47. Logan

FORTY-SEVEN

LOGAN

It was close to ten when we pulled into the circular drive of the mansion hidden deep in the forest outside Redemption Hills. Night stretched long and dense across the heavens.

A shroud of debauchery.

An oozing of sin.

My knee bounced uncontrollably as I tried to breathe around the ten-thousand-pound weight that sat squarely on my chest.

I fought with the urge to jump from the passenger seat to go storming the castle like some kind of twisted knight.

My soul reeled from the star Taylor had asked me to read.

It consumed me in a fist of grief and a thirst for vengeance, tortured by what Aster had been through.

Her sacrifice.

Her loss.

Her pain.

While hatred burned so hot toward Jarek I thought when I saw him he might burst into flames.

Disintegrate into ash.

Like he felt me getting ready to splinter apart, Trent muttered, “Play it cool, man,” as he pulled his Porsche to a stop in the drive.

Jud was in the backseat.

Tension coiled in the air, bands that stretched taut between us and made every single one of us feel like we were going to snap.

I knew it.

I could feel it radiating off my brothers.

The truth that we were waltzing into the lion’s den.

“Are you two sure you want to go in there?” One last chance for them to back out because I wasn’t coming out of that house without my girl.

Whatever it cost.

“Like we’d let you go in there alone and miss out on all the action? I don’t think so, brother,” Jud cracked.

“Yeah, not gonna happen,” Trent added. “Besides, it looks like you’re going to need more than two hands for this little endeavor. And that’s what this family does…we lend a helping hand when it’s required.”

He smirked at that because we all knew this was a whole lot more than a helping hand .

Things were bound to get wild in there.

Would likely end bloody.

It would be dangerous and unpredictable.

I took a steadying breath, opened the door, and pushed to standing, hand gripping tight on the case that held the stone.

Ferocity simmered in my blood, close to boiling.

My nostrils flared.

I could feel it.

I could feel her spirit crying out from within the walls.

My chest tightened with the promise. “Even if I can’t see you, I’ll know you’re there, and I’ll find my way to you.”

“Easy,” Jud said as he came up to my side. “Know you want to run in there with guns blazing, but we have to play this smart.”

“Good thing smart is what he does.” Trent almost grinned.

My hand squeezed on the handle of the case that held the box. It was fucking ironic how the whole goal for that bastard was getting the second stone back from me, and he didn’t have a goddamn clue that I now possessed both. The other stone that Taylor had raided from his house was safe with her and the Demon where they waited for us back at my place.

Steeling myself, I started in the direction of the mansion, and Trent and Jud followed suit.

The three of us walked toward the imposing stairs, our footsteps crunching below us while the atmosphere throbbed and quivered with depravity.

I could feel it seeping out from below the door in a sinister cloud and slithering across the ground.

I wondered why I’d never felt it so distinctly before.

Or maybe the ugly truth of it had been that I’d ignored it. More than likely, I just hadn’t cared.

Greed.

Now it felt like a sickness I was going to expel.

One side of the double doors opened when we got to the top step.

Jud and Trent were ready to go if it was a straight-up trap.

Oz was there, his gaze wary and hard as he widened the door.

“Mr. Lawson.”

“Oz. It’s a pleasure to see you again. I brought friends.” I grinned like it was just another game, and I was inviting a couple unwitting fools to the table while my heart beat so hard I thought it would bust through my ribs.

I pretended like I didn’t want to punch the prick in the face for having any part in this.

“I’m afraid they will have to wait outside,” Oz said.

Trent scoffed. “And I’m afraid that’s not gonna happen.”

The scar on Oz’s face slashed down as he frowned. “I was told there might be trouble.”

“Yeah, and that trouble will come if anyone laid a finger on the girl inside.”

He actually had the nerve to cringe. “She is whole, Sir.”

“That’s good because every last one of you will die if she’s not.”

Jud growled a low sound at my side as I issued it. I didn’t know if it was to warn me to cool it or because he was underscoring the promise.

