlyn, a rival gang leader, stood with her crew.

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