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Reaper

I don't know who got the first shot off. Bear? Hammer? One of the others waiting in the wings?

It doesn't matter. We hit a split second before Scar pulled the trigger. He was fast, but we were faster. The bullet didn't kill him, we'd leave that for Viper, but it threw off his aim enough to save Prez from eating metal for dinner. That's all we needed, that split second before all hell broke loose.

Viper trusted us to keep him alive. We wouldn't let him down. Not with that or anything else.

He knew Scar would pull his gun when he found out about the bag of evidence. He knew he'd be staring down the barrel of a forty-five tonight. He'd planned for it, anticipated our enemy's every move so we'd be prepared when chaos broke out, which it did in spades.

After the first shots, everyone moved—our guys, Scar's. The lot became a battlefield as men poured out from the warehouse, joining the fight, giving us our opening. As our men crashed with theirs, the teams set up to rescue Raven and Kat moved in.

With the chaos outside, we bet they'd have fewer guys guarding them than normal. We took out the stragglers as we went, using the firefight as a distraction. The first guys were too preoccupied with watching the battle to watch what crept behind them. After that it was cake.

Bodies pile up as we move deeper into the warehouse. The blueprints we retrieved gave us a good idea of where they may hold hostages. That and the intel from their rat made us confident we'd find the girls quickly. We split up into small teams to find them faster. The sooner we get them back, the better.

Jesse and I turn a corner down an empty hallway. We haven't seen any of the Bastards since we split from the others, but voices echo somewhere ahead of us. We're close; I can feel it. Jesse looks at me, and I see in his eyes that he feels it, too. We're coming, Wildfire. We're coming.

The voices grow louder the closer we get. Two men stand outside a closed door, arguing about something. "We should go in now. No one will know. You heard all the gunshots out there," one says. "Nobody's gonna come bother us now. Not till they've taken care of the snake scum and his boys."

"She deserves it," the other adds. "Stupid bitch broke my nose."

Raven. They're talking about Raven. Wildfire.

"You hold her down, and we'll take turns having our fun."

My blood is boiling. These fuckers are dead!

I start to move, but J holds me back when footsteps echo from the opposite end of the hallway. More of the Bastards. The second any of them go for the door, they'll fucking meet their maker. No one touches my girl!

With a glare, I shove Jesse off and wait for the footsteps to stop. I peek around the wall we're hiding behind and see Dom stop in front of Raven's door. "What're you whispering about?" he asks the others.

"We were sayin' we should take a piece of the rabid bitch while Scar's busy outside. I owe her for my nose already. Seems the least she can do."

My jaw clenches so hard my teeth threaten to break. Not a single one of them is walking out of here alive. They'll all be packing heat, but it doesn't matter. I'll take on every last one of the Bastards by myself if it means Raven walks out of here alive.

" . . . gotta make it quick. And we can't use her up too bad; I want a piece again later." Dom's voice cuts through the noise in my head.

Rage. Fiery, relentless, white-hot rage sears through me. Jesse doesn't hold me back after that. If he tried, he'd regret it instantly. The three men are now opening the door between them and my Wildfire. One makes it inside and starts running his mouth before we get there, but the other two are dead before they cross the threshold.

The thud as their lifeless bodies hit the ground draws the attention of their cohort. Dom . He's close to Raven now, too close. Confusion, then excitement, etches onto his face when he sees the two of us standing behind him. He knows why we're here, he never shies away from a fight, gets off on it even. But there's a better prize on the other side of the room this time, something he can use against us. He jumps toward Raven, making the last mistake of his pathetic life.

I see red.

Tackling the son of a bitch to the ground, I let loose. I remember all the times he came to our turf and stirred shit up. Thought about all the looks and comments he shot at my girl. The fucker had it coming. He's fucking dead.

He's strong, and he knows how to fight, but I'm better. There's no match for my rage, not now. He'll be dead before he lands a decent blow on me; I'll make sure of that. Every time he speaks, trying to throw me off my game, commenting on how good Raven felt or how loud he made her scream, I hit him harder. His words only fuel my fire.

