Page 42 of Sadistic Retribution (Rise of Phoenyxx #2)

Phoenyxx

I'm anxiously awaiting the text from Jax. This is the longest fifteen minutes ever.

The guys sidle up close to me. “Pazessca, can we discuss the revenge?”

I raise my brows, stifling a giggle. I must admit-that shit was satisfying!

“What was going through your mind, Malishka?” Ghost asks in a quiet voice.

“All I could feel was anger and rage. I was let loose to create havoc and mayhem. The only thought I had was making you all pay for everything you did to me—not just taking Valley from me, but every-fucking-thing.”

“Understandable,” Frost responds. “But some of it was pretty... hardcore.”

“Hardcore?” I bark a sarcastic laugh. “Each thing I did was fitting for your individual crimes. I don’t regret it.”

Synn winces. “The... um... thing you did to me...”

Frost laughs. “The cucumber?”

“Man! That was supposed to stay secret!”

“Hold up, bro. Cucumber?” Trikk holds his side, laughing his ass off.

I look at Trikk. “I drugged him, tied him up, and fucked him in the ass with a big cucumber.”

“No fucking way!” Razor doubles over with laughter.

“It’s not funny!” Synn retorts.

“The punishment fit the crime,” Valley chimes in.

I look at her with a grin. “Exactly.”

Valley starts to tremble again after a moment, and I turn to look at her. “Sorry,” she whispers.

“Hey, you’ll be fine. Stay close to the guys. You’re so strong, bestie, you can do this. I love you so much.”

Tears fill her eyes, but she blinks them back. “Nyx, Holy Taco—I will be awesome! Bring my Bry back, okay?”

I laugh, loving the shit that comes out of her mouth. I squeeze her tightly against me. “I promise.”

“Love you too, bitch. You'd better stay safe!”

The guys surround me, all talking over each other.

“Guys! We’ll all be fine,” I say. “Follow the plan.”

They take turns hugging and kissing me, which I allow, considering what we’re about to do. They all say they love me.

“I love you all too, even if I'm still so fucking angry with you. Do not get hurt, okay?” After a second, I add, “Please keep Valley safe, Frost and Trikk. I can’t lose her again.”

They both kiss me, and Frost murmurs, “I’ll keep her safe with my life, Killer.”

Trikk also confirms, “What he said, Bambi. Love you.”

I pass out the pokey sticks to those of us going to The Morgue. I keep the hunting knife—I know how vicious this blade is, and it’s fun to play with. Strapped up, we all congregate by the front door, waiting for the signal.

Hunter's phone buzzes, and he sighs heavily, blowing out a breath. “Let’s go! Remember: once we’re ready to split up, you’ll have fifteen minutes to get in and back out of The Morgue.”

He opens the door, looking out into the hallway. “Clear,” he reports.

We file out quickly, our bags slung over our shoulders. We all hurry down the stairs to the door that leads outside.

Hunter opens that door. “There are still people out in the courtyard, so hoodies up. Stay quiet and don’t get noticed.”

We go out into the chilly fall evening, keeping our heads down, but still looking all around us.

The students are all fucking, drinking, and smoking something.

Probably marijuana, based on the earthy, pungent aroma wafting from it.

They don’t even look at us as we cut across the courtyard, over to the admin building.

“Careful in here,” Hunter whispers. “Purge’s father is still around here somewhere, I'm betting.”

I hold my breath as we stride right through the front entrance. There are more people walking about in here. They're all distracted by whatever shit they’re doing, thank fuck.

We walk quickly, but quietly, over to the art hallway. I'm behind Synn and Ghost, with Razor and Purge flanking me. Hunter leads, with Frost, Valley, and Trikk right behind him.

Trikk grabs Hunter’s sleeve, pointing at Ghost’s secret room. “Are we doing anything about that big-ass safe we found in there?”

“Leave it for ZYGOS to handle,” he whispers. “Concentrate on getting out—that's priority.”

“Sure, bro.” Trikk shrugs, as we move through the long hallway.

Hunter stops suddenly. He whispers back, “Purge’s father is over in the opposite hallway. Go quickly and stay quiet. Hopefully he won’t see us.”

Fuckity-fuck. I glance up from under my lashes, seeing an older version of Purge, massively built, with greying hair and equally huge men surrounding him at the far end of that hallway. His father and one other guy are in tailored suits, and the rest are wearing all black.

We move our asses down the hall, past the point where we can be seen. I look over at Ghost’s secret room, a small smile gracing my lips at the memories. I see him doing the same, and he looks back at me, mouthing “I love you, Malishka”.