Oz let his gaze wander over the three of us before he seemed to settle on something, then he turned to me and asked, “Did you bring your ante, Sir?”

He eyed me, something deeper and more pressing than I’d seen in his expression before.

“I did.”

Anxiety pulsed.

The oxygen outlined in razors.

Each breath strained and painful.

A short fuse burning quick.

One wrong move and things would blow.

“I’ll need to search you,” Oz said, and he began to pat me down. I knew he would. Which meant this whole thing was going to be tricky.

Trent and Jud assured me they’d had to get creative many times.

For years, this would have been a routine night for them.

I hated dragging them back into it, but there wasn’t anything else we could do.

No way to get Aster back if we didn’t take a risk and pray this time the dice landed in our favor.

When we were clean, Oz led us down the same corridor I’d traveled before, but tonight it felt like those odds were stacked against us.

Dead men walking.

Oz opened the double doors and began to lead us down the spiral staircase.

My chest tightened.

In dread.

In determination.

In the truth that I would do anything to set her free. This time I would see it through.

Jud and Trent followed behind, every muscle in their bodies coiled in severity.

Ready to strike.

I lost my fucking breath when we wound down and the scene in the basement came into view.

Haille was there, rocked back in his chair like the sadistic monster I should have truly recognized him to be.

Because Aster—Aster was on her knees at the side of his chair, a gag in her mouth, her hands bound behind her, a chain around her neck.

He held the opposite end.

Rage howled and screamed, sharp talons that tore up my insides, desperate for a way out.

To get to her.

To wrap her up and hide her away like I should have done years ago.

I wanted to tell her I knew what she had been through. That I hated myself for leaving her and would never do it again.

I bit down on my tongue to keep the words from spilling out.

Still, a small sound of pain escaped her gag when she saw my descent, and Haille’s grin only widened when he saw my brothers in tow.

“Ah, so this is a family event. I can’t say I am surprised. I suppose just this one time I will allow it.”

Sick motherfucker.

I saw it in his eyes. He’d take pleasure in bleeding all three of us out, just for the fun of it.

Violence howled beneath the surface of my skin when my gaze moved to find Jarek sitting at the same spot as last time. He slowly shifted to watch as we came, his spine going straight, fear and hate in his eyes.

Rage thrashed where I kept it caged.

That’s right, motherfucker, be afraid.

I rounded the table to my spot, as cool as could be while my insides shook like an earthquake.

Oz didn’t retreat upstairs like he normally did. He stood behind Haille, a sentry standing guard.

Fuck. This was bad.

My odds dwindling with each second that passed.

Trent and Jud felt it, too. Their nerves scattered and zapped.

I sat and tossed Haille a smug grin. “You wanted a game…you have a game.”

You vile, deviant piece of shit.

Haille’s brow lifted. “And I am to assume you brought your ante? Tonight’s stakes are…high. A single hand, all in.”

He chuckled like it was all in a night’s fun.

He wanted a show.

A play.

But I also knew he wouldn’t let me walk out of here with either Aster or the stone.

If he and Jarek had been hunting it for the last seven years, they wouldn’t willingly let it go now. I’d gladly trade it for her. In a heartbeat. Without question.

But I felt their intentions seething through the basement.

Perversion.

Wickedness.

Still, I went along with it like I could trust him. “I win, I walk with both the girl and the stone, and this time, I think it’d be fair if you forwent your cut.”

It toppled out like sarcasm.

His expression was wry. “That seems fair. A game is a game, after all.”

Yeah, and neither of us played by the rules.

The whole time, Jarek fermented in his depravity where he sat across from me.

I set the case onto the table and lifted my chin in challenge.

He angled over to grab the chain from Haille and dragged Aster forward on her knees, the girl sliding across the floor like she was a piece of meat to be traded.

A whimper of terror skidded from her throat.

Fury stabbed through me like a hot blade. I nearly lost it right then and dove over the table to take the motherfucker out.