I'm death incarnate, and he's my next victim.

When Dom realizes that, too, he reaches for his pocket, searching for a weapon—the only thing that would give him an inch in this fight—but it's too late. I'm far too angry. With a quick maneuver, I snap his wrist, making him howl in agony. It's so satisfying to hear that mother fucker squeal.

By the time I stop pounding his face in, it's unrecognizable. His blood coats my fists, the walls, the floor, everything nearby. It isn't nearly enough. I want him to suffer more for what he planned to do to her, what he may have already done.

He said during our fight that he did terrible things to her, but that was just talk to get inside my head. Throw me off so he could gain the upper hand. But what if it wasn't? What if he really had done those things to her? The thought reignites my rage, and I kick his corpse hard, flinging him to his side.

"Reaper. Reaper!" Jesse's voice cuts through the air. I turn and find him kneeling next to a small body.

She isn't moving. She's lying there battered and bruised, looking almost as lifeless as the men J and I killed. A fear I've never felt grips me as I crumble to the floor next to her. I reach out a shaky hand, afraid touching her will make her disappear before my eyes. Wildfire.

The memory of our last conversation pulls the front of my mind. That can't be how things end between us. I need time to make up for it, to apologize. She has to be okay. She has to.

"She's alive. Bruised pretty bad and probably sporting some broken ribs, but she's alive," Jesse tells me. "We need to get her out of here."

I nod, trembling as my hand grazes her cold, bare arm. The contact makes her eyes fly open, and she gasps, struggling to sit upright as she tries to shuffle away from us. Dark circles under her eyes tell me she hasn't slept much, if at all since she's been here. And the look of anger on her face, the defensive way she holds her arms, tells me this isn't the first time she's woken up like this.

Fury rises inside me, as does the urge to protect her. How many times did she have to fight them off? How many times did they win?

Her eyes dart between Jesse and me. Confusion and disbelief show in them as she holds her stance. I try to say something—anything—that will calm her down, but when I open my mouth, nothing comes out.

Jesse holds up his hands in surrender. "Rae, it's okay. It's J and Reaper. We're here to take you home."

Raven's eyes flit between us again like she can't believe what she's seeing. Like she doesn't think we're really here. "J? Reaper?" Her voice is quiet and weak in a way I've never heard. She's always so strong, so sure, so confident when she speaks. This version of her is one I never thought I'd see. It's one I never want to see again.

Whatever they did to her, they'd all fuckin' pay.

The dead body lying only feet away will look like a mercy killing compared to what the rest will get. They'll all suffer for what they did to my girl.

A strangled sound comes from Raven's lips, pulling me from my murderous thoughts. "Reaper? J? You're really here?"

I start moving slowly toward her. "I'm here, Wildfire. I'm here."

Her eyes turn glassy, and a sob shakes from her lips as she drops her arms to her lap. "I'm so tired," she whispers. "So fucking tired."

She doesn't flinch when I pull her into my arms, cradling her protectively. "I've got you," I tell her, holding her close. "I've got you."

Her answering sob almost breaks me. She's safe now. Nothing, and no one will ever get to her again. I'll make sure of it.

"So . . . tired." Her voice is weak as she repeats the words into my chest, fisting my shirt like it's a lifeline tethering her to safety.

Cupping the back of her head as I rub her back, I tell her, "Sleep, Wildfire. I've got you. You're safe now." She lets out a shaky breath before giving in to exhaustion, falling limp in my arms.

Jesse's been quiet for a while, but he reminds me that we aren't home-free yet. "We need to go. I let the others know we found her. There are only a few of Scar's guys left. We should be in the clear once we get outside."

I carefully stand up, holding Raven to my chest as Jesse leads the way outside. We don't run into any more of Scar's crew, and the gunshots have stopped. Viper and the others must have taken care of the rest of them while we were inside.

