Page 37 of Always A Villain (Revenge Duet #2)

“ W hose blood is that?” Griffen’s voice grates against my skull as I scrub my hands in the sink, red staining the water, streaking my skin, splattered across my face and clothes.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Jesus, Axe, what the hell happened?”

I don’t have time for his fucking questions.

“We need to move. Now,” I snarl, dismissing his concern.

“Axe?”

“WHAT!” I snap, the fire in my gut threatening to ignite. “Conrad met with the Dolore at that old Sovereign warehouse outside the city. I’m going to butcher every last one of them.”

“What’s your fucking plan?” He paces like a goddamn anxious dog. “You can’t just run off half-cocked and start killing people. We need to think. We have to be smart about this.”

“Smart?” I bark, gripping the edge of the counter so hard I might splinter it. “I’m going to rip them apart. I’m going to make them suffer for what they’ve done.”

“Let’s just talk about this for a minute. We don’t even know where she is yet. We need a plan first.” Worry etches deep lines across his face, but all it does is piss me off.

All I can think about is Rory.

My chest locks tight, rage and fear twisting inside me like razor wire.

“Fuck!” I hurl a glass across the room. It explodes against the wall. “I have to find her!”

“We will, but we need a goddamn plan.” He moves to place a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m done fucking waiting!” I shove his hand away. Too fucking furious, too fucking terrified to argue.

“We need to inform the Sovereign and gather a team, Axe. We can’t take the entire Dolore on alone. I’ll go to the Iron and talk to Arsen. If we don’t do this right, we’ll all end up dead—including Rory.”

I don’t say a word. My breaths come in angry bursts.

“Axe?” he pleads, eyes locking onto mine, searching for a flicker of sanity.

“Fuck off, Griff. I can’t lose her.” The words tear from my throat. “I love her. I fucking love her. I can’t—” My voice falters, crushed under emotions I can’t control.

“I know. We’ll get her back. If anyone can take down the Dolore, it’s you. But we have to be smart. We need reinforcements—a fucking team. It can’t just be us. Just let me put a goddamn team together.”

“Fine.” The word hisses out, bitter as lead. He nods, his back to me as he heads for the door.

I’m left alone in the kitchen, my mind a fucking war zone.

Every instinct screams for vengeance. But he’s right, and I fucking hate it. I can’t take down the Dolore alone.

I charge up the stairs, ripping off my blood-soaked clothes. In the bathroom, I confront my reflection.

A monster glares back.

I twist the shower knob until the water’s scorching. But there’s no amount of heat, no amount of water, that could diminish my fury. My fists press against the tiles, knuckles white, teeth clenched.

She’s gone. Torn from me. Taken.

Every dark corner of my mind lights up with visions of what they might be doing to her—what I’ll do to them. The thought of her out there, helpless, afraid—god only knows what filthy hands might be touching her.

She’s the only thing that matters.

The only person in this godforsaken world I’d ever spare.

I love her more than my own goddamn life.

My fist slams into the wall, cracks spidering across the tile. But I don’t stop. I hit it again. And again. The pain is nothing. Not compared to the torture of not knowing where she is.

They don’t know what they’ve unleashed.

I’ll make their worst nightmares look like fairy tales.

I’m worse than the devil himself?—

Conrad and every motherfucker involved will face my wrath.

I dress quickly, fire coursing through my veins, and head downstairs to grab my keys. I load Kane into the car, strapping the Kevlar vest snug against him, protecting his shoulder wound—he’s ready for blood.

Cranking the car to life, I peel out of the driveway, tires screaming against asphalt.

The warehouse looms in the distance. Maybe it holds a clue—a lead—anything that can direct me to her. Every turn of the wheel fuels my urgency, my rage boiling over as I grip the steering wheel like it’s the last thing tethering me to sanity.

Griffen’s call slices through the chaos, jolting me back into reality.

“What?”

“Isaac’s calling all Generals and Lieutenants for an emergency meeting.”

I don’t bother with a reply.

The call cuts as I’m already pulling up to the warehouse, throwing the car into park and stepping out. Kane bounds beside me, nose to the ground. The air hangs stale around the abandoned lot. Each step echoes in the hollow space as we push inside.

I prowl through the darkness, scanning every corner, every damn inch for a sign—anything. But it’s just me, Kane, and the suffocating silence. My phone vibrates again in my pocket—I ignore it.

“Fuck!” The shout ricochets off the walls as I kick a chair across the floor.

Kane’s bark gets my attention. I turn, finding him at the entrance of a darkened room. His nose presses into a pile of clothes crumpled in the corner, and my blood goes cold.

She was here.

I step forward, hand shaking as I reach for the sweatshirt laying crumpled on the floor. It’s mine—she was wearing it. I bring it to my face, breathing her in, the faintest trace of her scent stabbing through me.

My knees hit the ground.

Eyes squeezed shut, I clutch her clothes against my chest, helplessness consuming me.

“Rory,” I rasp, voice barely holding.

