Page 45 of Blood and Thorns (Twisted Ever After #1)

Arabella

The familiar scent of books and coffee surrounded me, the gentle hush of excited whispers and rustle of paper. The little bookshop wasn’t somewhere I’d been before, with its rows of antique-looking shelves and a little corner café that served hot drinks and cake.

“What about Chip? Is he not allowed inside?”

Langdon shook his head. He knows his place. And so do you. Don’t leave the shop, Langdon typed, pointing at his eyes, then pointing at me dramatically. You can grab one book and then meet me at the table.

I grinned, already knowing it was worth Sebastian growling at me for leaving the penthouse.

He’d never explicitly said I couldn’t leave, and it wasn’t like I’d wandered outside alone.

Scanning the shelves, my fingers trailed over the spines as I debated which book might give me the escape I was craving.

Something that could pull me out of my head and into someone else’s mess for a while.

Then my eyes landed on it, a Mafia romance, and I couldn’t help but grin. The idea of reading it aloud to Sebastian, just to watch him smirk, was too tempting to resist .

Grabbing the first in the series, I turned back and spotted Langdon already waiting with two drinks and a generous slice of cake. He waved, and I took the seat across from him, book in hand.

“How come you don’t have guards like Sebastian?” I asked, taking a sip of my coffee. “Or does Chip count?” Langdon had a hot chocolate complete with cream and marshmallows, and even had a chocolate moustache that I refused to tell him about.

I am Bas’s guard. He smacked his chest with an open palm. He began to sign slowly, and I watched every movement before he typed the sentence out. He’s the man at the top, and Caden and I are his enforcers.

I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Enforcers?”

Langdon sliced the cake in half, shoving his half in his mouth before pushing the rest towards me. I took a bite, taking my time to chew.

“How long have you known Sebastian?” I asked when he wouldn’t elaborate.

Langdon held up his hand, his fingers spread.

“Five years? Or since you were five?”

He was five, I was seven. Means I’m the more mature one. He grinned, tapping the screen while I read it. Our fathers were rivals. Really pissed them off that we were friends. We’d sneak over each other’s houses, and then when my dad croaked , I moved in permanently.

“I’m sorry.”

Don’t be, he was a cunt who beat me. Mael treated me better, even if Bas hated him. He downed the rest of his drink, eyeing mine until I did the same.

Picking up the book, he walked over to the counter and paid before gesturing for me to stand. Taking one last bite of the cake, I placed it on the tissue, following him outside. The breeze was gentle, breaking up the heat from the sun as I waved to Chip, who was leaning against the car.

I handed over the tissue, Chip frowning down at the small chunk of cake nestled inside. “Thanks,” he said quietly, glancing at Langdon as if seeking permission.

“So, what errands do you need?” I asked over my shoulder as Langdon watched the exchange with a strange expression. With his chin, he gestured towards the Chinese takeaway across the road called Wok & Roll .

“Did you need assistance inside? Or would you like me to stay here, Sir?” Chip asked, almost eager to tag along.

Langdon pointed to the car, and Chip’s face tightened.

“Of course. I’ll be out here if you need me.”

Taking my arm, Langdon crossed the road, banging on the shutters of the restaurant three times.

It didn’t look open, the shutter down and covered in obscene graffiti that really emphasised the male appendage.

I’d never thought I’d witness two cartoon men having a sword fight with their penises, but here we are.

After a moment, the shutter began to rise with a squeal, and a short, elderly Chinese woman greeted him with a wide, toothy grin.

“Mr Langdon, how lovely to see you. We were expecting Mr Caden,” she gushed with a thick accent. “My granddaughter’s looking for a husband, you know.”

Langdon shook his head, then bent gently at the waist while she chuckled.

“Come, come. Everything’s arrived and ready to be processed.

My grandson’s currently checking to make sure nothing’s been compromised.

Just as instructed.” She gestured her arm for us to go forward, and after Langdon made sure I was following, he walked through the charming takeout, past the counter and into the kitchen at the back.

“It’s too early for food,” the woman said, the top of her head barely reaching my nose. “But take these.” She handed me and Langdon a fortune cookie each, and Lang immediately cracked his and crumpled up the paper in his hand.

“What did it say?” I reached out for his fortune, smoothing out the wrinkles. “It says to ‘Seek help from professionals trained in mental health care.’ ” I laughed, and Langdon rolled his eyes before pointing to my cookie. I broke it open, and read, “The fortune you seek is in the other cookie.”

Langdon smirked before tugging at a large metal door, the air icing as he continued through the walk-in freezer. Making sure I was still following, he placed his palm on a strange looking panel hidden partially by a box of frozen meat. The wall clicked, opening up with a waft of smoke.

Noise assaulted me, male voices arguing followed by laughter.

Hidden behind the freezer was a large warehouse storage room piled high with plastic-wrapped cubes.

Two men with sweat-stained vests moved cubes of powder from the shelves to the table in the centre, a cigarette hanging from their mouths.

Face masks hung from their necks, and the plastic overalls that clearly were supposed to be worn were tied around their waists, leaving their legs protected but their arms bare.

