Page 16 of The Devil’s Escape (The Devil’s Soldiers #7)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BULLET

We’re in a race against time, and we’re on the losing side.

We hurry out of the kitchen, and I stop when I see two teenagers standing there, a mixture of fear, awe, and curiosity on their faces. Though, on the boy’s face, there is a bit more distrust, but that’s to be expected. “What’s going on?” I ask, walking in.

“Our sister sent us,” the girl tells me, her eyes staring into mine as I approach. Direct, to the point, and a bright blue that reminds me too much of Hulk’s for comfort.

“And who is your sister?” I ask her, glancing at who I can only assume is her brother. He’s positioned himself behind her, but in a way that he can see all of us. This is a boy who’s used to protecting her, and who is always on the lookout.

“Her name is Avery Clarke,” the girl answers, drawing my attention back to her. She swallows once, then twice, before adding, “And she’s the one that the Russian guy Vlad is using to keep your guy alive.”

I manage to keep my expression neutral. I can feel Rose coming up behind me, but she doesn’t move toward them, despite curiosity and shock. “And why would she be helping the Russians do that?” I ask calmly.

“Because she’s a nurse.”

“Our sister is being forced to do this,” the boy chimes in, a bite to his voice.

“Our mother is an addict and she owes this Vlad asshole a lot of money. She offered up our sister as a nurse for him if he needed her to pay off the debt. Apparently, he needed her because he’s been taking her for months to fix up those scumbags. ”

“And why is your sister going along with it?” Shadow asks carefully. He holds up his hand when the boy’s face contorts with fury. “I’m just asking, kid. We need the facts, nothing more.”

It doesn’t mollify him at all. Instead, the kid’s eyes whip back to mine, and they narrow to almost slits.

His eyes are just as blue as his sister’s, and they’re like daggers as he barks, “No, you’re thinking that she’s part of this.

She’s doing this to protect us. Do you know how many times Vlad and his men have broken in and threatened us to make sure she complies?

Or how many times they’ve threatened to rape Isla?

She’s doing whatever she has to do to keep us safe, so you don’t get to doubt or question her. ”

“Alright, enough,” I say firmly, stepping forward.

The girl swallows nervously and backs into her brother.

I feel bad for frightening her, but this is not the time to cater to feelings.

“I appreciate your protection of your sister,” I tell the boy.

“And I appreciate that you think we’re questioning her intentions, but you showing up here, even if it is at her request, isn’t the norm, and we have to approach things carefully and without emotion.

Let’s start with you two telling us your names, and then we’ll go from there. ”

They glance at each other and then they nod. “Isla and Sawyer,” the girl finally answers.

I don’t ask for their last name. We’ll figure it out easily enough with Cryos’s help if it’s not the same as their sister’s. “Alright, guys, I’m Bullet, the President of the MC. How about you start from the beginning?”

“Answer this first,” Sawyer says, watching me. “Is this Hulk guy someone who is part of your MC?”

I arch a brow at that question. “Yes. Vlad kidnapped him.”

“Can you prove it?” Isla asks.

Impatience fills me, but also respect. They’re checking their details before they tell us, and it’s smart. Time-consuming, but smart. I pull out my phone and find a recent picture from our celebration of life for Hammer and turn it to show them.

Their stances visibly relax, not much, but enough that I feel like we might start getting somewhere.

“Alright,” Isla says. Then she looks at me, and her face saddens.

“He’s alive, but barely. Avery did what she could to keep him going, and she risked getting herself in trouble with the big, scary guy who works with Vlad when asked what Hulk said to her.

She lied and told him that she was only asking him medical questions.

The guy had no choice but to believe her explanation. ”

“Not before he put a gun to my head and had the guard put one to Isla’s to threaten Avery to make sure she wasn’t lying,” Sawyer adds, bitterness in his tone.

“When did this happen?” I ask.

“This morning,” Sawyer answers. “They normally get Avery to go first thing in the morning and then again at night after she’s done at the hospital.

We figured they didn’t want to be seen taking her from the hospital or during the day.

But today, they grabbed all three of us as we were leaving for school, and her for work. ”

“Do you know why?” Shadow asks.

“Just because that big guy didn’t think that Avery was telling the truth,” Isla answers, frowning. They tell us everything they can remember, including their sister going toe to toe with Nikolai, earning my instant respect.

“I like her already,” Rose says with a warm smile, stepping up beside me.

“Are you Rose?” Isla suddenly asks, looking at my wife curiously.

Rose barely bats an eye, but I instantly go on alert. Was Vlad or his men talking about her? “I am,” she says with a smile. “Oh, don’t tell me we’ve met before and I’ve forgotten.”

“No,” Isla says, a wide grin spreading across her face. She nods at Viper and Shadow. “We met these two in a store a couple of days ago when we were getting some last-minute supplies for some homework we had to do.”

“Shit, I remember you now,” Viper says, a small laugh coming into his voice. “You two were the smartasses that were telling that lady that your sister beats you like a pinata.”

