21. ~Aurora~

21

~Aurora~

I sank back against the desk chair, pulling from my coursework yet again.

It was impossible to concentrate for more than a few moments at a time before my worry for the guys surged and overtook everything, my every thought and action.

It will be over soon.

That’s what I kept telling myself to keep my thoughts from spiraling.

And venturing outside every half an hour to smoke. I didn’t usually do it that much, I wasn’t a heavy smoker like Asher. But desperate times and all that.

There were also their messages. They’d stopped a couple of hours ago when they’d obviously been in the thick of it, needing their full concentration and wits about them. But from a few minutes after they’d left all the way up until then, they’d kept me updated, kept things lighthearted with their humorous banter and their dirty talk.

I snatched up my phone and looked over our group chat yet again.

Jonah: Forgot to mention, leftovers in the fridge.

Killian: Yeah, don’t forget to eat without this fucker there in your face about it.

Jonah: Fucker? You wound me, Pretty.

Killian: Suck it up, Savage.

Jonah: GFY, Pretty. And, Princess, there’s that veggie lasagna you’ve taken to liking. Might wanna start there.

Killian: When you head down there, let me know how much ice-cream I have left.

Jonah: Asher says there’s a carton of smokes in the basement freezer. Says you can have at it.

Aurora: You’re all so sweet. Who knew?

Killian: When we get back, it’s gonna get sickly sweet with our reunion. Think you can handle that?

Jonah: How sickly sweet? What are we talking here?

Killian: Fuck off.

Jonah: Pretty just kicked my seat, Princess. Hard too.

Aurora: Play nice, boys.

Jonah: Ash said he’s not gonna play nice or sweet when he gets back.

Aurora: I’d expect nothing less.

Killian: Flowers. Candlelight dinner. Bubble bath.

Aurora: The sickly sweet you promised? I love it.

Jonah: Asher’s laughing

Aurora: Tell him don’t be mean to Killian or I’ll kick his ass in the ring again.

Jonah: Oh, shit. He said he’s down for that and he looks way too excited.

Aurora: He’ll change his tune when I have him down on the ground begging to tap out.

Jonah: Says you’re getting his cock hard.

Aurora: Then my job is done.

Jonah: Not until you’re choking on his hot cum, he says. I second that.

Killian: Violence and fucking. Ash just can’t resist. Sorry he’s sullying our sickly sweet talk, darlin’.

Aurora: I can’t complain. It’s entertaining. And distracting.

Killian: I’m glad. It’s all good. We’re all gonna be good.

Jonah: True that. Gonna be fine, Princess.

Jonah: Ash wants us to take a call with Bryce. TTYL.

Killian: XOXO.

When they’d arrived at the venue, it had started up again.

Killian had sent over some pictures, mostly of polar bears and tigers, a couple of some fake golden trees in the lobby of the fancy place.

Jonah had taken a picture of his golden suit jacket and his dick hanging out of his pants from within a bathroom stall.

He’d then sent a few of Killian.

I’d chuckled at one of him screwing up his face as he sipped at some champagne.

Jonah: We’re framing this.

Aurora: LOL.

Jonah: Pretty can’t stomach his champagne, but had to rush to take the edge off. Tried to warn him, but nobody listens to me, the wisest of us all.

Asher: Wisest of us all?

Jonah: Uh oh. Aurora, help. Major SOS, I’m in trouble now.

Asher: So now you’re opposed to my punishments?

Jonah: Fuck, I take it back.

Asher: Too late.

Jonah: Aww, come here, give me a kiss. I’ll make it up to you.

A picture had come in then of Jonah wrapping his arm around Asher and planting a kiss on his cheek. I saw Killian in the background catching sight of them.

Killian: Delete that photo, assholes.

Jonah: No can do. We can take more, though, to bury it.

After that, so many had come in.

And, to my surprise, Asher had been there in a lot of them, joining in their fun, instead of going the loner route.

It should’ve been something great, something positive, and a cause for celebration.

But I knew him well enough to see beyond the surface.

He was sublimating.

He was immersing himself in the lighthearted fuckery with Jonah and Killian to take the edge off, because he was beyond anxious, beyond riled up. He knew he was walking into hell on earth and it would only be a matter of time before he was confronted with the flames of hellfire.

God, I just had to trust that he could handle this, that he could see them all through his.

He knew what he was doing.

He was the smartest, the most ruthless, the most manipulative, and the most capable.

And he knew his enemy. It just broke my heart that it was his own father.

Their fathers.

None of them had spoken to it. Probably because it was too heavy to be uttered, too brutal.

After that, there’d only been one more picture and I’d seen him in the background.

Carson Monroe.

The texts had stopped then.

They’d crossed paths with the Devil.

“Shit. Get a grip,” I muttered to myself as I pushed out of my chair and pocketed my phone in my leather jacket.