I see the exit ahead. A few more yards, and she'll be free of this hellhole. My arms still cradle Raven as she sleeps, her head lolling with every step I take. Almost there, Wildfire. Almost outta here.

Jesse lowers his gun as we reach the exit, extending one hand to open the door. As he starts to push it open, a familiar click sounds by my ear, and a hard object presses into my head. "Not so fast."

J turns, eyes wide and livid, as he looks at the prick standing behind me with a gun pressed against my skull. "Where do you think you're going?" the fucker mocks.

"We're leaving," I grind out. "With her."

He laughs, pushing the barrel of his gun harder against me. "Ohhh, I don't think so. Leave the girl, and maybe I let you walk out in one piece."

"Not a fuckin' chance!"

Jesse's eyes move frantically between me and the Bastard. I see him trying to work out how to get us out of this, but the fucker has the upper hand here. It won't be easy. "Think about this, man," he says slowly and calmly, holding his hands in front of him. "Think about it. You fire that gun, our guys hear it and come racing in here, you'll have thirty bullets in you before you reach the corner. There's no way you get out of this unless you put the gun down. You do that, we won't kill you."

Scar's man scoffs. "You think I'm stupid? If I drop my gun, I'm dead. At least this way, I'll take one of you with me." His barrel bites into the back of my head.

"You drop that gun, and I promise I won't touch my weapon," Jesse says. "We just want to take her and go. You can disappear into the wind."

A snarl erupts behind me. "You think I'll fall for that? Fuck you. I'll cash my ticket to hell, but I'm takin' this fucker with me."

Loud ringing from the gunshot echoes in my ears. I wait for the pain, wait for the blood, darkness, numbness, anything, but none comes. Jesse lets out a breath as he looks at the ground behind me. "Oh, thank fuck. Took your sweet time, didn't you."

Confused, I look behind me. Laying there is one of Scar's men. The sick fuck's lifeless body is bleeding from a bullet wound to his head. Reality hits me like a Mack truck. I'm alive. I'm still here to protect Raven. A wave of gratitude washes over me as something moves to my right.

A bulky figure appears from the shadows with a hard look in his eyes as he lowers his gun. My brother. My savior. "Raptor," I say with a gruff nod. I'm not much for thank yous or talking in general, but I know he understands my gratitude.

His returning nod confirms it; then his eyes focus on the small body I hold in my arms. His jaw tenses as he juts his chin in her direction. "She okay?"

"Think so," Jesse answers. "Pretty banged up and exhausted, but she's tough. They find Kat?"

Raptor nods. "Yeah, she's already in the van outside. We're just taking care of the stragglers and prepping the tanks."

Jesse starts to reply, but I don't hear a word he says. I want to get Raven as far away from this place as I can. Without another word, I move passed him, carrying her into the cool night air. Each of our guys stops what they're doing as we pass, taking a second to confirm we have my girl back. When I reach the spot where Bear, Hammer, and Viper have Scar on his knees, everything freezes.

Viper takes one long look at Raven, leans in to say something to Scar, and fires a bullet through the middle of his forehead.

"He the last one?" Bear asks, eyes glued to the dead body of the Bastards' president.

"Yeah," Viper confirms, glaring at the corpse. "Time to light it up."

His eyes shoot to me and Raven, and I watch as he swallows hard. Agony is written on his face as he looks at his daughter. "Get her back safe," he orders. "The rest of us will clean up here."

Minutes later, it feels like I can finally breathe. Raven is still asleep in my arms as Raptor pulls away from the warehouse. Brightness and loud booms follow when we reach the highway, speeding away from the last holdout the Bastards will ever have.

The gas tanks on the lot had all been cracked open, spilling accelerant that would fuel the fire Viper and the others set as part of the cleanup. Between the gas and propane tanks we found scattered all over, the fire would have fuel to help it burn hot and angry for hours. It would burn away every last memory of those fuckers and send their ashes into oblivion.

The war is over. We won. And no one will ever see a single one of those fuckers ever again.

Good fuckin' riddance.