Page 76 of Two Chambered Heart

“Nada. That’s why I want you fucking out of there.”

“Noted, but not yet. Arch, send out orders to surround the building. We need a coordinated attack to bring the warehouse down.”

Archie disseminated the plan, and their EP team quickly strode into formation, Kayden and Jason joining the fray.

It was absolute chaos—organized chaos, but chaos nonetheless.

The first floor walls had taken impacts from their explosives, and the building was caving in. It was causing its own explosions inside as the building crumbled, and the shriek of artillery echoed amongst the screams of Kreig’s men.

Kreig had severely underestimated them. The building collapsed before the EP team suffered any harm. Their only casualties had been the transport team in the initial explosion. Kayden retreated to the bonfire that was their transport truck, leaving their more-than-competent EP team to handle the rest of the warehouse.

Jason met him along the perimeter of the fire. “The supply is gone. The metal crates will have cooked all that opium already.”

“I can send in a clean-up crew after the storm hits. The rain will put out the fires tonight. Retreat now. EP has a handle on this. There’s no reason for you to still be here.”

Jason turned away from the blaze to look at his bike, a heaped pile of metal that used to be his favourite motorcycle. “Looks like you’re taking us home, Kay.”

The heat against Kayden’s back from the fire behind him was almost enough to melt his skin. He heard another crunch of metal and the sizzle of the fire, and then a pop went off in the remains of the truck, sending metal flying through the air. He pushed Jason to the ground protecting his brother’s body with his own. Too slow—a piece of shrapnel whizzed by, slicing him across the side of his own head.

“Fuck.” It was searing pain right at his temple, and he felt the wound gush before his vision was clouded by blood. He brought his gloved hand up to his forehead and wiped at it, but he had already bled on Jason underneath him.

“Why the fuck is your helmet off?” Jason yelled at him, applying pressure against Kayden’s ravaged skin, the wound gushing between his fingers.

“Boys, get the fuck away from that truck now! The engine is going to blow!”

Kayden pulled Jason up off the ground and sprinted to Jason’s bike, where he’d tossed his helmet, while Jason took off in the opposite direction. He had Kayden’s bike spitting like a wild animal by Kayden’s side before Kayden had even clipped up his helmet. He swung his leg over the bike and gripped Jason around the waist as they sped off down the long drive and back onto the highway.

Kayden’s blood was saturating the inner fabric of his helmet, and it wasn’t long before he had to lift the visor and wipe the blood from his eyes, smearing it all over his face. His gloves were thick with his own blood, staining Jason where he held on to him.

It was only a thirty-minute ride back to the penthouse, but Kayden had started to feel woozy from the blood loss by the end of it. Luckily, with the impending storm, downtown had cleared out and Jason could make quick progress to the underground. Archie kept them updated on the last explosion, which had gone off not ten minutes after they’d left, and the plans for cleanup as they’d rode. Kreig had planted landmines throughout the driveway.

Kayden hopped off the bike as soon as Jason cut the engine in the underground. His legs felt heavy and unsteady. He pulled off his helmet, hissing in pain as the air hit the open gash. The release of pressure from the helmet pressing against the wound caused more blood to ooze out.Not a good sign.

Jason took his own helmet off and turned Kayden’s face to the side. “Shit. I think I see bone. Let’s go get you stitched up and sterilized.”

“Damn, I just got into the video feed,” Archie said, still connected to their earpieces. “You’re both covered in blood. Do I need to call Sophie?”

“No, it’s deep, but it hasn’t fractured bone. I can handle it,” Jason confirmed, guiding Kayden through the entryway and to the elevator.

In their front hall, Kayden dropped his helmet on the floor and shrugged his jacket off, sitting on the bench for a break before unlacing his boots.

“Corey!” Jason called. “Corey, get a towel from the kitchen and bring it to the front hall.” There was an edge to his voice, enough to let Corey know she should take it seriously. Whether their crazy girl would pick up on that was another story, but the quick slapping of her bare feet against the marble floor confirmed she had.

Corey ran into the front hall with a towel. She must have noticed the blood all over Jason first, because she fell to her knees before him, frantically running her hands up his arms, looking for an injury, for the source of all the blood.

“Where are you hurt?” Her eyes were wide in panic, her voice shaky. Kayden saw Jason try not to flinch away from her touch.

“Not me, Kayden.”

Corey’s eyes widened, and she turned to Kayden, slumped against the wall on the bench. “I’m fine, Little Fox. Just a head wound.”

“No, no, no, no, no…” She shimmied over to him on her knees, looking up at the gash. She brushed his wet, matted hair back and pressed the towel against his head and into the wound to stop the remaining bleeding.

She turned to Jason, her voice shrill as she cried, “We need to get him to a hospital!”

Jason reached an arm out for her, but dropped it before making contact. “Remember what I said, sweetheart. Head wounds bleed but they’re usually not deadly. He’s okay.”

She took in all the blood on Jason again before turning back to Kayden, her eyes darting between them, distraught.

---