Page 28 of Revenge Saints (BloodHawks Duet #2)

I t’s morning. Dante and Knox crashed in the living room. Max and Ryker came back with rabbits. We ate, and I collapsed in one of the spare rooms; Max and Ryker took the other.

Slap.

“Fuc—” I yelp.

“Does it hurt, pet?” Knox smirks as we walk back into the house after the shower.

“Yes, asshole!” I groan, shoving his chest. He takes a slow step back, and the fire in his eyes tells me I should run .

“Asshole?” Knox repeats it like a warning.

Shit.

I bolt for the bedroom, feet slamming the floor, heart pounding. A hand wraps around my waist mid-run and yanks me back into a chest like a brick wall.

Max.

“Nice catch,” Knox chuckles, walking in shirtless, jeans slung low, water dripping from his tattoos. Muscles coiled, eyes dark.

My god. He’s all power and sex, and I clench just looking at him.

I squirm in Max’s grip, but he doesn’t budge.

Knox grips my chin hard. “You’re lucky we have shit to plan, or I’d bend you over and teach that smart little ass a lesson again.”

His voice sends a shiver down my spine.

Max kisses the top of my head and lets me go.

They sit around the table with Ryker’s map, spreading out notes and scribbled directions. I hover near the couch, waiting for someone to tell me to leave.

No one does.

Maybe… maybe they’re finally trusting me again.

“He’s got a lot of men,” Dante mutters, and I swallow thickly.

They all nod, silent.

“Shouldn’t we just… stay here?” I ask, my fingers gripping my lap tight. “Make a life?”

They all look at me.

“Come here, doll,” Dante says gently, scooting his chair and patting his thigh .

I move slowly and sink into his lap. His arms wrap around me instantly.

“If this were just any group,” Knox says, eyes locking on mine, “we’d say fuck it, but this is Roman.”

“He doesn’t get to destroy our lives again,” Max snaps, slamming his fist into the table. I jump in Dante’s lap.

“Sorry, sweetheart.” Max gives me a soft smile, the rage still burning behind it.

“Max is right,” Dante says into my ear. “He destroyed us. It took everything to rebuild after what he did.”

“He took what we loved most. Erased our careers. Our purpose . ” Knox looks away, jaw tight.

I reach forward and cup his chin, forcing him to look at me.

“What if you guys don’t make it?” I try to hide the sob threatening to leave my lips.

Knox leans in, brushing his lips to mine with surprising gentleness. “Then we planned it wrong. But we won’t. Every move will be calculated. Every step covered.”

“It’s what we do,” Ryker says, cocky as ever, arms behind his head, smirking. “And we’re fucking good at it.”

I try to smile, but it doesn’t last.

“If you don’t make it back, I don’t want to stay alive,”

“Don’t fucking say that.” Dante’s grip tightens, his hand sliding up to my neck, turning me to face him. “You keep fighting, Aspen. You live. You rebuild.”

Tears slip down my cheeks. I don’t bother to wipe them away .

“No…” I whisper.

“Aspen.” His thumb strokes under my jaw.

“I’ll make sure they come back to you,” Knox says, locking eyes with me.

“ Them?! ” I snap, slapping Dante’s hand off my throat. I stand up, furious, and slap Knox across the face.

His head jerks, cheek red, but he doesn’t look pissed. He looks… Amused.

“You called me an asshole and slapped me twice,” he says, rising from the chair and cracking his neck. “And let’s not forget, you lied and ran . ”

I backpedal, hitting Dante’s leg behind me. He stays seated, arms crossed, just watching.

“You already punished me last night,” I huff, crossing my arms.

Knox steps forward, gaze dark. “Oh, pet… that was just the beginning.”

He leans in, lips barely brushing mine.

“And if you keep slapping me… the punishment? It’s going to be brutal . ”

For some reason, the heat in my chest builds fast. It burns behind my ribs, under my skin. I can’t stop it.

I need to push him.

I take a breath and square my shoulders. “And don’t you think you deserve punishment too?”

Knox’s gaze sharpens, his jaw ticks, and his brow lifts like he dares me to keep going .

“For what?” he growls.

I fight the smirk tugging at my mouth.

“For insinuating that I don’t love you the same way I love the others,” I say, stepping closer. “For suggesting I need them more than I need you. ”

Another step.

His chest rises faster, that thick vein on his neck bulging, his fingers twitching like he’s two seconds from grabbing me.

