Chapter 16 - Vlad

I jerked hard against the kitchen floor as consciousness returned to me in a sharp rush. My head throbbed, and even with my eyes open, there was little to see. The power had clearly been cut. No faint lights were glowing from any of the electronics, and the outdoor lights on the house were dead.

Fuck. What happened? Dammit. I was just talking with Ivan. Did someone—Emory.

My stomach dropped as my pulse shot up into overdrive. I hauled myself off the floor, wobbling on my feet and balancing by leaning against the island. A headache consumed my entire skull, and I was vaguely sick to my stomach. How in the hell had someone gotten the drop on us? And shit, I needed to get to Emory.

"Ugh."

Groaning from a few feet away caught my attention. I looked over to see Abe pulling himself up into a seat, his forehead bleeding where it must have hit the corner of the countertop. He blinked several times, and I hurried over to him, getting him the rest of the way up.

"The fucking hell?"

I snapped my fingers, trying to get his attention, and he glanced over at me with squinted eyes.

"W-What? Christ, my head hurts."

Holding up two fingers, I put them right in front of my brother's mug, raising my brows as I pointed between my hand and his eyes.

"I see two, asshole. I'm fine. Why the fuck were we on the floor, though?"

"I suspect we were gassed." We both looked over at Ivan, who was pulling himself upright on the island. "The burnt copper smell in my nose supports as much anyway."

Getting over to him, I looked him over. Ivan looked in better shape than Abe, and neither of them seemed particularly bad. We'd all fallen to the floor, but it was just a couple of bumps and bruises—nothing we couldn't handle.

As Ivan steadied himself, he shook his head, and then his expression suddenly shifted into total panic.

"Adley! The baby!"

He took off at a dead sprint, and both Abe and I followed him up the stairs. The lingering chemical smell faded as we got higher in the house, but there was still no power out there, and it was pitch fucking black. There was no moon tonight so not even the plethora of windows was helping us.

The hard pounding of our steps shook the house as we rushed up the stairs, but as my brothers kept going until they hit the third floor, I ran down the hall to my room.

Emory was in there, and I just…

Something's not right. And why the fuck aren't we all just dead? I mean, hell, if it was the Italians, why didn't they just kill us and be done with it?

I knew I shouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth. Still, this particular horse was giving serious Troy vibes, and I worried with every step that there was a trap inside just waiting to be sprung.

Racing down the hall, I reached my room and flung the door open. Emory wasn't inside, not that I could see anyway, and when I went into the bathroom, she wasn't there either. I hurried back out and down the hall, checking every room or little corner of the second floor where she might be hiding.

Nothing.

From the attic stairs, I heard the drumbeat of rapid footsteps coming back down to the second floor. Looking over, Ivan and Abe were down first, and then Adley brought up the rear. Still no Emory, though.

Ivan was at my side in a flash, and he looked both ways down the hall that stretched across the second floor.

"Emory?"

I just shook my head.

"Dammit. We lucked out with Adley." Ivan sounded genuinely shaken, and I glanced over at Adley, who was pulling up alongside him and threading her arm through his.

"I heard something. It was total luck, but it was just too weird, so I got up and locked the door. Grace never even woke up. She's still sleeping."

Ivan pulled Adley's forehead toward him, kissing it. "Best damn luck we've had all day."

Yeah, and I have a feeling there's none left to spare.

Even Abe looked less than amused, which was his perpetual state of being. As he walked through the second floor, he clocked all the electronics that were out. Then he walked toward the library area where several books were fake and hid weapons. It looked like all of them were accounted for.

"It doesn't look like they took anything. The weapons are accounted for here and upstairs Ivan said. I can't see any trifling with our setups inside the house; it's just the absent power, and they left us alive. What's this about?"

I grumbled, the sound low and quiet but still effectively giving voice to my frustration. The Italians had taken something. It just hadn't been looted.

"What is it?" Adley asked, walking over from where she stood with Ivan to put a hand on my arm.

Pointing down the hall, I gestured toward my room and shook my head. Emory wasn't there, and if she were hiding somewhere, she would have come out by now. Adley's brow creased as she frowned, her eyes meeting mine with a worry that wasn't just sympathetic.

"I was just talking to her not too long ago. We'd…dammit, it was really nice. What will they do with her?"

It was strangely comforting to know that Adley was upset about potentially losing Emory, and not just because she felt bad for me. It looked like the women had actually connected, and fuck, did that make my heart ache. Emory was so fucking nice that she'd even wooed Adley with her subtle charm.

And now the damn Italians had stolen her.

Rage bubbled up from my guts, and I turned on my heel, beelining for my bedroom. I was squeezing my fists so tightly it hurt, and I was ready to fucking go apeshit and start throwing things across the damn room.