Dried blood speckles the floor, leading toward the exit—a trail of dark-red dots that ends cold in the parking lot. Kane whines, his nose nudging my leg as I trace my hand over the faint marks.

She was here—so close—so fucking close.

“Where are you, baby?” The words scrape like glass out of my throat.

I force myself to stand, my body thrumming with nowhere to go. The fucking uselessness of sitting here while she’s out there, it eats me alive.

I sink back into the driver’s seat, staring blankly at the lot stretching out in front of me. I feel it—a clawing, grinding kind of desperation, worse than rage, worse than fear.

“GOD-FUCKING-DAMNIT!” I slam my fist into the steering wheel. My phone buzzes again, screen flashing with missed calls, texts—none of it fucking matters. I crank the ignition and tear down the road to the Iron.

My allegiance to the Sovereign has been absolute, untouchable, for as long as I can remember.

But today, that loyalty can fucking burn .

Every damn thing I am is focused on her.

I pull up, and Griff’s pacing outside. The second he spots me, he’s in my face. “Axe, where the hell were you? I’ve been fucking calling you!”

I don’t answer. Don’t even look at him. I just shove past, storming toward the Command Center, Kane’s footsteps heavy at my side until I order him to stay. Griff’s right behind, hurling questions I don’t bother to answer. When he finally says, “Isaac is waiting.”

I give a sharp nod. “Good.”

Inside the meeting room, the air is thick with tension. Generals and Lieutenants are already gathered, some seated at the large table, others standing. Expressions grim, their eyes shift as I enter. I lean against the wall, jaw tight, hands clenched.

Isaac stands at the front, arms crossed, staring at me.

“Axe. Glad you could finally join us.”

I don’t respond, the fire in my eyes daring him to test my patience.

Isaac resumes, “As I was saying, we have an urgent situation. Conrad has betrayed us. His reckless actions are a threat to everything the Sovereign stands for. We’ll be organizing teams to find him and bring him in for justice.”

“I’m going after Rory.” My voice is stone.

Isaac’s eyes narrow. “No. Conrad is our priority. That’s where your focus needs to be.”

“Fuck your priorities. Rory’s mine.”

“This isn’t up for debate,” Isaac shoots back, voice measured. “You’ll track down Conrad—that’s an order. Rory is not a sanctioned objective. ”

“Like hell she’s not.”

I take a step forward, and Griff moves in, trying to hold me back. He’s one shove away from getting put through the nearest fucking wall.

Arsen cuts in. “I’m going with Axe.”

Priest steps forward beside him. “Count me in.”

Spencer steps forward next. “I’m going too.”

I’ll deal with that bastard later.

Isaac’s face darkens. “You will go after Conrad, or there will be consequences.” It’s a warning, but I don’t give a fuck.

“Then I’ll take the fucking consequences.” My voice is razor sharp. “I’ll stand in front of the whole goddamn Council and lay it all out—how you ignored every warning about Conrad, about the Sovereign lives he’s taken, the danger he’s posed long before he dragged the Dolore into this.”

The room falls silent.

Isaac’s jaw clenches, but I hold his stare, daring him to push this further. “You’ll regret that.”

“Not as much as you’ll regret standing in my way.”

Commander Zane speaks up. “Axel’s right. The Dolore need to know what happens when they cross us. This ends now.”

Isaac doesn’t break eye contact with me, but I can see it—he’s weighing the risk.

“Fine,” he finally concedes, his tone clipped. “Go after her. Bring her back. But you’re still under my command. No rogue actions, Axe. Clear?”

“Crystal.”

He leans in. “Get her back, then you’re on a team going after Conrad. No questions. Am I understood? ”

“Perfectly.”

Isaac nods. “Dismissed.”

I turn on my heel and stride out, the others moving with me. Our footsteps echo down the corridor as we head for the armory.

“We’re out in five,” I bark.

“I’ll get the plane ready,” Arsen says, already moving toward the elevators.

Griffen grabs gear, stuffing weapons and supplies into bags. More Sovereigns join us, silent in their loyalty. A nod here, a clenched fist there. This isn’t for me—this is Griff’s influence. I don’t go out of my way to make fucking friends.

Then I spot Spencer.

He has no fucking business here.

“Valentine,” I growl, pointing him out. “Get the fuck out.”

“Axe, just let me explain?—”

“I said, get out .”

Spencer steps closer, jaw twitching. “Listen to me. All these years, she’s tried to tell me who my father really is, and I didn’t believe her.

I ignored every warning, every sign. When she needed me most, I did nothing.

I just fucking sat there… If she dies out there.

..all she’ll remember is that I abandoned her. I can’t live with that. I won’t.”

I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but something in his face stops me.

I know what he means to her. How much it wrecked her when he chose Conrad.

“Fine,” I grit out. “But you follow my orders, or I’ll fucking kill you myself.” I turn to Creed, voice like iron. “ Both of you. Follow my lead.”

They nod, ready for bloodshed.

“Gear up. We’re moving.”

Kane is at my side, his hackles raised.

Arsen claps a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s get your girl.”