Page 11

M aybe peace had a fucking timer.

His life certainly did.

Because just when he was getting more and more comfortable with the feel of Raylene Walker pressed into his chest, a loud thud, thud, thud filled the room. Ray groaned in his arms, burrowing deeper into his chest as he startled awake. He made to move, annoyance washing over him as he tried to twist away from the warmth of his sheets. But didn’t really get far, because just as his hand was right around her shoulders, hers was wrapped around his body. Ever the heavy sleeper, the girl just tangled her legs with his and began snoring softly. Again.

Angel bit back a grin, the haze of the sleep washing away at the sight of her. God knew how she’d survived up until now.

Thud, thud, thud and –

“Angel?”

He blinked once. Twice.

“Angel, are you in there?”

Oh shit.

“ Ray.” Angel whispered furiously and huffed when she didn’t reply. He turned his head and yelled out,

“Yeah!” he said and looked back down at Ray, shaking her, “ Ray, get up.”

She mumbled something incoherent and fell back asleep. Angel couldn’t help it. He let out a quiet laugh and loosened his hold on her .

God, this girl.

“Well, breakfast’s ready!” Miranda said from the other end, drawing him back to reality, “And your father says he needs to talk to you!”

“I’ll be out in a second!” he yelled back and shook Ray again. She finally stirred, a curse on her lips as she turned in his arms,

“Quit fucking yelling,” she snapped and winced when she realized sunlight was raining down on her face. Angel grinned at the sight, and unable to help himself, pulled her closer so her back was against his chest,

“I need to get you some fucking curtains.” She mumbled. Just when he noticed she was about to fall back asleep, he inched closer to her ear, grazing his teeth on its outer shell before murmuring quietly,

“So vulgar in the morning.”

Ray elbowed him right in the ribs at that.

Angel groaned at the pain that exploded through his chest and leaned away from her, his eyes shutting in pain. And Ray, that self-confident prick just rolled onto her back and stretched her arms wide, a soft sound leaving her lips.

“Christ,” he managed to wheeze and glared at the sight of her smiling. Her face was haloed by the sunlight, her back arching as she stretched her hands in the air and lolled her face sideways to smirk at him,

“Want to introduce me?”

“ Come here you little shit–”

Ray squealed as he reached for her and slipped off the bed. Angel followed her movement, barely managing to grab her forearm and haul her back to the bed. She was grinning when she came back on with his movement, her head angled up at him as he glared down at her, hovering from further away than last night .

She huffed before him after a moment, crossing her arms as she did so, “You know, you swear at me a lot.” She said, her brows scrunching as if she were just realizing it. Angel’s annoyance slipped at the action, his eyes flaring wide, “I doubt that’s something a doting boyfriend would do…”

“Honey, sweetheart,” Angel purred without missing a beat, coaxing her closer as she looked up at him wide-eyed, “Baby, which one do you prefer?”

Ray took a moment before him. Blinking once.

And just when he thought he’d broken her, Ray shook – no shivered before him, an atrocious sound leaving her throat,

“Gross.” She said and he scoffed, suddenly annoyed by her words, “No honey or baby. Sweetheart works.”

“Right.” He said and was about to move away but couldn’t. Okay, maybe he wasn’t really trying. But in his defense, Raylene Walker had no right to look this beautiful in the morning sun. She blinked up at him, her lips rising from the corners as moved up on her elbows, coming closer. Angel watched her hair, the beautiful crash of waves on her back and spilling over her shoulders.

God, he could live staring at them all fucking day.

He reached forward then, unable to help himself, and entangled a hand through the soft lush, brushing his fingers through them. They were a tangled mess, one that didn’t allow him to smooth his hand all the way down, but hell they were soft. Silence draped on them and somehow they stayed like that, in their own bubble of peace as he admired what his life had come to and how there was no way in hell he was ever living any other way.

But of course, as he’d thought before, peace had a fucking timer .

And it rang so loudly that Angel and Ray both jumped up in surprise at the abrupt sound.

“Fuck,” he sighed and flopped down on her, making sure to balance his weight to the side as he burrowed his face into the side of her neck. Ray’s laugh was soft and breathless against his shoulders, but he allowed her enough room to reach out and grab her ringing phone from the nightstand,

“Hello–” he heard her say, an obvious smile on her lips when Akash’s voice blared from the other end,

“Get here now!”

