Page 28 of Total Carnage
"Almost there," I breathed, feeling the fire of urgency light up my veins. Her voice grew clearer and stronger with every step, guiding me to her side.
"Vin!" she called again, and this time it was close—so damn close I could almost feel her breath on my face.
"Raven," I promised silently, a vow to tear down the world if it stood between us. "I'm coming."
The corner came up on us like a snarling beast, and there they were—Stansfield's goons, guns out and grins wicked as sin. But hell, I'd been baptized in the fire of worse scraps than this. With Raven's voice searing through my skull, I didn't hesitate. I surged forward, the roar of gunfire becoming the drumbeat to my war dance.
"Take 'em down!" My shout was a guttural battle cry, all pretense of stealth abandoned. Bullets zipped past, one kissing off my leather like a lover too rough, too eager. I barreled into the first guard with a shoulder that had sent tougher men sprawling, the impact jolting through me like electricity. His gun clattered away, useless now.
"Vin's lost it," someone muttered behind me, awe tingeing their voice. Damn straight I had.
Out of the corner of my eye, Canon moved like some dark wraith, his hands steady despite the madness. Each shot he fired was a death sentence whispered sweetly from the muzzleof his gun. He was the artist, painting the walls with spatters of crimson.
"Watch your six!" Moab's growl rumbled through the chaos, an avalanche in human form. He waded into the fray, fists crashing into flesh and bone with the satisfying sound of order being restored by brute force. If violence was a language, Moab spoke it fluently.
"Flank left!" Shivs' command cut through the din, sharp and clear as glass shattering. The man could orchestrate a symphony of bloodshed, each move of ours a note in the carnage cantata. We flowed around him, lethal and precise, a machine oiled with adrenaline and fury.
I ducked a wild swing, snapping back with a punch that felt like redemption. Around me, my crew fought with a trust hard-earned and harder kept, bound together by the sort of loyalty that can only be forged in life's darkest corners. We were brothers in arms, dancing our deadly dance, and damn if it wasn't a thing of beauty.
"Stick to Vin!" Shivs barked, his voice carrying over the crackle of gunfire and the thud of knuckles on flesh. "He's got the scent!"
And I did—Raven's voice was the north star guiding me through this storm of steel and sinew. I plowed through another wave of resistance, every punch thrown, every bullet dodged bringing me closer to her. This was more than a mission; this was personal, a promise etched in blood and black ink across my heart.
"Keep pushing!" I yelled, feeling the raw surge of triumph as we gained ground. Hell might have its own address here, but we were staking our claim, one broken body at a time.
The din of battle fell to a hush, my ears still ringing with the echoes of screams and gunfire. Blood and sweat mixed on my skin like unholy warpaint, but I didn't slow down—not when Raven's voice was etched into my every synapse, driving meforward. I stalked through the compound's maze-like hallways, my boots falling heavy against the concrete. My heart hammered a rhythm that matched my pace, each step fueled by pure adrenaline and the kind of single-minded purpose that had seen me through more scrapes than I cared to remember.
"Stay sharp," I grunted to my crew, the words barely necessary. They shadowed me, eyes peeled for danger, but it was clear now—all roads led to her.
Turning a corner, the labyrinth opened up into an expansive room, dimly lit and reeking of oil and desperation. And there she stood, across the yawning space—Raven, a vision in defiance, the very image that'd haunted my closed eyes on too many solitary nights.
Our gazes locked, and it was like the world took a fucking breath. The chaos, the shitstorm we'd ridden through—it all faded out until there was nothing but her. Her eyes, dark and fierce, cut through the remaining distance between us, igniting a light for my soul to follow.
"Vin..." Her voice broke through the silence.
"Raven," I said, feeling the name like a key turning in a lock. I never thought she’d again hear her name fall from my lips.
I crossed the room in strides that felt both endless and not nearly fast enough. When I finally reached her, my hands closed around her with a grip I never wanted to break. She crashed into me, and it was like I was whole again. Relief flooded my veins, mixing with love and the kind of shared pain that carved deep into your bones. We clung to each other, her head buried against my chest, my face pressed into her hair. I breathed her in—a scent that spelled home and stirred ghosts. For a heartbeat, or maybe an eternity, we just held on, the world be damned.
I held her face gently in my hands. "Thought I lost you," I murmured, the confession tearing from some raw place inside me.
"Never," she whispered back, her words a vow etched in fire. “Live hard, die free, baby.”
And in that embrace, I knew. I'd walk through hellfire and back for this woman, and nothing—no bullet, no blade—could keep me from her side.
Time stopped, or maybe it was just my heart, skipping beats as it caught up to the chaos. The world shrunk down to the space where our bodies met. I wasn't Vin Reed, the outlaw, the man with a bounty on his soul—I was just Vin, and she was Raven, and nothing else mattered.
"God, I've missed you," I breathed into her hair, the scent of her stirring memories keeping me riding through the darkest nights. Her arms tightened around me, her strength defying the delicate frame I encased in my own. I felt her tears against my cheek and wiped them away, much like my mother had wiped mine away.
"Missed you more," she countered, a tremor in her voice that spoke to the depths we'd plumbed apart.
The truth of it all—our bond, our battles, the love and the agony of our separation—seeped into every touch, every breath shared in the scant inches between us. It was a connection that didn't give a damn about rules or dangers; it was raw, it was real, and it was ours, forged in the fires that had sought to consume us both.
But even the most powerful moments can't hold back reality for long. The distant shouts, the crackling radios searching for signs of life—they snapped me back, and the weight of what still lay ahead settled in my mind.
"Raven, listen to me," I said, pulling back just enough to search her eyes. "I ain't lettin' anything happen to you. Not now, not ever. You hear?"
Determination flared in her gaze, her nod firm. "I know. And I'm with you, Vin. To the end."