But everyone was hot on my heels. Dammit. I just want to be alone. Go away!

I was ready to slam the door in Abe or Ivan's face, but sure enough, Adley was there, and I couldn't bring myself to do that to her. I'd always liked her—right away, in fact—and we both knew it.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. I'm sure that—"

Pulling my arm out of her grip, I shook my head, pointing out of the room and then shutting my eyes. I just needed to be alone for a minute.

"Hey, that's not going to help you. You can't just shove us away because…"

But Adley's words drifted off, and it wasn't because of anything I'd done this time. She pushed past me and toward my bed. Before I could stop her or grumble again, she reached down to my pillow and pulled up a small piece of paper.

My heart surged, and I snatched the thing from her grip to reach over the words.

Want her back? Then, the Unholy Trinity gives themselves up. We want to know everything you do about the Vadims. Then you can have her back.

Beneath the hastily scribbled words was an address. Based on the street, it was downtown near the industrial district, and I had a feeling it was another one of the Italians' abandoned warehouses.

"What does it say?"

Ivan was right behind me, and when I turned and handed him the note, I shook my head, slumping onto the bed. I could tell he was reading it over as the room dipped into silence for a moment. When I glanced up again, Abe stood next to Ivan, reading over his shoulder.

"Umm, yeah, we can't do that. We can't just turn ourselves into the Italians and give up everything we know about the Vadims. Even if the Italians didn't kill us on the spot after we told them everything—which they most certainly would—the Vadims would just kill us afterward."

Abe had a point. I mean, of course, he did. We all knew that it was a trap. The Italians wanted to both get information and take us out. Two birds, one stone.

But I wasn't about to let Emory stay there to get killed by those thugs when we didn't show up. Because she was on the chopping block just like we were.

This fucking sucks. Goddamn it!

I shoved up off the bed hard and started pacing back and forth across my room. This was the longest either of my brothers had ever been in here and the first time ever for Adley. They were in my space, the area that I kept locked up just for me. The place that I had absolutely zero problem letting Emory into.

Because I trusted Emory, I liked Emory. And if I wasn't going to admit that now, then when the fuck was I?

My entire body thrummed. We had to get her back. I couldn't stand the idea of something happening to her. I felt dimly like being flayed alive, except without the light at the end of the tunnel being death or unconsciousness.

It was a damn risk. Everything about this situation was weighted against us, and I knew that the Italians would have their base fortified and set up for taking us out. They couldn't expect we'd give them information, but they had to keep it on the table because that would be invaluable.

God, is there some way we could use that to our advantage?

My steps paused, and I pulled up in front of Ivan, meeting his stare without blinking. The good thing about our relationship was that I knew I didn't need to speak right now. He knew exactly what I was thinking.

He sighed, cocking his head, and he sucked in a breath with his eyes closed. "Are you sure? We're risking a lot to go in there and get her. It would be just as easy to send the cops an anonymous tip."

My eyes flared, and I shook my head emphatically. No, we fucking cannot. The Italians would just kill her and dip out.

I tried to say as much with my stare, gesturing at the note and then dragging a finger across my throat to drive the point home.

"Yeah, yeah. They'll probably kill her and run. Dammit." He frowned, shaking himself hard. "I fucking hate these pricks. All right, I think that we—"

"Umm, I'm sorry. Are we actually considering staging some fucking rescue for a therapist? Get a new one." I rushed up to Abe, grabbing his collar and glaring at him. "Oh, get off, asshole. Ugh, this is twice now that we're risking ourselves because of a chick."

"Hey!" Adley cut in, and Abe rolled his eyes. "Don't call me a chick, Abe. I know exactly what you use that hand lotion for and where you keep it. I have no problem infusing some hot chili oil into the mixture."

My brother's face went slack as his eyes bulged, and I almost wanted to see him put up more of a fight so that I could witness the glory of a spicy handjob. But we had more important things to be concerned with.

Tossing him back, I stepped back over toward Ivan and just held his eyes. If anyone were able to read my mind, it would be him.

I need to get her back. I need to save her. Please. If something happens to her…I don't know what I'll do.

After a long pause, Ivan shook his head, raking a hand down over his face as he let out a long exhale.

"I'll admit that when I set you up with her as a therapist, I didn't expect… this ." He looked up, meeting my gaze with a knowing look. "But I get it. So, I guess we're staging our first rescue mission."

Abe was about to interject again when Ivan shot him a glare.

"I don't want to hear it. If you don't feel like being helpful, you can stay back. But we're doing this."

Sighing, Abe rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I'd let your asses get dead just because this is a stupid reason to go up against the Italians. I've always liked stupid reasons for violence anyway."

And with that, it was settled. Next stop, warehouse. Don't worry, Emory. I'm coming .