They didn’t acknowledge us, instead continuing to check over each cube before carefully breaking the powder into individual packets and placing them in takeout boxes.

A third man stepped into the room from the only other doorway, snapping something in Chinese. The two men replied with a panicked tone before quickly removing their cigarettes and pulling up their masks .

Langdon turned to the woman, who was angrily glaring at the men.

“Yes, yes, it won’t happen again,” she said before stepping inside.

“So, this is where you package it all?” I asked, wrapping my arms around my waist to protect myself from the cold.

Lang looked down at me with a raised brow. After a moment, he lifted a single finger.

“One of them?”

He nodded, seeming to wait for me to react at the knowledge. To be honest, I didn’t really know how to react. I knew Sebastian ran a business, and I knew it was to do with cocaine. I just wasn’t sure how in-depth the operation was, or whether I really wanted to know.

Wait here, Langdon typed, showing me his phone.

“Sure, don’t worry about me. I’ll just casually freeze to death,” I muttered to his back. One of the men eyed me cautiously but didn’t approach as Langdon disappeared into the side room.

I decided to step further into the space, the cold behind me biting at my skin.

The men continued to inspect each cube, chatting away while I waited for Langdon to return.

The room was reasonably large, with exposed concrete walls and metal beams. Shelves lined both sides, mostly holding supplies for the takeaway restaurant, as well as wooden pallets and cooking equipment easily large enough to hide anything if need be.

I debated whether to wait in the front of the restaurant, but as I turned there was a loud bang, followed by an intense wave of heat. A shove to my side nearly knocked me off balance, the two men running past me hard enough that I was crushed against the wall.

With my ears ringing I shouted for Langdon, coughing as smoke erupted and got trapped against the concrete .

Moving quickly, I ran further inside, skidding to a halt at the flames eating up the far wall. “Lang!” I shouted, finding him on his knees on the floor, staring at the fire. Awake but unresponsive. “Langdon?”

A wail drew my attention to the elderly woman crying.

The third man was trying and failing to lift a heavy desk that had been overturned, with her crushed beneath it.

She sobbed, blood trickling from her lips as tears left a clean line down her dust-smeared cheeks.

Rushing over I tried to lift the desk, but even with my help it wouldn’t budge.

“It’s pinned!” I said, realising part of the brick wall had collapsed on top. The entire room was a mess, my brain unable to understand the chunks of debris and warped metal. The holes in the walls and the strange whirring sounds.

Then there was the crackling of the flames, which continued to move closer, the heat stinging.

I pushed at some of the rubble, realising the woman’s foot was caught by the corner, her bone protruding from her ankle.

“Over here!” I called, realising each time the man tried to lift he was just crushing her further. I caught his attention above the roar, waving him over.

As he began to lift from this side I knelt, pulling the woman out from beneath the desk. As soon as she was free, the man scooped her up.

“Go get help!” I screamed, having to duck beneath the growing smoke.

My lungs burned with every breath, Langdon almost lost as he continued to stare.

“Lang!” I fell to my knees beside him, relieved to see he was unhurt but for a cut along his cheek. “I need you to get up!” But there was no response, not even as I shook him.

Gripping his chin, I forced him to face me. “Look at me!” His eyes stared blankly, as if I wasn’t even there. “You’re okay, but we need to get out of here right now.”

A slow blink, a little of his earlier light finally reaching his eyes.

With a jerky nod, he gripped my hand and pulled us both to our feet.

I tugged him towards the freezer, only for a fresh wall of heat to hit us, throwing us both back against something solid.

It knocked the air from my lungs, the smoke forcing me to struggle to replenish the oxygen.

Langdon sat beside me, his eyes open but once again vacant as the flames ate away at the surrounding space.

“Please! You’re too heavy for me to drag!” I tried to shove him and pull his arm, but he wouldn’t budge. Cursing, I searched his pockets, my hands shaking when I found his phone. I almost cried at the single bar of signal, quickly scrolling through his contact until I found Sebastian.

Except he didn’t answer.

“Fuck!” The flames were getting closer, almost kissing his outstretched legs. I managed to pull him back an inch, but it wouldn’t be enough. Scrambling through the contacts once more, I found Caden.

He answered on the first ring. “Lang, remember you can’t speak you fucking–”

“We’re at Wok and Roll, and there’s been an accident!”

A pause, the ceiling above us cracking beneath the heat.

“Ara, why the fuck are you on Langdon’s phone?” he growled. “What the fuck have you done? Where’s Lang?”

Honestly, if I survived this shitshow, I was going to smack him for the unnecessary attitude in this stressful situation.

“It exploded, and I can’t get Langdon to move.” I tugged him once more with all my strength, but he barely stirred. “Cade, the flames are coming, and I can’t move him!”

“Hit him.”

I froze. “What?”

“Hit him. Hard.”

I slapped him, his head jerking to the side. “It didn’t work!” I cried, Lang simply continuing to stare into the fire.

“Fucking hell, Ara, hit him harder!”

This time I punched him, my knuckles aching from the blow. It knocked him to the side, closer to the flames that were threatening to consume us both.