“ Love? ” Dante says behind me, and my breath catches.

Shit.

I bite my lip, heat crawling up my throat.

“Yes, okay?” I spin around, facing all of them. “I love you guys. All of you. And I can’t live without you . ”

I turn back to Knox. “Any of you.”

The room goes still. No one moves. No one breathes. My heart beats so loud I swear they can all hear it.

And Knox? He just stares at me.

Stone still.

So I snap. “So if you ever say that shit again, like you don’t matter, I swear to God I’ll kick you in the fucking nuts.”

His lips twitch. That grin, slow and smug, blooms across his face.

I roll my eyes and shove past him, storming toward the bedroom, face flushed, and pulse wrecked.

And then I hear it.

“I love you, pet.”

I stop. Frozen .

His tone wasn’t loud, but it hit me like a truck.

A tear slides down my cheek before I can stop it.

“Fuck, Knox . That’s a first, ever,” Ryker mutters behind me, and I hear the awe under his teasing.

I don’t even think. I spin and run straight for him.

Knox takes two steps forward and catches me like he knew I’d do it.

His arms lock around me, and he lifts me off the ground, holding me like he’ll never let go .

I bury my face in his neck. He smells like cedar and something wild. My arms wrap around his shoulders like instinct, like home.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say it that night,” he whispers against my skin. “I needed to bring Dante back first. I needed us all here. Safe.”

A soft cry slips out of me. I can’t hold it in.

“Knox…” Dante comes from behind him.

But Knox doesn’t move. He holds me tighter.

And maybe for once… Knox Archer isn’t the coldest man in the room.

His hand slides under my ass, lifting me up.

I wrap my legs around his waist, clinging to him, my face tilted up to meet those icy blue eyes.

It’s like staring into the sky right before a storm.

He leans in, lips brushing mine, and I grab the back of his neck, pulling him deeper.

Our tongues tangle, and I feel him getting hard beneath me.

One hand keeps me up, the other tangles in my hair, and I moan into him, heat shooting down my spine.

“ Not now, Knox! ” Dante calls out with a dry laugh. “We got shit to do.”

“ Fuck, ” Knox groans against my mouth.

“That was the idea,” I murmur as he sets me down.

He smiles and brushes a strand of hair from my face. “Definitely later.”

I drop onto the couch, heart pounding, cheeks burning. I must look like a damn tomato.

Knox clears his throat and sits, all that heat folding into cool, calculated focus. The others gather.

“So, this is the plan.” He spreads the map out.

“I thought you didn’t have a plan,” Max says, surprised.

Knox glances sideways, right at me, and winks. “Got inspired.”

God. I missed him. This version of him. The sharp, dangerous one. Feral and focused. The one who makes a chill crawl down my spine in the best way.

“Roman’s got too many men,” he says, dragging the pen across the map. “We need to bring that number down.”

I get up and move beside Ryker, who wraps his arm around my waist without a word. And for a second, I realize how natural it feels, standing here with them, like I belong to all of them.

“Okay, how?” Ryker asks.

Knox pushes the map forward, tracing the base’s perimeter. “We fish them out. One by one. Traps near the river, explosives from the hunters’ grenades. Every time Roman sends someone out, we kill them.”

“Fuck, that’s good,” Max says with a grin.

“We hit three times,” Knox continues. “Three traps, three explosions. Each time a group steps out after the explosions? We hit with another. No time for Roman to realize we’re hunting them.”

“We’ll use radios to stay in contact,” Dante adds. “Quick comms. No voices.”

Knox looks at me, and it makes me sit up straighter. “We’ll need your help, Aspen.”

Finally.

Finally, he sees me as someone who can carry her own weight. “Of course. What do I need to do?”

“You’ll stay here. Ryker takes you to a tree near the perimeter. You stay hidden. Every time a group leaves the base, you signal us through the radio. No speaking, just three clicks. We’ll respond with two,” Knox explains, and I nod, taking mental notes.

“Won’t Roman notice?” He has Dante’s radio.” I ask gently.

Knox grins. Almost proud, I asked. “He will. But by the time he figures it out, it’ll be too late.”

“He’ll stop sending men,” Dante smirks, “but we’ll already have cut his numbers. He has at least twenty men,” Dante says, eyes on the map.

