Chapter 24

Here we go again.

The next time I open my eyes, I"m in the back of what looks like a large shipping truck. There"s nothing else in here with me and thankfully I"m not tied down. But that"s the only good news.

The truck is moving and from the way the bumps feel under me, we"re moving fast. I crawl as best I can toward the door and try to pull it open but it doesn"t even budge. It must be locked from the outside. There"s no way for me to get to the cab of the truck either.

After all the work I"ve done to be stuck right back here in Shade"s grasp, I feel like a wuss. How can I have been so stupid. I bang my head against the metal wall and slide down until I"m sitting on the ground. I drop my head into my hands and resign myself to my fate. I"m not going to get out of here any time soon and I"m sure the next time I see the outside of this truck will be when Shade and his goons are taking me back to another underground hell.

The only silver lining to this is the fact that I sent all that information over to Brendan and that both Gabrielle and April aren"t here to be hurt again.

Gabrielle.

I may never see her again. This could be my final day on earth, and I never got the chance to tell her my whole truth. Te truth that I love her. Not just because of what we"d been through, but because of who she is. I thought I"d be with her for the rest of my life. I had dreams of her riding as my backpack down the coast. She"s destined to be my old lady but I may never get the chance to tell her.

That"s unacceptable.

I get back up and try once again to open the door. Digging so hard into the cracks that the metal cuts right into the skin of my fingertips.

"Shit!" I bang my fist hard against the metal before resting my forehead against it.

Just as I was about to start trying to pry open the doors again, I heard what sounded like a separate engine. This one coming from the back of the truck. Of course, this could be just more of Shade"s guys, but my gut is telling me this is something different.

Whoever is behind this truck is here to help me.

I say a silent prayer, something I haven"t done in a long time. I"d given up on my faith nearly halfway through my time locked in that cell. Now I had to dig deep within myself and trust that everything was going to be okay.

Just as I finished my prayer, a sharp ting echoed in the metal box. It takes me a minute to figure out what it was but when I look back at the door I"m standing in front of and see there is a small bullet hole at the very bottom of the door.

"Fuck yes!" I move as far away from the door as I can and more bullets pepper the door. Whoever is behind me is trying to shoot off the lock.

The people in the truck must realize something is happening behind because in the next second, I"m being whipped from side to side in the large metal box as if the truck is trying to get away.

A few more shots are fired at the door and I hear the sound of metal breaking away. The lock.

Doing my best to keep on my feet, I rush over to the door and push the door open. It swings to the side and right behind the door is a dark red suburban. When Venom sticks his head out the window and yells at me to jump out, a thrill of excitement shoots through me.

I measure the distance between the truck I"m in and the suburban, but just before I jump the truck swerves and once again I"m too far to make it. Every time I tried to jump, one of the vehicles would be out of position. Peering out of the car, I realized that we were on the one land road that goes down the mountain.

The same mountain that Million died on.

I don"t want to be roadkill here as well.

"Back off! Just back off before it"s too late." I yell back at Venom. I don"t want him to be captured and taken too.

"Hold on man! Just hold on!" He yells and keeps on the shipping truck"s tail.

I look behind the suburban and there was a large cloud of dust rising up. Then another sound I never thought I"d hear again. The roar of motorcycles.

Within seconds, the rest of my club, the Boys of Djinn, came screaming down the small road. Venom stays right behind the truck while I watch Wyatt and the rest of the boys split on both sides of the truck. They don"t stop it but they get in the way just enough to slow the truck down.

It"s the small opening I need to get out. Venom drives as close to me as he can and I jump as hard as I can to get as far as I can. I land on the hood of the car and hold on for dear life.

Venom skids to a stop and I quickly get into the suburban. I laugh and punch the roof of the truck. I can"t believe I made it out, not only that, but my brothers were here by my side. After all that talk about letting me do this on my own, Wyatt was right here to help me.

That"s the brotherhood I know. Why I wear my patch with pride.

There"s no way for him to know who"s in the truck. For all he knew, he could be going after his brother right now. He was doing that for me.

Before I can get too excited, I hear the sound of guns going off. The shipping truck swerves from side to side, going way too fast down the small road.

"Watch out!" I yell at Preston, who is too close to the back of the truck for my liking. I can"t deal with another death. Of course Preston can"t hear me, but he must realize how close to danger he is as well, because I see his bike back off. Spark rides up on the side of the suburban and I wave my hand to get his attention.

"Get on the side, get it to tip over." I yell out at him.

"Who"s in there... are there any more captives?"

"No, it"s empty. Just fucking Shade." I yell back, and it"s like the relief washes over him. They really thought they were about to kill Liam tonight, but they"re still here with me.

Spark nods his head and does exactly what I ask. He and three others get right on the side of the big truck. Then, just as the truck is about to make its next curve, I see the side wheels come up off the ground. It"s going to tip. Finally, this is going to be over.

I watch as my brothers all pull back from the side of the truck and the large shipping container slowly began tipping further and further over. Until finally with a loud grating thud the entire truck flips onto its side and slides down the steep embankment.

"Stop! Venom, hold up!" I yell at Venom, and he slams on the brakes. I hop out of the van, ignoring the pain in my body, and race over to the edge of the hill. I knew Shade had at least two other guards with him. There"s smoke coming up from the front end of the shipping truck but no fire. I squint through the smoke and see the silhouette of a man running out from the front of the truck.

Shade.

Wyatt and the rest of my brothers are further down the road, I turn toward them, "It"s Shade, we can"t let him get away." I point down the hill, one second before I jump over the side and start to scale down the steep hill. My brothers break off and go in different directions, all just to make sure that Shade doesn"t get away.

I keep my eyes glued on him. I know if he gets away this time, I"m not going to find him again. I can"t let that happen. Not now. Not when I"m so close.