Page 60 of Soulless Angel

“This is my fucking fault,” he rambled. “I had a feeling that we shouldn’t leave them. Why didn’t I trust that? Why didn’t I listen? This is all on me. It never would’ve happened, if only I’d listened.”

He went on like that, repeating himself on a loop that bordered on crazed. Cash and I tried to talk him down, but he wouldn’t have it.

“No,” he shouted. “You don’t understand. I knew this would happen. I felt it. I could’ve stopped it, and I didn’t.”

Out of nowhere, he took a swing at himself, punching himself in the face. I’d seen Daire meltdown before, but nothing like this. It shook me to the bone. I didn’t know how to help him when I was on the verge of a breakdown myself.

All we had done was hurt Clover. Every time I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I was surprised. We were a plague to her, and she deserved so much better.

Daire continued to ramble while hitting himself. Finally, Cash pinned him against the door. Grabbing his arm, he stopped him from throwing another punch in his own face.

“Get it together, man,” Cash shouted. “This is not only on you. We’re all in this now. Freaking the fuck out will not help Clover. If you can’t keep your shit together, we can’t take you in there. Is that what you want?”

Muscles rippled in Cash’s forearm as he pressed it across Daire’s chest. Daire struggled against him. Eventually, he went limp. His head fell back against the window as he craned his neck so he could look outside.

His voice was barely audible when he said, “If Clover dies, promise you’ll kill me too.”

“I’ll gladly fucking kill you if anything happens to Raina.” Gage was quick to volunteer. “I’ll finish what I started on your arm.”

“Good,” Daire muttered.

“Real fucking helpful, dick.” Unable to control my temper, I fired my pent up energy at Gage. “Do you think any of us wanted this? Do you think we meant for this to happen? We were forced into this as a favor to the Sinners. One we owed them because they helped us save Clover. Your girl took us in. She insisted. This isn’t all on us.”

Gage opened his mouth to retort but was quickly cut off by Havoc. He raised his voice so it boomed through the entire SUV. “Everybody shut the fuck up right now. Our girls are in serious trouble. If we don’t work together, they’re going to end up as entertainment for the dark web. They will die on camera. Do you assholes understand that? I don’t want to hear another fucking word from any of you unless it involves saving Clover and Raina.”

An immediate hush fell over everyone inside the SUV. No doubt we were all feeling the strain of what we were up against. Even though none of us said it aloud, I’m sure we all wondered if they were even still alive.

As we drove under the fancy brick archway that announced our entry into the ritzy neighborhood, I swallowed hard. We were potentially headed to our deaths. None of that mattered if Clover wasn’t safe. I would die for her again and again.

I watched the tracker app as we drew closer. She had to be alive. I wouldn’t be able to accept anything less.

We parked a block away. If they saw us coming, we would never get close enough to save Raina and Clover. We had no way of knowing how much security JD would have. Luckily, we had the element of surprise on our side. If he didn’t know the girls were wearing trackers, he wouldn’t expect us. Maybe that would be enough for him to let his guard down.

Daire had calmed down considerably. He didn’t say a word as we got out of the vehicle. I eyed him closely, seeking anysign that he may go off like a bomb. We needed him to keep it together.

“Everyone ready?” Havoc surveyed the rest of us.

Daire clenched a gun in one hand, his jaw hard set. “Let’s kill this sick fuck.”

Together we marched toward what we assumed to be JD’s house. I shoved my fear and uncertainty down inside me, replacing it with sheer grit and determination. If I didn’t come out of here with Clover, I didn’t want to come out at all.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CLOVER

JD had just threatened Raina when we heard a loud, clear gunshot upstairs. Despite the house’s size, it didn’t keep us from hearing the telltale sound of a bullet being fired. Within seconds, another shot followed.

Relief had me sagging against the chains that held me. It had to be our guys. They found us.

“Guns on the girls,” JD barked. “Kill the feed.”

Since the house was huge, and they might not know where to start looking, I let out a panicked scream. I needed to draw them downstairs.

JD didn’t like that. He hit me across the face with his gun. My cheek burned, and I tasted blood.

Once the cameras were off, JD removed his mask, tossing it onto the desk. His two goons came to stand by Raina and me, holding a gun on each of us. The sound of several people pounding down the stairs followed. Raina shouted a warning that they had guns. When she was smacked in the face for her efforts, she spat blood at the man pointing a gun in her face.

JD stood ready near the door. As our guys burst into the room, they were stopped by JD and his gun.

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