Trent grunted from behind me. Stay cool. Stay cool.

I didn’t know how I was going to manage it when it felt like I was being burned alive.

Sweat slicked my skin and the knots in my guts tightened.

I opened the box and pulled out the stone.

Jarek salivated.

“Beautiful,” Haille murmured. “It seems we have a game.”

The dealer stepped forward and dealt the dirty hand.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Back and forth to Jarek and me.

Jarek glared.

I sent him a cocky smirk while I wanted to rip him in two, my knee bouncing with the unspent violence that wanted to break free.

He laid two cards facedown.

I did three.

I manipulated.

Worked my magic, if that’s what you wanted to call it, because my wins were nothing more than sleight of hand.

In a normal situation, I would have been gloating as I laid down another straight flush.

But Jarek and Oz had already pulled their guns, just like I’d expected them to, while Haille sat there smug, enjoying the show.

I jumped up before either could anticipate it and tossed the table onto its side.

Aster screeched, and she scooted back on her ass, using her heels to push herself away while Jarek shot to his feet.

Cards flew, but I knew the biggest distraction would be the stone that went sailing.

It spun and spiraled, almost in slow motion as it arced in the air.

Haille and Jarek’s eyes were wide as they watched it, their hunger for its beauty enough to enrapture them as they watched it soar.

It was our only chance.

Jud was already on his way, stealth as he moved around the table to get to Aster before anyone would notice. His job was to get her and get the hell out.

Trent and I would take care of the rest.

“Get it,” Haille shouted at Oz.

Trent moved along close to the wall in an effort to sneak up on Oz.

The man was our biggest threat.

Trained to kill.

The same as my oldest brother.

My heart stampeded as I went to jump over the table to get to Jarek who’d let his arm drop to his side, his gun dangling limply at his thigh, too fucking caught up on watching the stone clatter to the floor to notice what was coming for him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Oz step forward, and dread thrashed through my system.

Fear for Trent.

But I had to focus.

Focus on getting the gun from Jarek.

Only Oz swung around to the side, and he didn’t have his gun pointed at me or Trent.

Rather, it was pointed at Haille.

In confusion, I stumbled a step, and his frosty eyes met mine in clear implication as he dug into the inside of his jacket with his free hand.

When he pulled it out, he tossed a handgun in my direction.

“It seems you forgot something, Sir.”

Shock slammed me as I caught it. I stared at it for a beat, my whole being contorted in a giant what the fuck ?

Everything flash-fired from there. The motion set from slow to triple speed.

Haille went for the gun at his side that he’d thought himself too untouchable to require, blustering, “What do you think you’re doing? Get the stone, you fucking idiot.”

“I am no longer indebted to you, you sick bastard,” Oz gritted.

Oz pulled the trigger. The gunshot rang out through the room.

Disorienting.

High-pitched confusion that banged against the walls.

Haille slumped over in his chair, blood pouring onto his shirt from the hole in his chest.

Holy fuck.

Aster screamed.

I whirled toward Jarek.

Jud started to move faster, and Jarek felt him coming, and he swung the barrel at him. He fired off two erratic shots.

Jud had already anticipated it and ducked and rolled behind a piece of furniture at the wall.

Adrenaline pumped.

Sweat across my skin.

Desperation in my bones.

Jarek turned, yanked the chain, and dragged Aster back across the floor.

She screamed and shouted against the gag, and he jerked her up to hold her back to his chest.

The pussy was using her like a shield. “One step closer and she dies.”

A whine came from her soul.

Fire-agate eyes flaming with intent.

Together.

Together.

We were no longer doing it separate. We weren’t sacrificing us for the other.

Trent and Oz enclosed, but it was Aster who shifted in a blur of fury. She wrenched out of his hold, whirled around, and threw a knee to his groin before he could make sense of it.

Jarek howled, then he had her by the hair as I was jumping over the table. Aster kicked him again, the girl going rabid, fighting with everything she had with her hands still bound behind her back.

