Page 131 of I Promise You
“I couldn’t miss seeing Grim kick your ass again. Shit’s better than the UFC,” he jokes back, and I slump against the car door. The fiery tension in every single muscle of mine relaxes. And a short scoff of a laugh escapes me.
“Fuck you too.” I snort.
I hadn’t realized I was bleeding until blood splattered over my uniform. I touch my forehead and realize the shattered glass cut me.
Fucking hell, I will need a long-ass vacation after this to let my face heal. How much more can my face take?
“Is Grim alive?” I shout, still undercover.
Would if there’s more of these assholes?
“I don’t know, man, I don’t like this. How the fuck did we not get alerted by this? Doesn’t she have the best fucking security system installed? Where is she? Where’s Ari?”
“Motherfuckers took her! They dragged her into the van. I couldn’t get to her,” I groan in pain, looking at my bloody hands. “I failed her,” I murmur, knowing Lopez can’t hear me. They have her…just like I’ve been worried about.
Fuck the Admiral.
That was one of my first thoughts. Why had the security system failed her?
How do they know where she lives?
“I’m calling it in.”
Spending time in hospitals is feeling like a new normal.
I watch the black coffee pour into the coffee cup. I’m at a nurse’s station in the hallway. They granted me access to their coffee. It’s around five in the morning, and Grim is stable.
Motherfucker is immortal, and I’m starting to question how the fuck he got on God’s good side to escape death so many times. The man is anything but religious or holy.
“How’s Grim?”
A deep burden of a voice rumbles behind me, and I almost drop my coffee cup in the hallway. I’m jumpy and on edge after I engaged in a shootout, so Creature’s voice behind me made me want to return with a punch to his jaw.
I turn around to face the newest man on the team.
This man gives me the creeps. If I thought Danny held darkness, well, this guy bleeds poison, an aura that blurs the lines of what he holds morally right…ifhe has any.
“Damn it, Creature. Don’t fucking sneak up on me like that, asshole.” I seethe, glaring at him, seeing red. I didn’t hear him come up behind me. Motherfucker is so quiet. Even his footsteps are complete silence.
“He’s stable. That’s all I know. Bullet went through his upper chest. No surgery is needed. They sedated him when he tried to wake up in the ambulance. He was going batshit crazy on the paramedics,” I explain, sipping the burning coffee and holding the plastic rim to my mouth. “Admiral Ravenmore is on his way.” Creature looks at me through his black mask with bored, unfazed eyes.
“We need to find the girl. Or we’re all dead.” Creature blinks slowly, leaning against the wall. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out the same bullet he always plays with. Twirling it in each finger, he breaks his gaze and stares at his hand.
“And I’m not talking about our enemies killing us, no. But Grim will.” Then he looks straight into my eyes, and my stomach drops.
I know what he means. The whole world might be dead when Grim discovers Ari is gone, and we haven’t been able to find her. It’s only been a few hours, but it already feels like forever.
No leads. It’s like they disappeared into thin air. Rooker and Lopez are in Danny’s room, waiting for him to wake up.
Zeke explained to us that after he and his team did an initial investigation into the malfunctioning of the security system. He came up with the conclusion that Omar had hacked it.
We’re not the only ones with incredible assets and technology.
They’re well equipped too.
I love Ari. I’m still so fucking in love with her, but I’ll never overstep again. Time will heal the hole I have in my heart because of her rejection. But it’s not me. She told me that crystal clear, and it cut deep when she said those words.
Ari and I’s relationship will always be unique, and I think a part of me will always wait for her. But for now, I’m letting her go.
