Page 9 of Revenge Saints (BloodHawks Duet #2)

“N o!”

The scream tears out of my throat before I’m even fully awake. My body jolts upright, soaked in sweat and blood, my blood. The scent hits me like a punch; it’s coppery, thick. I glance down at the sheets, stained rust-red, dried in a pattern that maps the pain still chewing through my shoulder.

I try to move it, fuck. It burns like fire, but the pounding in my skull is gone. That’s something, I guess.

I don’t know how long I’ve been out. Night’s fallen again, so… maybe a day? Maybe more.

My mind’s a mess. Flashes of gunfire, Roman’s voice, Sean taking the bullet out, and then everything goes dark. But one thing slices through the haze.

Bryn.

She’s alive.

Not just alive, she’s in it. In the betrayal. In everything . She played us all.

I shove the covers off and stand, teeth clenched as I hold my shoulder. Pain flares. Good. Keeps me grounded.

I roll my neck, trying to work off the edge, but it’s no use. My body wants blood, revenge, something. I cross the room and yank the closet open; two sweaters hang there. I grab them, needing something to do with my hands.

One smells like her.

Aspen.

Fuck. If she comes for me, if she walks through that door, I need to be ready. I need to protect her—

The lock clicks, and I freeze as the door swings open.

Bryn walks in like nothing fucking happened.

Hair in soft waves over her shoulders, leggings hugging her hips, and a shirt clinging to her curves, thin enough that I can see the hard peaks of her nipples beneath it. No bra. I know what she’s doing, but it won’t work.

She’s pulling out every weapon she’s got, all those tricks meant to make me forget. To make me want her.

I laugh to myself. If she thinks I’d lay a hand on her after what she did, she’s out of her fucking mind. I’d fuck a tree before I’d ever touch her.

Fucking bitch.

“You’re up,” she says, stepping further into the room with a set of clean sheets folded in her arms.

“How long was I out?” I ask. My eyes stay locked on her. I don’t trust her, not for a damn second.

“Thirty-two hours.” She shrugs like that’s nothing. Like losing almost two days of my life is no big deal.

Fuck.

“Aspen?” Her name slips out, rougher than I meant it. My throat tightens, but I kill the crack in my voice before it escapes.

“No sign of her.” Bryn sounds softer now. “Knox probably caught up to her.”

Thank fuck!

She walks over, starts pulling the bloodied sheets from the bed, rolling them up like it’s just laundry, not evidence of how close I came to bleeding out.

I lean against the wall, exhaustion crawling up my spine, heavier with every breath.

“Why did you do this, Bryn?” The question slips out before I can stop it.

She looks up at me, eyes too steady.

“It was Ethan’s plan,” she says, but there is something in her tone, like she is hiding something or playing a part like an actress vying for an Oscar.

“He planned it for months. Long before we even arrived.”

“You could’ve warned us.” I watch her carefully, every move she makes as she smooths the new sheets over the mattress.

I don’t know what game she’s playing yet.

“This base could be so much more, Dante.”

She stands straighter, stepping toward me, eyes gleaming like she’s revealing some grand vision. “Ethan was right about that.”

“More?” I grunt, rage boiling up. “You mean more chains? More cages for women like Aspen?” I saw the fucking paper; he wanted to turn this into a prison.

She flinches, actually flinches, and for the first time, I wonder if this isn’t what she wanted either. If it all slipped out of her control the second Roman stepped in.

But she laughs, and it cuts through the air, cold and mocking. It echoes against the walls like a ghost, and she shakes her head with a smile that doesn’t touch her eyes.

“What?” I growl, stepping toward her.

Her hand moves fast.

She reaches behind her and pulls out a gun.

“Back, Dante.” Her eyes blaze with fury. Real fury.

But I don’t move.

I don’t flinch.

I lock onto her like a target.

“What was Ethan’s plan?” My eyes stay on the gun, but I hold my ground.

She sighs like I’m being difficult. Rolls her eyes like this whole mess is exhausting.

“He wanted to build some fucked-up empire,” she says in disgust. “A kingdom of his own, where everyone bowed down and played nice.”

“And us?” I press because I need to know how deep this betrayal runs.

“The BloodHawks?” she says, mocking. “Ethan said you’d never let anyone else into the base, that you’d rather be like this forever.”

She steps closer.

The barrel of the gun presses into my chest.

My muscles tense, heat coiling through me, but I don’t move. I don’t even blink.

“You know Aspen was my deal with Roman,” she says. “I told him how obsessed you and Knox were. How she was the one thing that could break you both.”

Her hand tightens on the grip.

The metal digs deeper into my chest, but I stand my ground.