Angel shot up at that, Ray following his movement as their bubble burst, bringing forth a wave of seriousness crashing down on them.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, and Angel could tell she was trying to keep her voice calm despite the subtle tremor in her words. He grit his teeth at that and she looked up at him, a rare wave of panic washing over her features as she put her phone on speaker,

“You need to get here now,” Akash said again, and Angel moved off the bed, Ray trudging behind him. She was still wearing that white shirt of his from last night. Before she could go to the washroom, he’d already darted to his closet and had grabbed a pair a denim he knew would fit her. Ray barely blinked when he threw it in her direction, grabbing it at the same time she threw her bed on the phone and said a bit loudly,

“Where?” she said as she put the jeans on and Angel turned away from her, whipping his own T-shirt off his head and grabbing the first pair of sweatpants he saw. A belt came within his line of sight and he grabbed it immediately, throwing it hurriedly in Ray’s direction before running into the washroom.

Ray followed him in, her phone in her hand .

“Brush?” she murmured as they waited for Akash’s response. Angel nodded, making sure to brace a calm hand on her lower back before grabbing the spare brush from his cabinet.

“ Mine .” Came Akash’s response, “ And get Angel as well. Him and the others.”

Ray hummed in response and hung up. Silence descended upon them, filled with nervousness and panic as they brushed as quickly as they could. Angel made sure to keep an eye on her, even when she finished, and moved to step out of the room.

“Hey,” he said before she could move farther away and grabbed a hold of her upper arm, placing his brush back on the counter after he was finished. Ray paused, turning over her shoulder to look at him with that same placid expression of hers. He sighed at its sight and took a step forward, brushing a hand through her hair before grabbing onto her shoulders and shaking her out of her masked reverie.

“It’s going to be alright.” He said quietly and saw her blink, finally a wave of emotion crashing over her features. Angel nodded at her, and without wasting another second, grabbed hold of her and stalked out of the washroom. He let go of her hand only to grab a T-shirt from his closet,

“You ran here, right?” he asked, his voice slightly muffled as he tugged the t-shirt on.

“I did.” She answered softly and Angel gazed back at her tense set of shoulders and wary eyes.

“I’ll send Luke down to the place right below by the window, where you climbed up from and we’ll leave together alright?” he asked and grabbed his phone to relay the orders to the other boy ,

“Martin can’t see you here even by chance. There are CCTVs, but none around my area and certainly none from where you climbed up from.”

“How do you know that?” she asked, and he turned a small smirk in her direction, wanting to draw a smile from her tense lips,

“Because you wouldn’t have taken that path otherwise.”

Ray blinked at the praise and huffed after a second’s pause. Angel grinned at her grit, at the way she crossed her arms and turned away from him,

“I’m fine, you don’t need to–”

He didn’t let her complete her words. Just leaned forward and slid his lips right above hers at a sweet angle. Ray froze, but only for a second. Her crossed arms dropped to their sides as he willed all his conviction, all his adoration for the girl before him in that short kiss. It was over before any one of them wanted it to be.

But when they broke apart, their gazes weren’t hazy. For the first time in a while, they were crystal clear and alert.

“ Go,” Angel said, smiling that same razor-sharp smile that he’d shown her the first time he’d seen her, “I’m right behind you.”

Her grin was nothing short of cold and malicious.

“I know.” She said and turned on her heels to jump right out the window. Angel watched her, a wave of pride washing over him, unable to believe that this was really happening. One last hurdle, he told himself and tugged the hem of his t-shirt upright.

One last hurdle and they’d be clear for a lifetime.

And a morbid part of him couldn’t help but think,

Famous last words.

* *

She had her face in her hands, another groan building up her throat as the rest of them remained silent around her. Waiting for her to accept their situation. Because honestly, she couldn’t tell if this was a bad thing or not. In fact, nor could Angel judging by the way he stood beside her, leaning against the wall with a confused expression on his face.

“So we’re unhappy with this?” he finally asked, breaking through the atmosphere. Ray looked up at that, and shot him a glare before turning to hear Sorin’s sigh ricochet off the walls,

“ Yes,” he said and Ray leaned back in her chair, leaning onto Ira who was sitting upright beside her, “Kyle’s heartbroken.”

“Of course,” Jack said from the other end of the room, the crunching of the packet of chips in his hand attracting everyone’s attention, “I’d be worried if he wasn’t.”

“But isn’t this what you were all aiming for?” Mia inquired, she too leaning forward to grab a chip from the bag Jack was holding, “Getting rid of the Larsens.”

