Page 21 of Fervent

“Always.”

He reached for the knob, but the quiet thump of footsteps echoed from the tunnel, growing louder, closer, and Rafe switched off the flashlight. His fingers folded around mine, and he pushed me behind him as we moved to the side.

The door opened, and I held my breath, my pulse throbbing in my ears. A stream of light flooded the space between the door and the jamb, and a slim, shadowy figure filled the entrance. A hand reached out and flipped on the overhead light.

Rafe launched at the guy with the speed of a rattler, the flashlight cracking against the other man’s skull in three swift strikes. He wrestled him into a choke hold, the muscles in his arm bulging as he applied pressure to the guy’s throat. They slammed into the wall, and the flashlight dropped to the floor.

Jax stormed inside, his dark eyes swerving between Rafe and me, then he yanked me in front of him and pressed a gun to my head. The handcuffs slipped from my trembling fingers and clattered to the ground.

“Dude, let him go.” Jax pressed the barrel to Alex’s temple with a steady hand, but the lines around his eyes hinted at his reluctance. “C’mon, man. Don’t do anything stupid.”

I tightened my hold on the guy who’d found us. He was a puny little thing, probably not even old enough to drink a fucking beer, and I wondered what the hell he was doing in a place like this. He flailed in my arms, but I refused to give an inch. Just a little more pressure and the guy would sink to the floor, out cold.

Jax wrenched Alex’s head back and placed the barrel under her chin. “Don’t make me do this. Let him go.”

The longer I stared at Jax, at the gun he threatened Alex with, the more I wanted to squeeze the life out of this guy.

Alex returned my gaze from beneath hooded eyes. Her lips parted, breaths escaping in shallow puffs. She clawed at her arms, nails digging into the jagged scars left behind from when she’d sliced herself up.

“Put the gun down,” I said, keeping my voice even, much calmer than the boiling rage rioting through me.

“Let him go!”

Cursing under my breath, I removed my arm, and the guy slumped to the ground like deadweight.

Jax let out a breath. He took a step backward, pulling her with him, and kicked the door to the office shut. “I don’t wanna do this. If you’d just stayed put…fuck, Rafe! What part of ‘trust me’ did you not get?”

I gestured toward his weapon. “Why don’t you put the gun down so we can talk all about it?” I lifted both hands, a show of surrender, and hoped to keep him talking.

“We were like brothers.” He removed the gun from her chin and dropped his arm. “I consider you family more than my own fucking blood.”

“Then why are you going along with this?” I asked, watching him carefully. His gaze kept straying to the wall behind me. I cranked my neck and studied the photos on display. I hadn’t paid them much attention before, as I’d been too focused on finding a way through the door that led to escape, but now the crude nature of the poses stormed through my veins.

“She was my mother,” Jax said quietly, face pinching in remembered sorrow. “My sister looked just like her.” He raised the gun toward the photos, hand trembling. “She was the old man’s favorite.”

Was.

Memory or not, I doubted I’d known any of this.

“Jax…” I drew in a deep, calming breath because despite the pain in his expression, what I really wanted to do was yank that fucking gun from his fingers and turn it on him. Talking was my only option though. “Why are we here?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Why don’t you uncomplicate it for me?”

“Wish I could, man.” He swerved the gun in my direction. “There’s no way out of this, so why don’t I take you guys back before someone a lot meaner than me finds out you’re gone?”

“How about you punch in that code and let us go?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Can’t do that. If you escape, they’ll know it was me, and I can’t afford to get kicked out now.” Jax pressed his fingers into Alex’s arm and shuffled toward the door leading to the tunnel.

“Someone got something on you? Is that why you’re going along with this?”

“Something like that. Let’s go.” He gestured toward the guy at my feet. “I still have to deal with him, not to mention the stupid idiot that let you out in the first place.” He pressed the barrel of the gun to Alex’s head again. “So get the door. I’m right behind you.”

Alex and I traded an ominous glance. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and hide her from all of this, but we both knew she’d end up paying the price for our botched escape attempt.

I kept failing her. I’d dropped the ball when I’d left her in that damn hospital after she’d broken free of her brother, and I’d ignored the fact that we’d been sitting ducks on that island. We’d thought Zach was our biggest threat, but an evil more potent than her brother had lurked from the shore, just waiting for the perfect unguarded moment to strike. Jax had known they were going to attack. Was that why he’d gotten me the gun?

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