Page 37 of Not Her Day to Die (Star-Crossed #2)
W here is she?
He has been circling the same spot for longer than he wants to acknowledge, but he can’t find the entrance. But he knows she is nearby. Can practically feel her. It is causing his blood to pulsate with unused energy.
In the distance, sirens have ignited the night and Darius knows he’s running out of time before this entire place turns sideways. Circling back one more time, he closes his eyes and simply allows his feet to guide him.
And that’s how he finds the entrance. He runs into it, literally. Rubbing his head with one hand and drawing back vegetation with the other, a metal door reveals itself. It is built into a tree and is nearly impossible to find if you don’t already know where it is.
Or have some innate power tugging me towards the girl I love.
Stomping behind him draws his attention, and he twists uneasily.
“You! What are you doing out here?” a guard yells.
Darius doesn’t recognize one of the men that is pointing a gun at his face.
But the other, he does.
Disbelief and shock are knives that stab him over and over again.
“I’m Sterling’s son.” He puts his hands up, pretending he doesn’t recognize either of the men. “I’m here on his order. ”
The two men exchange a look. From this distance, Darius can’t tell if they believe him or not. It is too dark and the trees are much thicker here, leaving no room for the moonlight to trickle through.
The man he recognizes twists back first. “You and I both know better than that,” Rick sneers, leveling his gun at Darius. “No hard feelings boy. Surely your father will understand it’s better off if you don’t make it out of here.”
Darius doesn’t have the chance to think of an exit strategy before two gun shots ring out.
He winces, expecting pain, but when there is nothing, he rolls his lips and flares his nostrils, exhaling heavily.
The two men who had been questioning him slump to the ground and from behind them, Axel and Grayson step out.
A smile and relief spark to life.
“Thank fuck, I needed to see him die,” Axel exclaims, shifting his attention towards Darius. “There you are!” He runs up, gathering Darius into his arms.
“Darius,” Grayson says. “I’m happy to see you here, but where is Sunday?”
Axel lets go of him and looks around. “She isn’t with you? Where is she? Is she okay?” The questions are fired rapidly, growing increasingly desperate and their happy reunion is short-lived.
Darius’s joy at seeing his brothers transforms into guilt.
“We were separated after–” He can’t speak it into existence.
At least not yet. The others will need to know what he was made to do.
And if they can’t forgive him? Well, he would worry about that once they were reunited with Sunday.
“She’s down there, I just found the door. ”
He turns back and wastes no more time in opening it. Inside is complete and utter darkness, but Axel whips out his phone’s flashlight .
Down and down they go.
The stairs are steep, but they all move swiftly. They are shrouded in complete silence save for their footsteps. But the closer they get to what Darius thinks should be the end, they all start to hear it.
Distant screams.
The brothers exchange a look but continue on. Until they make it to the bottom of the stairs. To the locked and closed metal door. To the body that lies just outside of it. A hole in her chest from where she must have been shot.
Darius recognizes the dead woman. Sterling’s official wife. Maxwell and Rayden’s mother. She had never really been shown to the public, but Darius had crossed paths with her the first time he was taken down here.
Henrietta.
She was just another victim, and a reminder no one was safe here.
A wave of sadness pierces his heart. Followed by crippling anxiety.
Sunday is okay. She’s okay. She has to be.
“Now what?” Axel yells. “The doors are sealed shut! What are we supposed to do? We can’t open–”
And then as if by magic, the metal doors creak and groan as they glide open.
The brothers all step back, unsure of what is on the other side.
But then Luna walks into view.
“You must be the infamous O’Brien brothers.” She lets out a sardonic laugh. “Took you long enough,” she says. “Is the FBI here yet?”
“Where’s Sunday?” Axel blurts.
“Answer me first,” Luna snaps, wobbling on her feet.
“Yes, they’re here,” Darius advises. “Now please, where is she? Is she okay? ”
“Go get your girl. She’s in the control room. But there’s no air down here, you need to find her soon. Get us out of these fucking loops!”
She steps aside, using the wall for strength, and gestures for them to continue. Her words hit him, the weight of what they mean, but Darius doesn’t pause to question her, he maneuvers through the crowd of captives before he takes off sprinting.