“And they told us that our sister wasn’t allowed to meet you in case you gave the kids around here bad ideas,” Isla finishes, her smile widening to a grin.

Rose beams. “Well, it’s nice to know my reputation precedes me.”

“So you know her sister?” I ask, trying to get this back on track. We don’t have time to waste. Still, I can see it’s relaxed both kids a bit. Maybe we can get more information out of them. We don’t have time to waste.

“Not know her, but we’ve met her that one time,” Shadow says seriously, nodding. “She was dressed in scrubs. Seemed a bit worn out and a little jumpy, but I chalked it up to her working all day in a high-stress job and wanting to get home.” Viper nods his agreement.

“Oh, and she ran into a couple of other guys the other night,” Isla adds. “Ahhh, Icy? No, that’s not it.”

“Frost?” I ask, trying to connect the dots.

“That’s it,” she says with a nod. “Vlad’s men dropped her off three blocks from home and she had to walk back last night. She almost got mugged, but your guys showed up and scared him away. He had another guy with him.”

“Bowie,” Viper supplies.

“Yeah, him,” Isla says with a quick nod.

Fuck, this was only last night? This entire time, we’ve had someone who’s known about Hulk and we’ve missed our chance to find him. Twice.

“That’s when she found out his name,” Sawyer interjects.

“This Hulk guy. She said that when she helped him last night, she found it out. But she said he wasn’t talking in full sentences and that when he said his name, all he said was Devil’s Soldiers.

Wanted him for information or something like that.

He didn’t say he was part of your MC. Just that Vlad wanted information, so Avery wasn’t sure if that meant you were working with Vlad and the two of them were sent there to make sure she didn’t talk, or just to threaten her if she tried to run with us or something. ”

I can see why she would think that. I can’t hold it against her, but damn it, if she had just spoken up last night, we would have a direction. Something to get him back faster.

“Where is your sister now?” Rose asks gently.

They share a quick look. “She’s still at the apartment.

She’s pretty sure that Vlad and his men are watching her and us.

So she did some talking with a neighbor and had them sneak us out and get us here.

We did our best to stay low in the backseat, so no one saw us, and he said that no one followed us, but she’s alone,” Isla whispers, fear filling her face and making her voice thick with emotion.

“No one was seen watching or approaching the gates or within eye view of the club,” Shadow tells me. Still, there is a good chance that they might be sitting down just out of sight.

“We’ll keep your sister safe,” I promise.

“They can’t know that you know,” Isla rushes out worriedly. “If they do, they’ll kill her for sure.”

“Because she knows where they are?” Viper asks, and I can already see the wheels in his head turning.

“That and she’s been working to keep their soldiers going if they get hurt,” Sawyer explains grimly. “She never tells us what they say, but she says they say things, and that Vlad fucker will talk to her sometimes. She doesn’t like him at all.”

“Neither do we,” Shadow says with a dry smile.

“Do you think she could tell us how to get where they’re holding Hulk?” I ask.

They exchange another glance and I already know I’m not going to like the answer.

“They always blindfold her, and they did the same with us,” Isla says sadly.

Shit. “And they always take her a different way. She was trying to keep the directions in her mind so that she could maybe use them if she had to go to the cops or something. The only thing she told us before sending us here was to tell you that the ride always takes half an hour, and the last ten minutes are always the same. Straight for four minutes of it, and then a sharp left for three minutes, a sharp right for two minutes, straight for the last minute before they stop, and she’s pulled out.

When they pull her out, she’s led through a door, up a set of stairs, and then they take the blindfold off.

She’s in a dark foyer, and they take her down a side hall where they keep the supplies.

Then they take her down another long hallway that’s off that one, and at the end is a room with a steel door that you need a keycode to get into.

It’s always guarded too. Oh, and there are a lot of doors along each side of the hallway leading down. ”

“Sounds like soldiers’ quarters to me,” Shadow muses.

It’s not a lot to go on, but it’s enough. “We need to get the sister here, or get to her, and get as much information as we can from her. We might not have a lot of time.”

“But Avery?—”

“I promise your sister will be safe,” I interrupt her, my voice sincere but firm.

“Your sister is the only connection we have to getting our brother back and I take that very seriously. She’s risking her life, and yours by extension, to make sure you’re safe, and to give us that information.

I will make sure that she’s not doing that in vain, okay? ”

They look at each other, not seeming overly confident in my promise, but then they nod.

“Alright,” Rose announces briskly, stepping forward.

“Let’s get you two settled. Are you hungry?

I made some soup and have a few other treats in the kitchen.

How about we get you something to eat and then if these guys have any more questions, they’ll come and ask you?

” She leads them away, glancing over her shoulder with an intense stare.

Find Hulk. Bring him home. I tell Shadow what to do with a quick turn of my head, who gives a subtle nod back and turns away to make the call.

We need to get everyone back here and we need to make a plan. And knowing we have a traitor, it’s even more dangerous. We need to get Avery Clarke and get to Hulk before Vlad finds out that we know. We’re in a race against time, and we’re on the losing side.