Page 66 of Venom
“I need to get in there, my baby’s in there, please,” Ivy screams, and I wince but don’t look her way.
“Cale,” Ivy sobs as I answer her call, and I sit up straight, but before I can say anything, she cries, “Someone has taken Hudson. I left him for one minute in the kitchen at the club in his high chair to grab his toy, and when I got back, he was gone.”
Why in the fuck did she leave him alone with Cherri in the vicinity?
I quickly turn off the stove. Rayas' favorite mac ‘n’ cheese nearly ready, and I rush to my laptop to bring up the club's cameras, just as my front door slams open. Psycho is at the forefront, looking pissed and worried.
“I’m on it,” is all I say to my sister before hanging up as I log onto my laptop.
“He feels guilty,” Viper says as he comes up beside me, bringing me out of the memory and I look his way to see him watching the building, his body probably just as tense as mine.
We all want to rush inside, but we can’t afford to get arrested right now.
I look back towards Raya to see her delegating her team, trying her hardest to hide her pain, but I can see it. I can see her flinching and wincing. I can see the limp.
She shouldn’t be here, but nothing will keep her away from saving Huddy.
“Doesn’t matter though does it brother, him and my sister have basically accused Raya’s injuries on me and I don’t know how to come back from that,” I reply, “Like Raya said I’m not god and they were expecting me to be to find Huddy within minutes and if I didn’t they would have blamed me if anything would have happened to him.”
“Nothing would have happened to him, brother,” he tries and I scoff and nod to the burning building and remind him, “My nephew is inside there and not one of us can get in there because of the cops, I can even hear his cries. If Raya hadn’t been called in, I may not have found him in time, and even now, we may not get to him in time, and Ivy would have blamed me, Psycho would have blamed me.”
“She left him alone in the club’s kitchen knowing there was a traitor around,” he reminds me with a growl, “As much as I love your sister like she was my own, she fucked up and Psycho knows it but knows he can’t take his anger out on her. Just like he hasn’t every time she fucking messed up in the past or he will hurt her.”
My jaw ticks because I know he’s right, but before I can say anything, Psycho comes up next to me and agrees, “He’s right, and I’m fucking sorry, brother.”
I shake my head, pissed at him, and I snap, “Go back to my sister before she rushes into the burning building.”
“Grace has her. She heard about the fire and knew Raya would be involved. It’s how her dad died, trying to save a child, so she begged Gregory to bring her especially considering her daughter is refusing to see her,” he admits, and I look over to see Grace holding my inconsolable sister back, and Viper asks, “How are you not running into that building right now?”
Psycho scoffs, “The cop threatened to taser me if I tried then hold me in a cell,” just as Hudson’s screams wail and Psycho takes a step forward, causing Viper to grab hold of him, while me, my eyes go to Raya who has paused, her eyes on the building as she says something to Tom who nods to whatever she’s saying and I tense.
“No!” I hear Grace wail, and I look her way to see Gregory holding her back. “Raya, don’t you dare, I mean it,” she shouts, and I look back at Raya to see her eyes on me, and mine lock with hers.
“Fuck no,” I rasp, and I shake my head, seeing her decision made.
“She wouldn’t,” Psycho chokes as I take a step forward and plead, “Don’t do it, Raya, where you go, I go,” and Viper grips my arm, hearing me.
She promised she wouldn’t do anything reckless.
“I love you,” she mouths, and I choke, my legs giving out, causing Psycho to grab me as she takes a water canister from Tom, then rushes inside the burning fucking building without hesitating.
“No, not again, please no,” Grace cries as Ivy shouts, “Raya!” and I roar out, “No!” as I break free from my brother's hold and jump the police line, sprinting towards the building after my girl.
“Cale!” I hear Ivy cry out before I’m tackled to the ground with an oof, and I hear Blade choke, “Let her do her job, brother, she’s got this,” as I try to fight him off me.
My tears fall as I admit, “She’s got a death wish, Leo. She wanted to die in that house.”
Blade holds me tighter, and Grace’s screams echo around us along with Ivy’s sobbing. I drop my head, my tears falling fast and hard, knowing I’m about to lose my love.
She’s risking her life for her nephew, making me so goddamn proud, but she wants to die. She’s already admitted it.
“I lose her brother,” I begin, but he cuts me off and snaps, “You won’t, have faith in her and her skills.”
I continue like he hadn’t just spoken, and I admit, “If I lose her, I’m following her,” and he curses, dropping his head to my shoulder, while another hand grips my shoulder, and I look and lock eyes with Tom.
He gives me a nod and admits, “This is how she lost her father. I had to tell her on her fifteenth birthday that I couldn’t save her hero, that I identified his body. She has this Venom, trust her to know she has this. Trust her to save herself and Hudson, something her father never managed to do.”
My body shakes as Hudson’s cries get louder, and I whisper, “Don’t leave me, kitten…” While everyone holds their breaths and watches, hoping and praying she comes out with Hudson alive.
