Chapter Thirteen

AXYL

I did what I’d been dreading. I left my kids and the woman I love upstairs.

To reach the safe room, you have to pass through the kitchen, and to get to the kitchen, you have to cross the living room, where the front door is.

I see her head into the boys’ room, then I bolt down the stairs, firing off a text to Westyn to let him know we’re under attack. If he’s been watching them as closely as he claimed, he shouldn’t be far behind.

I reach the bottom of the stairs, and the gunfire is coming from the front porch. I turn to see Ali and the boys descending the stairs. “Coast is clear. Go,” I tell them before I dash out the front door.

Reaper and Trigger are taking cover behind the posts. “How many we got? Alexander’s men?” I ask as I duck for cover.

“Reaper and I ran out here when the shots started. There are about fifteen men out here. I don’t know if there are any in the back. We’ve been pinned down,” Trigger informs me.

“You’re telling me someone could be in the fucking back and get into the kitchen?” Damn it! “We need to get back there and make sure no one is there.

“Aliana and the boys were heading toward the damn safe room!” I leap up from my hiding spot and fire a couple of shots. I hear someone go down. “Cover me.”

ALIANA

I rush into the boys’ room as Axyl heads downstairs to ensure the coast is clear. When I open the door and see the boys huddled in a corner, tears streaming down their faces.

“Hey, babies. We need to go to the safe room. Like we practiced with daddy. Okay?” I ask, walking over to them. “I know it’s scary, but I’ll be here with you the whole time.

“Come on. Daddy is making sure no one is down there. We have to hurry.” The boys get up and crash into me. I hug them back and soothe them enough for them to make it down the stairs.

Once the boys are calm enough, we head toward their door and start going down the stairs as Axyl is coming up.

“Coast is clear. Go,” he said before rushing out the front door. I hope they are all okay. My main focus right now is getting the boys into the safe room. As long as they’re safe, that’s all that matters.

“Okay, boys. Let’s go.” I grab each of their hands, and we make our way down the stairs, toward the kitchen, as quietly and quickly as possible. There is gunfire coming from every direction.

I can hear shouts and Axyl talking to the other two guys on the porch.

We make it to the kitchen and are almost to the basement door when shots start coming through the windows. I do the only thing that I can think of to protect my family.

I throw the boys down to the ground and cover them with my body. My adrenaline is at an all-time high, and the only thought running through my mind is getting the boys to safety.

I’m not as worried about myself since I know that if these are Alex’s men, they won’t hurt me because I’m carrying his children. “Are you two okay?”

“Yeah, mama. We’re okay,” Murdock is the one that answers.

“I’m scared mommy.” Danny cries. Me too kid. Me too.

“I know baby, but we still need to make it to the basement and the safe room. On my count, I want you two to stay low to the ground and head toward the basement door. Okay?” I ask them.

They both nod in acknowledgment.

“Okay. One...Two...Three. Go, babies, but stay close to the ground.” The bullets haven’t stopped yet, and I don’t want to risk either of them getting hit. Hell, I don’t want to get hit.

I want to make sure my girls are safe just as much as I want to make sure my boys are safe. The boys get up on their hands and knees and start crawling toward the door. I look around and make sure no one has made it into the house.

So far, so good. We’re so close to the basement door when the back door gets kicked in. “RUN!” I shout to the boys, and we take off to the door. Murdock flings it open when I’m yanked back by a pair of strong arms.

The boys stop and turn around at the sound of my screech.

“Not so fast, babe.” The all too familiar voice says behind me. I freeze in his arms.

“MOMMY!” They both shout in unison.

“Run, babies. Mommy is okay. Go! NOW!” I yell at them. I need them safe.

“Snake! Get the kids. They’ll make some good leverage,” Alex says, causing me to start to struggle to get out of his hold.

“NO! Run, boys, and don’t stop running. No one can get you in the safe room. I swear if you touch a hair on their heads, I will rip you limb from fucking limb,” I growl out.

“Feisty. We’re going to have to break that out of you again,” he says. I hear the familiar lock of the safe room door, and then I see Snake coming back up the stairs without my boys.

“They’re safe. That’s all that matters right now. “Where the fuck are the kids!” Alex screams, making me go deaf momentarily in my ear.

“The bastards are fast as shit,” Snake says, slightly out of breath. “They got to the room before I could get to them.” Thank God for small favors. Probably helped that Snake was slow as shit.

I’m not sure why they decided to bring him if they planned to grab me. He’s not the best option if it involves running.

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to do,” Alex mutters in my ear, and I tense again.

“I’m not buying it, you self-centered, crazy jerk!” I jab my elbow into his side with all my might. He grunts, his grip slackening just enough for me to spin around and knee him where it hurts most.

He groans in pain but doesn’t fall.

“You’re going to wish you hadn’t done that, you witch!” He snarls, his fist connecting with my face. My head jerks to the left from the force of the blow. My vision blurs with black spots.

He’s still a bit shaky from the low blow, so I shake off the dizziness and turn to sprint for the basement. I manage to reach the door and descend the stairs without stumbling.

I can hear footsteps echoing behind me as I reach the safe room door. But before I can punch in the code and secure myself, arms encircle me again, hauling me back up the stairs.

“Oh, this is going to be a blast, breaking you down again before I take my kids and end you. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they’re raised right. If they’re anything like you, they’ll fetch a pretty penny.”

We’re back in the kitchen, and he’s heading for the back door, still dragging me along.

“NO! LET ME GO! AXYL!” I struggle, but my energy is dwindling along with my adrenaline. I can feel the sting of the punch I took, and a searing pain radiates from my side.

I must have been hit when they started firing through the kitchen windows.

“Shut up, witch,” Alex snaps. “Snake, hand me the stuff.” Stuff? What stuff? I don’t have to wonder for long when Alex presses a cloth over my mouth and nose, and I quickly discover what this ‘stuff’ is.

I try to hold my breath as long as I can, but I’m only human and need oxygen to survive. I take a deep breath, and it doesn’t take long for me to surrender to the darkness that the drugs promise.

AXYL

Westyn should be arriving any minute now with backup. They started moving when Alexander and his men headed this way, just as I predicted. They were only an hour behind them.

If they broke every traffic rule, they could make up that extra hour in minutes. I’m almost out of ammo. Trigger and Reaper are in the same predicament.

The more we take down, the more show up. “Where the hell is our backup?! We’ve been at this for almost half an hour.”

“NO! LET ME GO! AXYL!” Aliana’s voice echoes from inside. My blood instantly turns to ice. Before I can rush into the house, I hear the sound of our backup arriving.

Soon enough, Westyn and the club are taking down men left and right. I seize the distraction of my club’s arrival to go inside and rescue my girl.

I dash into the house and straight to the kitchen. Glass is scattered everywhere, likely from the shootout. I glance around, and the back door is wide open.

I bolt out to see Alexander and another man dragging my unconscious woman toward the road. The gunfire has ceased out front.

Westyn, Trigger, Reaper, and the rest of the club rush out the back as I sprint after my girl before they can take her away from me. “ALEXANDER! Let her go, and I’ll make your death swift and painless.”

He just laughs at me.

“No can do. She’s mine, and I plan to reclaim what’s mine. Especially my daughters. Now do us all a favor and back off before I kill her right here and now,” he says before starting to walk again.

All I want is to have her back in my arms, and I won’t stop until that happens.