I was fully dressed in tactical pants, a black tee and my hard leather jacket, the one I used for riding because it was the toughest of the tough. I even had my Sig holstered at my right hip and two knives on my person.

Yeah, I was on high alert.

And I would be until the guys returned.

So was Hexwood House.

Asher had ordered his Head of Security, Bryce, to pretty much lock the place down. Only a select few were even allowed a hundred feet from the gates. Asher was trying to cover all bases.

I headed out of my bedroom and made my way along the corridor, pulling a smoke and a lighter out of my inside jacket pocket as I went.

I gave a polite nod to the two security guards that lined the walls as I made my way down the landing and headed down the stairs.

Another two gave me a chin lift first as I headed through the foyer toward the main entrance doors.

I was just twenty feet out when one stepped into my path.

“One moment, Miss,” he said at my questioning look. He tapped his earpiece. “Roger that. Ready to receive.” He ended the transmission, then told me. “You have a visitor. Not to worry, he’s on the list.”

Asher’s acceptable persons list.

“Who?”

“Ronan Wilhem, Miss.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t expecting this. “Good. Good.”

The guard stepped aside and I approached the door just as it was opened by another guard on the other side.

Ronan stepped through, nodding in his usual polite way to the guy, before spotting me and smiling brightly.

As the door closed behind him, he strode up to me. “Sorry to spring this unannounced visit on you, but can we talk for a moment? I need your advice on something.”

“My advice?”

“I’m looking at getting a motorcycle. You’ve got a custom ride, I want your input. I would’ve caught up to you around town or something, but I didn’t see you around. Now I see why with all this heavy security. You and the boys obviously have some stuff going on.”

“Uh, yeah,” I answered as I tried to process what he was saying.

And what he wasn’t.

He’d come out here just to ask me about bikes? Something he could’ve gotten from a dozen different forums or sites online?

Nope. I called bullshit.

“Ronan, what—”

He gestured with his eyes at the guards. “Can we talk in private?”

“About what?”

He lowered his voice. “I’m worried about you. I heard something from Liza earlier at Fusion. One of her friends was talking and—” He stopped and eyed the guards uncomfortably. “I’d rather tell you in private considering the content—for your benefit.”

“Okay, yeah. We can go into one of the salons. Two guards will follow, it’s protocol right now, I’m afraid.”

“No problem.”

I led him a little deeper into the house and ushered him into the first salon along the way, one I’d actually only been in once in all the time since I’d been here.

There was a bay window and a wraparound couch adjacent to it that faced a television, and that was about it.

It was one of the simpler and more plainer rooms in the mansion.

The two guards came in, shutting the door behind them, then taking position, one either side of the door.

“So, what’s the deal?” I asked as I followed Ronan deeper into the space, further away from the guards so he could have the privacy—at least from an auditory perspective—like he needed.

He was staring out the window, his back to me.

“I apologize for the way this needs to happen. He’s not happy about it either.”

I tensed. The words alone, but also the majorly ominous delivery.

“What needs to happen? Who are you talking about?” I asked.

I saw his hands moving in front of him.

I went to give a signal to the guards.

But I didn’t get the chance.

It all happened so fast.

Ronan spun, then lobbed something at the guard on the left, then a split second later, at the one on the right.

They slapped their hands to their necks and I saw two tiny silver tubes protruding.

Their eyes glazed over so quickly and then they slid down the wall in heaps.

I reacted, pulling my gun.

Before I could cock it, Ronan was there, grabbing my offending hand, stopping me with an intricate and very precise hold that prevented me from moving my fingers even slightly.

“I’m not here to hurt you.”

“What about them?”

“Tranqs.”

“How did you get those past the security check?”

“In pieces inside the cigarettes in my case.” He released my hand, but jerked the gun free in the process.

“Who the hell are you?”

He held up his free hand to indicate he wasn’t doing anything untoward or aggressive as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a silver cigarette case. I choked out a gasp at the sight of the eagle engraved on it. And more than that, the initials.

L. C.

“That’s my dad’s. When he smoked… he used to carry that.”

“And when he quit, he gave it to me.”

“What the… what the hell is going on? You’re a plant? One of his people?”

“Not a plant, but I am a friend of his. We served together. Ronan is an alias. He sent me here to watch over you when Drew alerted him that you were heading here on your mission.”

“Oh my God, my uncle knew?”

He nodded.

“The two of you were working together to get me out of here—the Christmas break idea, what you said to me after that attack the other day… this is… shit.”

“I’m sorry to hit you with all of this at once. I’ll explain more in detail later. But right now we need to act. There isn’t time. I need to get you out of here.”

“I can’t… I can’t just take your word for all of this. One of his enemies could’ve obtained that cigarette case and then—”

“Here.”

