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V ox made the motion that meant freeze. Theo and I obeyed, waiting in silence as he checked his phone.

Peering over his shoulder, taking in the imposing concrete building from where we were still hidden in the treeline. Silence settled over the forest. Vox still wasn’t saying anything, and I spotted some movement ahead, closer to the structure.

Then, sharp gunfire rang out. The sound of automatic gunfire echoed off the trees, making me duck down.

There was a split second of silence, and then a man’s voice laughed, “I got four of them!”

“Ronan, get dow–”

More gunfire rang out, then returned fire. Once again, the forest fell into silence.

“Five! Jesus, pull your weight, freeloaders,” the voice was triumphant.

“Is it clear?” another voice asked.

Silence. Then, “Clear.”

Vox made the motion to move forward, and we followed him out of the tree line. Logan, Ronan, and Dakota were waiting for us in front of a large grey building, surrounded by a 10-foot-tall chain link fence wrapped in barbed wire.

The gate looked like it had been run through by a car, and the gravel-crusted ground was littered with the corpses of men in full tactical gear.

Ronan turned his manic eyes on us as we approached, and Logan gave us a suave grin.

“All yours, boys… and, girl?” Ronan eyed Theo up and down curiously, but Dakota elbowed him in the side.

“Behave,” he muttered, but Ronan just chuckled.

“We’ll cover you while you go in; make sure no one surprises you while you’re in there,” Logan said, and Vox gave him an appreciative nod. He glanced back at Theo and me, his lips pursing, and I knew he wanted to tell us to stay out here.

He was looking at Logan’s team like he would prefer having them with him, which made sense, but I wasn’t having it.

“I’m coming,” I reminded Vox. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

The thought of Cal potentially being tied up in a bathtub again was eating away at my mind. He would need me. I was confident I would be the only person that could make him feel safe again if we found him like that.

There was no way I was staying behind.

Vox saw the determination on my face and nodded, though the look he gave me was annoyed.

‘I know that look,’ Gavin said somberly. ‘That’s his ‘You better not get killed, look.’

I snorted.

“I know. I’ve seen it before.” I sighed.

Vox ignored my conversation with the invisible man, though Ronan looked intrigued.

Theo chuckled softly, but there was no time to relay what Gavin had said. Before I knew it, Vox was motioning for us to move forward, and we fell in line.

My heart rate kicked up a notch as we approached the foreboding concrete building that loomed before us.

I was about to storm the gates of fucking hell to save the man I loved.

I didn’t care what it took once I had him back in my arms.

I would personally make sure Damian fucking Ryker wasn’t around to take him from me again.