We are standing in front of the exit door. Hunter texts Jax, and after a second, he looks up. “Here is where we part. Guys, you'll have fifteen minutes from the time you get to the fence to get the fuck in and out. Pretty Girl? I love you madly.”

I refuse to cry, sending him a watery smile. “I love you back, Hunter.”

He looks down at his screen, then whispers a bit more loudly, “Go!”

We push out the door, the three guys with Valley cautiously moving to the tree line in the direction Jax is parked. Valley turns around for a split second, waving goodbye to me. I put my hand over my heart and blow her a kiss.

I turn back, following Synn, Ghost, Razor, and Purge to the edge of the forest, towards the fence. I shiver in the cold and crisp air, rubbing my arms. I have a sour taste in my mouth—stress, no doubt.

We hustle into the trees, cutting over to the part of the fence where we can see the shed The Morgue is disguised as.

We wait for Hunter to give the signal, which he does by text.

I glance at the screen, then look at the guys, nodding the go-ahead.

Synn picks up a stick from the ground, tossing it at the fence.

When nothing happens, he nods. “You first, Pazessca.”

I've never climbed a fence before, and this one is really high. Adrenaline spurs me on, and I scramble up the side as fast as I can, pausing at the top. I straddle it, then carefully make my way back down the other side. The sleeve of my hoodie catches on a bit of sharp wire, but my skin doesn’t get cut.

Once my feet hit solid ground, I gesture for the guys to follow.

Synn comes down next, jumping the short way to the ground once he’s almost all the way down. “You hurt, baby?”

I shake my head, showing him my sleeve. “All good, it didn’t touch me.”

Ghost comes next, and fuck, he is fast. He moves so fluidly, it’s like he’s almost flying.

He makes it to the ground; Purge coming after.

He’s a bit slower, pausing to check every couple of inches as he goes.

Once he’s safely down, Razor takes his turn.

He's a bit of a calamity—throwing himself up and climbing like an insane person.

He pauses to jump from the top, and I say urgently, “No, Razor!”

Luckily, he listens—climbing down, instead. When we’re all down, Synn nods his head towards the shed.

The closer we get, the more scared I become.

I have confidence in the guys; the fucking sadists will mow through anyone getting in our way.

But I also know the masks are in there somewhere, and more staff close-by is very likely.

This is going to be tricky. We're not just escaping.

I have to lead us through the nightmare building, to find the others we need to rescue, as well.

I steel my spine, not accepting defeat. We will pull this off; and will get the fuck out of this hellhole!

Frost

It's a huge responsibility being in charge of keeping Valley and Trikk safe and getting us to Jax’s car.

I’m glad Harris is with us. He knows the guy, so he’ll recognize him easily.

My head is on a swivel, checking every inch of our surroundings.

There’s a lot of trees and plenty of places people can hide out here.

I'm in the lead, with Harris directly behind me. Valley is between me and Trikk. We move slowly, my paranoia keeping us from going faster.

“Dude, bro... Can we, like, pick up the pace? This is Grandma-mode,” Valley says softly.

Trikk chuckles behind us.

“I suppose we should. I’m just being cautious.” I go a bit faster, keeping to the tree line as Harris told us to. This land is massive. It's probably a good half mile to the road. We keep a steady trek, getting closer to the circular road that leads out.

I’m constantly keeping watch for other people. It's a bit odd that none of the students have made it down here. I wonder why they’re not trying to actually leave? Perhaps they’re so caught up in rioting, they’re not thinking about it?

Shrugging to myself, I just pay attention to moving forward and keeping the others safe.

I'm huffing a bit when we reach the edge of the road. I turn to the other three and ask Harris to clarify, “We’ll be going all the way down, then to the left. Right?”

“Yes, exactly,” he confirms.

Trikk and Valley both shoot a thumbs-up.

We step onto the road, staying to the side. It's easier to walk faster here, since it’s even ground. Valley bitches about being cold. I just ignore her, concentrating on getting down the winding driveway without being seen.

I don’t see a single soul around, thank fuck. I'm still on high alert. We push forward, getting closer to the end of the drive with each step.

Synn

I’m going to make sure this is pulled off without a single hitch. Harris may have the brains, but he’s in charge of getting the others to the car. Which is good. I’m much better suited to this. I’ve got the rage and bloodlust to clear anyone getting in our way.

I'm glad Razor, Purge, and Ghost are with us. Between the three of us, we’re an unstoppable killing machine.

We’re getting close to the shed. I have my eyes open and am alert to any minute changes in our surroundings. I’m mostly concerned with Pazessca, but my brothers matter just as much.