He put the case back, then brought his phone out. He smiled as he dialed. “On the ball, just like him. He’ll be proud.”

His call connected, and then he was speaking, “Yeah. She’s here. Five minutes tops? All right, make this quick then.”

He put it on speakerphone mode and held it between us and then I was staggering back a step, my heart jumping to my throat as a voice I hadn’t heard in so long sounded through the room.

“Angel?”

“Dad,” I uttered, my voice breaking.

“It’s been too long and I’m sorry, so sorry.”

“I’m working to bring you back, to make it safe.”

“No more.”

“What? No, I’m not stopping, Dad. No way.”

“It all ends tonight. Ronan is one of mine. He’s going to get you out of there. Allow him to do his job. He’ll keep you safe.”

“I don’t need it. I’m not the girl you remember and—”

“They’re coming, angel. Right now. You need to get out immediately.”

“Who’s coming?”

“The Infidels.”

“I don’t… no. Tonight is—”

“I know what tonight is. But things don’t always go according to plan. Not even Asher’s carefully crafted ones could predict a curveball like what’s occurred tonight.”

“Asher? How do you know about that? A plan? Tonight?”

“We’ve been in contact.”

My stomach lurched. “What? Just now?”

“No. For weeks.”

“He wouldn’t do that. He would’ve told me.”

“These boyfriends of yours aren’t what they seem. They’ve corrupted you, they’ve manipulated you, and because you’re there in their home right now, they’ve just put a target on your back for the Head Infidels.”

I scrubbed my hand over my face, trying to get a handle on all of the sudden and brutal information.

He didn’t give me a chance to even begin to make sense of it, as he said, “You’ll be with me soon. I’ll take you away from all of this. You’ll be safe. Everything’s going to be okay, Aurora. I’m here now. It’s all over.”

Before I could respond, he spoke again in a different, commanding tone, “Ron, get her out. Now. Three minutes until they breach the Hexwood border. Take the path we discussed. Use the Audi the boys kept of Liv’s.”

The Audi? He’d arranged for Killian to take it that night?

“Got it, Lan. See you soon.”

“Godspeed.”

With that, he hung up.

Gone.

Just like that.

Again.

As Ronan put his phone away, I stared aimlessly.

His hand on my arm startled me out of it. “Head to the main garage. Move quickly, but not hastily. Don’t draw the attention of the guards. They’re under Asher’s orders, they won’t permit you leaving. They don’t have the information that Lan and I do to make a different call.”

“How do you even know then? Asher’s plugged in, aware of every little thing.” Much more than I even realized obviously with him being in contact with my dad all this fucking time.

“One of Lan’s plants got wind of an errand Samuel Carmichael was tasked with running tonight. That errand is to bring you in as a doll to be auctioned along with the rest. It’s a Hail Mary move to draw Lan out.”

Oh my God.

I didn’t get to voice it when an alarm suddenly exploded from the speakers wired throughout the mansion. An ear-piercing whirring, almost violent in its intensity.

“Let’s move. Now,” Ronan urged.

He handed me my gun and snatched up one of the fallen guards’ Glocks for himself.

He threw open the salon door and the moment we stepped out into the corridor, automatic fire thundered, coming from several places at once.

The guards were running all over the place, taking different sites of the sudden home invasion.

Ronan was all around me then, covering me as he rushed us down the corridor, headed for the garage.

We were just a few feet out when Bryce rushed into our path, coming from Asher’s office.

“Get to the basement,” he ordered. “Go with her, keep her company until we’ve dealt with this.”

“You think these fuckers can’t breach it, you’re dreaming.”

Bryce’s eyes narrowed, suspicion setting in. “You know who they are?”

“You will the second they step out of the shadows instead of firing from there like cowards. The black hooded robes will give them away, I’m sure. Not to mention, the gold one.”

“The Infidels.” To his credit, being the hardass that he was, Bryce hid his fear extremely well and kept on point, ordering again, “Basement, Aurora.” He glared at Ronan. “They won’t breach those doors. They’re reinforced steel.”

Ronan shook his head. “You’ve got balls, buddy, it’s a real shame you’re forcing my hand.”

“What—”

Before Bryce could finish his sentence, Ronan pistol-whipped him across the side of the head. As Bryce reeled, he took full advantage of it, ignoring my cries for him to stop, and smashing Bryce’s face into the wall instead, taking a chunk out of it, the brutal impact knocking poor Bryce out. I winced as he slumped down on the floor in a heap.

“Let’s go,” Ronan said, stepping over him and holding out his hand to me.

“He’s right about the basement. You shouldn’t have done that. He’s a good guy.”

He looked at me sadly. “They’ve really done a number on you. There’s nothing good here. This place isn’t for you. Your dad wants you with him. This is our one chance to get you out without inciting a war in the process with Asher and his flock.”

