Chapter 119 Chapter One hundred and eighteen
ARA
I went to work fast, fingers fumbling at the ropes as panic lent me strength I didn’t know I had.
The knots loosened one by one, and I eased Sasha upright just as her body sagged into mine.
She was weak, too weak. Her limbs barely responded.
“Ara?” she murmured, her eyelids fluttering.
“Yes. It’s me.” I forced calm into my voice, scanning the shadows above us. “Can you walk?”
She shook her head slowly.
A gunshot cracked through the warehouse, close enough to make the floor vibrate. Sasha flinched violently, a broken sound tearing from her throat.
Then Thayne roared. Three more gunshots followed. Relief and terror collided in my chest as I helped Sasha sit up, bracing her against the pole.
“Going somewhere, slumgirl?”Ursula’s voice froze the blood in my veins.
I went still. Slowly, I turned. She stood at the edge of the opening, gun raised, her eyes glittering with something feral and pleased, like she’d been waiting for this moment.
Her smile widened. “Did you really think I’d leave my prize unguarded?”
Thayne appeared behind her like a shadow given form. Hadn't heard been involved a shootout just seconds ago?
Just as Ursula swung the gun toward Sasha, Thayne struck. The weapon flew from her grip as he spun her around effortlessly.
She was too small for him. Too fragile to fight it.
He bent her over his knee, shifted his leg, and let her drop hard to the floor. Before she could even gather breath, he was already pulling rope from his pocket, his hands moving fast and practiced as he bound her wrists and ankles.
Ursula opened her mouth to scream. Thayne slapped a gag over it without hesitation.
He turned to me first, helping me to my feet, then carefully lifted Sasha out of the hidden space, cradling her weight with a gentleness that contrasted sharply with what he’d just done.
But it was already too late to move. A cloaked figure leapt from the top of the stacked crates, landing on the concrete with inhuman grace, silent, controlled, almost elegant.
Like a vampire.
I stared at him. I didn’t recognize his face, and for a split second I wondered if he was one of Jimmy's or Slade Senior's men.
His hair was slicked back, perfectly groomed. Dark kohl rimmed his eyes, sharpening his gaze until it looked predatory.
“Tommy,” Thayne said, his nostrils flaring.
The man smiled slowly. “Thayne Slade.” His voice was smooth, edged with venom. “The moment I heard there was a party happening here, I simply had to attend.” His eyes burned. “You killed my brother. Snapped his neck like he was a chicken.”
The warehouse seemed to hold its breath. And so did I. Thayne killed his brother? When? Who was his brother, even?
I stared at the man more closely, dread crawling up my spine. Now that I really looked at him, something about his face tugged at my memory, too familiar for comfort.
This wasn’t the moment for revelations. This was survival. We were losing precious time.
“They’re coming,” he said calmly, almost reverently. “But I want this to be personal.” His smile curved, cruel and anticipatory. “I want to be the one who delivers the killing blow. For Darius.”
He was Darius's brother? Oh, shit. Darius was the fearsome human trafficker who'd tried to sell my body to a client.
In a fit of rage, Thayne burst into the holding cell and shot the man while he was on top of me. He killed Darius a few moments later.
With a sharp flick of his wrists, twin knives slid into his hands, wicked, curved blades that caught the flickering firelight and gleamed like fangs.
Thayne shifted subtly in front of me, his body angling protectively, one arm tightening around Sasha as his eyes locked onto Tommy’s.
“Your brother deserved to die like a chicken.”
Thayne said coldly.
Tommy chuckled. “See? That temper. That certainty.” He rolled his shoulders, the blades spinning lazily between his fingers. “I’ve waited so long for this.”
Sasha trembled against me. Ursula thrashed uselessly on the floor, muffled sounds leaking from behind her gag.
And then Tommy lunged. The knives flashed toward Thayne, and everything exploded into motion.
Thayne moved like instinct itself. He ducked low just as Tommy lunged, catching his legs mid-stride and yanking hard. Tommy hit the ground with a grunt, the air knocked clean out of him.
Before he could recover, Thayne twisted one of his arms behind his back. There was a sickening crack.
Then Tommy groaned in pain. The knives were gone in a blink, kicked far across the floor, skittering out of reach.
“We found them!” a voice shouted from somewhere ahead.
Shit.We’d been found.
Thayne spared me one look. Just one. His eyes softened, fierce and full of everything he couldn’t say out loud.
“I love you,” he said.
Then he hauled Tommy up with him and dragged him out of our hiding spot, straight toward the chaos, toward the guns, toward whatever came next.
I barely had time to register that he was gone before something else demanded my attention.
A strange pressure bloomed low in my abdomen.
I froze, held my breath and remained still.
It passed, only to come again moments later, sharper this time. It was deeper, painful enough to make my fingers dig into the hoodie I was wearing.
“What’s happening?” I whispered, fear clawing its way up my throat.
Another wave rolled through me, stronger this time.
And suddenly, the explosions, the gunfire, the men shouting and cursing, all of it blurred into the background.
I couldn’t stand anymore. My legs trembled violently beneath me, useless, as if they no longer belonged to me.
Fire tore through my waist, and I cried out, clutching my stomach as another wave ripped through me.
Ursula’s eyes met mine for a fleeting second.
There was no triumph there. No concern either.
She looked away.
She didn’t care, not that I expected her to do anything like helping me when she was tied up like a sacrificial lamb. Certainly not after she'd disguised as Dr. Ellis just to finish her father's work.
Finally, I found the strength to scream.
“Thayne!” I screamed, my voice cracking as pain crushed my chest. “Thayne!”
The next wave hit harder, stealing my breath entirely. I gasped, my mouth opening soundlessly as my knees finally gave out and I crumpled to the floor.
Everywhere went dark before my head even touched the ground.