Trent went for him on the side.

Jarek felt it, fired another wayward shot.

Desperation flooded him.

He shot again, this time toward Oz, desperate to keep us back.

Another bullet pinged through the air.

A muffled scream tore from Aster, and she lifted her leg and kicked him with the bottom of her foot low in the gut.

He stumbled back a foot.

And my girl—she gave us our chance.

I pulled the trigger.

His eyes went wide with shock as he blew backward three steps.

Violence roiled through my being.

I’d hit him up high, close to where I’d struck him seven years ago.

“I’ll kill you,” he grunted, but it was the monster who was dropping to his knees.

He let the chain go to cover the wound with his hand.

Defiance filled his expression.

Hate and animosity.

“I will kill you and this bitch and your whole fucking family.”

Straightening, I took a step toward him.

My brothers came up to my sides, and Oz gathered beside Trent.

Fear blistered from Jarek’s flesh.

“You won’t get away with this,” he ground out, his words fractured. “You are all dead. I will see to it.”

My teeth ground as I angled forward, ignoring his threat.

Hatred boiled from my tongue. “That shot was for Aster. For hurting her. For the pain you caused her. For treating her as anything less than the miracle she is.”

Agony and contempt rasped from his breaths, and he tried to rebound, struggling to lift the gun that dangled at his side in his other hand.

I stood higher, and that time, I aimed the barrel between his eyes. Eyes that widened in terror.

“And this? This is for our kid.”

I fired.

Aster screamed into her gag.

She screamed and screamed as she backpedaled with her feet to get away from his body that toppled to the floor.

A gush of air wheezed from my lungs, a moment of shock, of relief, of sickness, of every mistake and sin that had ever been committed.

The gun slipped from my hold, and I rushed for Aster. I dropped to my knees in front of her and ripped the gag from her mouth.

I took her face in my hands, my attention racing over every inch of her, searching for any injuries. “Are you okay? Baby, are you okay?”

My thumbs frantically brushed over the tears that soaked her cheeks. The right one was swollen and bruised, and there was a cut on her lip.

Fury flamed again.

“Little Star,” I begged.

She gasped a cry, and I freed her hands, and she threw her arms around my neck. “I’m fine. We’re fine.”

I slumped to the ground on my ass, and I pulled her onto my lap and curled mine around her.

I held her tight as our jagged breaths heaved and jutted and our haggard hearts screamed.

I breathed out because I was never going to let her go. “It’s over, Aster, it’s over.”

“Logan,” she sobbed and buried her face in my neck. “Logan.”

“It’s okay. It’s over. It’s over.”

I ran my fingers through the tangled locks of her dark brown hair.

Hyacinth and magnolia leaves.

My breath.

My blood.

My life.

My Little Star.

“Well, shit,” Jud said, scrubbing a giant palm over his face as he looked around the scene.

Trent jutted his chin at Oz. “We need to dispose of these bodies. You have bags?”

Oz nodded. “Three of them. They were intended for you. They knew you would come.”

Oz shifted his attention to me where I held a trembling Aster on my lap, my lungs squeezing the oxygen up my constricted throat.

Questions rushed from me without sound.

He’d turned on Haille.

Had stood for us.

“Why?”

He swallowed hard. “You were not to walk out of here, and the girl was to be slain in front of her father. I would not let that happen.”

Aster choked over the fear that still rambled through her being. Trembles rocked her head to toe, the girl in shock.

If it was possible, I gathered her closer.

“Thank you,” I told him, barely able to get the words to cooperate.

“I have done awful things in his name, and I could no longer be a prisoner to his bidding. I needed out as badly as you, and for a long time, I’ve been looking for a way. But when I learned of what they intended? I knew there was a purpose that I was still here. That it was my duty to stop this from happening. My conscience cannot bear more innocent blood.”

“We’re going to have questions,” Trent muttered.

Oz almost smiled. “And I have answers.”