Gunfire rang out and I shot a look over my shoulder to see four robed assholes rounding the corner.

Ronan and I reacted on instinct and bolted around another corner just as bullets bit into the wall.

But before we could get more than a few feet down this path, three more robes turned the corner at the other end.

Ronan fired off two rapid-fire shots that had one of the invaders screaming out, then he bolted for the closest door, dragging me with him.

Heavy footsteps sounded from right outside as he locked it, then ran over to a pool table and slammed it against it.

“That won’t hold,” he muttered.

“No. It won’t,” I agreed, rushing over to the small window at this side of the mansion. “We can cut a path from here where we’ll only be exposed for ten seconds before we can disappear into the forest. The garage is no longer an option. We’ll have to make it on foot, then commandeer the closest vehicle we find along the way.”

He smiled as he joined me, helping me with the rusted window lock. “Nicely improvised plan.”

“My dad doesn’t know this side of me, who I am now.”

“That side is what he’s worried about. And another reason why you need to get out now.”

“Let’s just focus,” I grunted, his words hitting far too many nerves that had just been exposed painfully with this visit and that call.

“Smashing it to shit would be much swifter, but it’ll alert any of the enemy searching this area of the building for me outside.”

“It’s all right, almost there,” he said, as the mechanism finally gave way.

I let him take over with opening it as I stepped back and pulled my phone out. “I need to alert Asher and the guys.”

He snatched my phone out of my hands in the next second and pocketed it in his jacket. “It’s not safe. They’re surrounded by enemies. They could be compromised at any moment. You won’t know who you’re really communicating with if you send a message to them now.”

Before I could argue on it, the door gave way and the invaders started pushing against the pool table.

“Go! Go! Go!” Ronan urged, pushing me toward the now open window.

I climbed through and landed in a primed crouch beside a flower bed.

My senses screamed at me and I turned into a running attack from an Infidel.

As I dodged out of the way, I saw Ronan struggling and only halfway out the window as the invaders came at him. He kicked one back with his boot.

That was all I was able to see before I had to react swiftly to block a fist coming at me. I caught it in my palm, then shoved my knee into his forearm, ripping it away. Before I could finish him off, a shot rang out, making me jump back. It hit wide. Along with another and another. Purposely, I realized as I was forced behind the trunk of a tree, several feet from the window.

Ronan made it down, landing in a steady crouch.

But he had to flatten himself on his stomach on the ground as shots rang out from every which way.

We were pinned down, unable to get to one another.

He started firing from the ground, me from behind the tree.

But we were firing blind, the shooters blended too well into the night with those damned robes.

One of the invaders started clambering out of the window.

It forced Ronan to lift his arm in a bid to knock the guy back and defend himself.

A bullet zinged through his arm, making him grunt.

Shit.

I bolted from my point of cover, ducking and rolling toward him, to protect him as another two made their way out the window, clearly intending to finish him off.

I realized on my way over that none of the shots came anywhere near me.

Thinking about it, they’d all hit really wide of me inside the house too.

They were trying not to harm me because they wanted me as a doll. I honestly hadn’t thought they’d care about inflicting harm, because I’d seen it up close for those hostages during the takedowns. So, what was going on?

There was something more to it.

As with this whole thing tonight, I had no time to think on it, before something else got in the way along with all the rest.

This time it was Hexwood House security barreling into the area, firing back.

That should’ve been a good thing, until a barrage of robes responded by breaking through the trees and heading right for us all.

Flashbangs came into play, compromising several of our security all at once.

More and more.

Some were forced to fall back, others were hit by gunfire as they suffered the intense disorientation of the grenades and couldn’t find cover through it all.

I swung my head toward Ronan, crying out as I saw him take another bullet, this time in the side. He roared, his eyes connecting with mine. I saw his desperation and determination to try to salvage his rescue mission.

But then a flashbang hit and he was inundated.

I went to bolt toward him only to catch the brunt of another.

I staggered forward, then wavered, my ears ringing, painful bright spots obscuring my vision.

Something slammed into my back.

I stumbled but maintained my footing somehow.

But that didn’t matter in the next second when something slammed into my gut, making me choke and double over. I fell back in the process and an arm snagged me, wrapping around my neck, forcing me into a chokehold and ripping my gun from my grip.

It wrenched my head back, putting brutal pressure on my windpipe, making me wheeze for my next breath.

I felt more arms on me as I was dragged away.

I couldn’t even figure out where, I was so disorientated from the blast.

The dragging finally stopped and then I was released roughly.

I landed hard on my hands and knees.

My jaw was grasped in a painful grip, my head forced up.

I blinked and I jolted as I found myself looking into familiar eyes.

Creepy fucking eyes.

Samuel Carmichael smiled maliciously down at me.

“Carson can’t wait to meet you.”

His boot smashed into my face and that was it.

Lights out.