“He wanted her the moment he heard that. But I told him she could be of use, a weapon against all of you. It was a way to be sure Roman wouldn’t kill her. I did it to protect her! I care about her, Dante.” She almost pleads to force me to understand her actions.

My blood’s already boiling, rage turning everything red.

“You care so much you faked your death and nearly got her killed?” I snarl, stepping into her space. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”

“She was supposed to stay at the base with you!” she shouts, voice cracking. “That was the only way to keep her safe. You were supposed to protect her, Dante. Not chase after Ethan.”

She’s shaking now. Angry. Panicked. Like we ruined some perfectly controlled story she built in her head .

“You were meant to go after Ethan and find him dead. That was the plan. While Roman took the base and kept her safe.”

“And what? Killed me?” I growl. “Because we both know Knox would never leave her behind alone, I would’ve been here when Roman attacked the base, and there is no way in hell Roman would keep me alive.”

Her mouth opens then closes.

She doesn’t deny it.

“Roman will rape her, Bryn!” I roar, the words ripping through the room like shrapnel. “He’ll destroy her!”

My fists clench. My body trembles with fury.

And she just stands there .

“We made a deal,” she says. “He needs me as much as I need him.”

She steps back, slipping the gun into the back of her leggings.

“Why do you think you’re still alive, Dante?” Her gaze flickers. “Because I told him not to kill you. Because I said you were needed for now.”

Like that’s supposed to make this okay. Like keeping me breathing makes her some kind of savior.

“Knox hates me,” she mutters, quieter now. “If I went back to the base, I’d have to live under his rules again. Never having a say in anything! That’s not me, Dante. I am not the submissive woman you think I am. I am not Aspen!”

I shake my head, jaw clenched so tight it aches. She’s fucking insane.

“Knox would never hurt you. He was devastated when Aspen told us you were dead. ”

And this, this is what it all boils down to?

A grudge. A power trip. A twisted fantasy of control?

All this chaos, all this betrayal because she couldn’t have her opinion heard?

She never even tried to give an opinion. We would say “jump” and she would ask, “how high?”

“What are you, twelve?” I snap.

Her eyes flash. “Ethan was right! ” she yells. “We can’t live like this forever, just the seven of us playing house while the rest of the world burns! You think that’s survival?! That’s delusion!”

“The fucking world barely exists, Bryn!” I shout, stepping toward her. “Everyone out there is dead or trying to kill. You and Ethan were safe with us!”

She turns, like she’s done with the conversation, like it’s beneath her, but I grab her arm and spin her back.

“Don’t let Aspen come here.” I grunt, trying to contain the urge to snap her neck. “You don’t know Roman like I do. You think you can control him, that he will bend over pussy! He’s evil, Bryn. He’ll chew up and spit out whatever is left; that includes you!”

Her eyes find mine.

And for a second I see it.

Worry.

But it’s gone just as fast; the mask clicks back into place.

“I promise nothing will happen to her,” she says, yanking her arm from my grasp and storming out, slamming the lock behind her.

I stare at the door. Jaw clenched. Chest burning.

She really believes Aspen will be safer with Roman ?

Why the fuck would she think that? He fucked her; is that it? Roman never cared for anyone but himself.

She barely knows him. I need to do something.

Bryn’s either lost her goddamn mind, or she’s playing some next-level game of pretend. And the worst part?

I can’t tell the difference anymore.

But she’s right about one thing: if Aspen hasn’t shown up yet, Knox probably caught her in time.

He’d never let anything happen to her.

I scan the room for anything—a weapon, a tool, something. But when Knox locked Aspen in here, he stripped the place clean. Left nothing she could use to hurt herself… or us.

I drop onto the bed, the mattress stiff, the silence louder than it should be.

I stare at the ceiling.

And it’s not Bryn I see.

It’s them.

Max. Ryker. Knox. Aspen.

My family.

And I’m not naive enough to pretend Knox can just walk in here and get me out clean. There’ll be blood. Ours. And if any of them die trying to save me?

I’ll never forgive myself.

Roman, just the thought of his name makes my blood boil.

He’s the reason we became the BloodHawks.

Roman called Knox, asked him to make an international team, but we would only receive orders from him and go where he told us.

But we didn’t give a shit. We craved the adrenaline, the mission, the brotherhood. We thought we were doing something good.

What a fucking joke that turned out to be.

No contact with anyone else at the base. No middlemen. No backup. Just us and the mission.

They gave us a small wing inside the base.

In our downtime, Ryker found a place offsite. A real house. Normal shit. We’d drink, crash, and bring back hookups like we weren’t walking weapons waiting to be unleashed.