“That still leaves a lot.” I frown, trying to think of how to thin them out more, but Ryker chuckles.

“We can each take five,” he says casually.

I squint at him, grab a fistful of his hair, and tilt his head back to meet my eyes.

“If you can take five, then why reduce them at all?”

He grins. “It’s more fun this way. I love a good seek and destroy. ”

He kisses me, and I roll my eyes.

“We don’t hit the base right away,” Knox says, leaning back, full of confidence. “We make Roman sweat. Keep his men on edge all night and all the next day.”

“They’ll be tired. Shaky.” Max grins, arms crossed, muscles shifting beneath his shirt.

“Just how we want them,” Dante says, slamming his knife into the table right over the name Roman.

“We get our fucking home back,” Ryker growls, pulling me closer. I giggle at the dark look on his face.

“And we kill Roman and Bryn,” Knox stops.

His eyes shift to me.

“Kill Bryn?” The words come out trembling.

I know what she did. She helped Roman. Nearly got Dante killed. But… she was my friend . No, my sister .

The thought of killing her turns my stomach.

Knox meets my eyes.

“I know you don’t want to hear it, but,” He hesitates, gaze dropping to the floor.

“Brynn lied to you, Aspen,” Dante says quietly.

I push away from Ryker, stepping toward Dante without thinking, arms crossed tight. “What the hell does that mean?”

Dante doesn’t flinch. “When you saved her, those men weren’t hunters. They were from her community. She tried to take over by trying to kill their leader. They were trading her for supplies.”

His words gut me.

“No,” I whisper. “I saw them. They raped her. ”

“I’m not saying they weren’t cruel,” he says, stepping closer. “But she wasn’t some helpless girl. She wasn’t dragged from a massacre. That story she told you? She rewrote it . ”

“She missed them,” I say, half to myself. I remember the grief in her eyes. How broken she looked.

“She missed the power she almost had,” Knox growls. “She wanted to rule them.”

“She drew the map we found. Not Ethan.” Dante’s voice is colder now. “She’s been playing the long game, and we fell for it.”

I can barely speak. I’m frozen, mind spiraling.

“You want to know what she planned for you?” Knox steps forward, grips my arms, not rough, but firm. “She told Roman about you. She wanted him to use you as bait.”

“No…” I breathe.

“She told him you could have a normal life there. A boyfriend. A baby.”

I start shaking, trying to pull away. But he won’t let me go.

“And if you didn’t,” Knox leans in.

“Knox,” Dante warns.

I snap toward him. “Didn’t what ? ” I punch Knox’s chest. “Say it!”

He swallows hard. “If you didn’t do as told, she wanted to use you, pet. A woman with a soft face to make the men follow her . ”

It guts me.

I saved her. I trusted her. I let her talk me into going back that day with Max, with Knox . I got caught in a trap because of her .

My eyes are blurry .

“Doll,” Dante whispers gently. Knox finally releases me, stepping back.

All of them are standing now. Their hands clenched. Breathing ragged.

“She used me,” I mumble.

“I think she cared for you… in her twisted way,” Dante murmurs. “She wanted you by her side. On her team.”

I feel bile rise in my throat.

Her team?

What? After she turns the guys into corpses? She thinks she can rule the base with me at her side, smiling like some fucking puppet?

She’s insane.

I shake my head. “When you find her… Promise me you’ll let me talk to her. I need,”

My body is shivering.

“Closure,” Dante finishes softly.

I nod, my eyes locking with Knox’s. “Promise me.”

“I promise,” he says with no hesitation.

I breathe deep. “When do we move?”

“Tomorrow,” Knox says. “At sundown.”

He hums gently, his eyes on me. That calm before the war.

I nod and bite my bottom lip, letting my gaze drift across all four of them.

My men.

The heat moves down my body. It slams into my chest, my ribs, my pulse. I want them . All of them. Now . Before tomorrow steals everything .

I take a step back, heartbeat thundering in my ears. My fingers drift down to the hem of my shirt.

And I pull it over my head.

The air bites at my bare skin, nipples hardening, goosebumps rising.

“ Fuck, ” Knox grunts.

I smirk, heart pounding, and bend to shove my pants down. I kick them aside and straighten up, completely naked.

Four pairs of eyes on me.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Max growls, licking his lips, jaw tight. “What the fuck are you doing?”

I swallow, trembling but not with fear.

“I want you,” I whisper. “All of you.”