Chapter 123 Revenge, again
Dante's POV
I moved before I registered where it was coming from.
I didn't even bother to check if Nico was behind me, I only feared for one person… Serena.
The bang tore through the night like a thunder storm, echoing off the trees and sending a spike straight through my chest.
It was a gunshot, no doubt about that. My blood turned cold as every muscle in my body screamed to close the space.
Oh Serena, if those bastards dare hurt her...
"Nico!" I barked as I didn't notice him, I was already breaking into a sprint towards the direction. "On me!” I added.
My flashlight shone through the trees and shrubs as I skipped past roots. I heard Nico coming right behind me as his boots crunched over leaves as we raced through the woods.
The blood trail from the van led this way too with bloody footprints and broken branches lining the way down.
All signs of a frantic escape. They had to be running from something, or after someone.
But now, we were the hunters, and I had to get my revenge.
My blood boiled in my veins as the rage from earlier clouded my reasoning quickly.
These fuckers had come for Serena all along, they invaded my territory, destroyed my safe house, massacred my men and now? They think they can just vanish into the night?
I'd make them pay, every last one of them.
We kept skipping through the woods for what felt like hours, my breathing grew heavy as my feet took longer to leave the ground now.
I had underestimated the distance and was clearly paying for that.
Trees blurred past as roots snagged at my feet each time I struggled to get off the ground.
But I couldn't stop, I pushed harder, ignoring the burn in my legs.
Minutes stretched into what felt like hours, maybe five minutes, or ten, or who the hell knew?
The woods felt like a maze, but a slim trail of blood still led us on, and my gut urged me on. My gut's never wrong.
I spotted a discarded reload as we passed by a spot, they weren't far. I could feel it.
Then, as we went further, I heard voices from not too far off, low and panicked mutters ahead.
I signaled over to Nico to slow down, killing my light immediately.
We crept forward, remaining where the moon didn't reach. I quickly spotted all four of them, stumbling through a small clearing.
One clutched his shoulder as blood had clearly soaked his sleeve, must have been the source of the trail.
He staggered weakly while another limped badly, barely matching the pace of the other two as he moved with his legs wide apart.
He looked to be cursing under his breath with every step. The other two looked steadier with one barking orders, the driver from the van.
I recognized his build immediately even though I hadn't seen his face before. He's the main guy no doubt.
I felt the pull of revenge surging through especially at the sight of the one who had been teasing up too close to Serena earlier.
He was the one putting his legs apart as though something had happened to his balls.
I didn't spot Serena anywhere, but these would have to do for now. They dared to touch what's mine, let's see who gets the final laugh.
I gripped my pistol tighter. "Flank left," I whispered to Nico. "We hit hard and fast,” I added.
He nodded, blending with the darkness as he moved. I waited with my heart pounding loud enough that u couldn't take it any longer.
I was about moving when I heard his signal, a low whistle. Then I exploded forward immediately.
The first shot was mine, cracking through the air and dropping the limping one like a pile of bricks.
He went down with a scream, clutching his knee where I'd shot.
The other three noticed and spun around, firing wildly at the trees. Bullets whizzed past my ear, breaking through trees.
I dove behind a fallen log, returning fire immediately. One hit the unfortunate guy with the shoulder wound as he was trying to get up.
He howled again and dropped his weapon, gripping his arm now.
Nico opened up from the side, shooting steadily at them. The third guy caught one strike to hit chest, crumpling without a sound.
They scattered immediately, going in different directions.
These assholes thought they could play in my world? I'd end them here and now.
The shoulder guy was easy pickings, way too slow for a fight like this. I closed the distance in seconds, tackling him from behind.
He hit the dirt face-first, and I drove my knee into his back, wrenching his injured arm up till he cried out.
"Where is she?" I snarled, pressing my barrel to his temple.
He whimpered something incoherent as blood bubbled out from his lips.
I shook my head and ended his misery with a single punch to his jaw, followed by a bullet to the head for good measure.
Nico had the other not injured guy pinned, trading blows in a majorly one sided contest till he alone had the upper hand.
I heard bones cracking, followed by a final shot. He's done.
That left us with the driver and the last one, the freak that had his ugly hands all over Serena.
He couldn't have gone far, and sure enough. I found him hiding not too far off.
Nico chased down the driver while I stalked down the freak show.
When he noticed me, he tried running but a bullet to his leg and he went tumbling over in pain.
But I didn't want this to end easily. I walked over to him and folded up a handful of his shirt before pulling him up.
“You bastard, where the fuck is she?!” I yelled.
“I don't know mehn,” he replied as he shook violently. “Bitch is crazier than you for real,” he added and that ticked me off.
I threw him against the tree and punched him straight in his jaw.
His head whipped to his right as blood spilled out and what I would believe was a tooth.
He turned his face to me and gave me a crooked smile.
“Not much left of me huh?” He asked and laughed dryly.
“Indeed,” I replied simply and punched him heavily in his gut, pulling more blood from his mouth.
He leaned over but that just gave me more room to land more blows to his head, left, right, left, right, left, right, till he dropped to the ground on his own.
I followed him down, still striking his face heavily, now only sending rights square on his nose.
I could barely recognize his face when I stopped as his nose had cracked and whatever could break had gone.
My knuckles stung but beating the crap out of him felt much better.
I stood over his disfigured body as he looked to have died a while back.
But you can never be too sure, can you?
I fired a bullet straight to his legs and he whimpered slightly, just as I thought.
Then I fired another to his right hand, then his left, then his thighs, then his feet, then his tummy, then his chest, before finally putting one in his face, or whatever was left.
“That's what you get for laying your hands on her,” I muttered and walked off.
As I walked back, I spotted Nico holding down the driver, perfect.
I stormed over, following the already boiled up anger in me.
He straightened at the sight of me, trying as hard as he could to put space between us, but it was no use, Nico's grip was firm.
My hand clamped around his throat, squeezing just enough to make his eyes bulge.
"You thought you could take her from me?!" I growled. "Big mistake. Huge one," I added.
He gasped as his hands clawed at my wrist. "P-please... Luca... he made us—"
I hauled him away from Nico's grip and slammed him against the nearest tree.
He slid down, till he sat on the floor, then I placed my boot on his chest, drawing out my gun and aiming right between his eyes.
"Any last words, asshole? Make 'em good. You've got about five seconds before I paint this tree with your brains.”