Ray exchanged a heavy glance with Akash while Angel responded for her, “They were looking for a bit more insight before killing him.” He said in a calm voice and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, “But what does this mean for us?”

“Alessandro Larsen’s dead.” Neera accounted and Ray’s knee bounced at her words, nerves wrecking through her, “And the entire world knows. Which means making Maya–”

“Who is very unconscious,” Myra added from the floor, her shoulder touching Cameron’s as he watched their conversation. Apart from Angel’s group, everyone was signing as they spoke. Angel signed as well, Ray noted with a hint of pleasantness .

“Who indeed, is very unconscious. Making her invisible is going to be far more difficult now,” Neera continued, tucking a lock of her pin-straight hair behind her ear, “And to make things worse, if she does wake up or when she recovers, she’s not only going to wake to a world where their businesses have officially failed,”

“But a place where the world no longer fears the Lions.” Noah murmured. He was perched on the couch beside Neera, his hands laced as Micah brooded beside him silently, watching them all with guarded eyes.

“A place where her son no longer works with them.” Sorin added and Ray sighed, putting her face back in her hands again,

“And a world where her husband no longer lives.” Neera completed, setting them in an uncomfortable silence. Ray squirmed in her seat, her imagination running wild at the mess she’d have to handle when Maya woke up. The mess Kyle could create now.

“How did he die?” Christina asked, her question soft but loud enough for all of them to hear. She was sitting on Akash’s kitchen counter, Jack standing right beside her as she stared straight at Ray, “I thought no one knew where they were.”

“That’s what we thought.” Ray answered, lifting her face from her hands to return her stare, “And no matter what you think, I have enough dignity to not kill a man when he’s grieving.”

Christina’s gaze flared at her response, and Ray knew by that response that she’d caught the meaning behind her stare correctly. It was obvious to assume that the Nameless – that they – would be behind his death. Hell, the entire world was probably preaching that it was them who’d killed and brought the Lions down. And while Ray had played an important role in bringing them down, she hadn’t had a hand in killing Alessandro Larsen .

Especially considering his throat was slit when he was asleep.

“This isn’t time to fight amongst ourselves.” Angel’s voice rose above Ray’s thoughts, “Quit glaring at each other.”

Jack smirked from behind a chip, “Says the whipped boy.”

“Says the whipped boy.” Angel echoed with a solemn nod.

Ray ignored their presence altogether.

“What do we do now?” Cameron signed, and Ray’s jaw ticked at his question, her brows furrowing in thought.

“I think we can step into the trap now.” She said, her mind racing even as their eyes rose to hers in surprise, “Killing Alessandro was like a favor on their behalf. They did the same thing with June,” she turned to look at Ira, who stiffened beside her, “It was a gift that removed any unnecessary obstacles for me.”

“Ironic considering they want to kill you.” Luke murmured from beside Angel, sharing a glance with the other boy. Ray scoffed at his words, agreeing with them completely.

“Anyway, now that Alessandro’s out of the picture, it’s safe to assume Maya’s going to be out of it for a while as well. So as long as we go ahead and step into the trap no one else is bound to get hurt.”

“Why do you care?” came Ira’s sudden quiet words, startling Ray. She turned to face the younger girl and balked at the sheer rage in her eyes, “Why do you care about what happens to Maya Larsen? She whipped me. Whipped you – ”

“It isn’t because I care.” Ray responded calmly, and Ira turned to look at her, her shoulders drawn tight, “It’s because when she wakes up and realizes no one in the world is on her side, she’ll raise a hell that would be too dangerous for any of us to live in. ”

“Maya’s a snake.” Irene continued just as calmly, “She will do everything in her power to ruin all of us.”

“And if by then we haven’t gotten rid of these new players,” Ray continued, “Then it’ll become all the more difficult to deal with them together. We can’t kill Maya, but we can’t have her waking up to a world where we hold no power either. I’m not putting your life at risk.” She blinked at Ira, “Makes sense?”

“Makes sense.”

“So, what do you do now?” Micah’s voice was another surprise that jarred her. Ray turned to face him, making sure to keep that surprise off her features as he dug his fists through the pockets of his jacket, “Go in search of their facilities, and what? Walk into a trap?”

Ray shrugged, “It’s the only option we have left. We move quickly from this moment forth. Let’s take today to gather supplies.” She turned over her shoulder to look at Angel, “You have your contacts?”

Angel nodded briskly, “We can get you almost everything you need.” He answered and Ray shook her head,

“I’m not asking about us. I’m asking about you and your people. Do you have enough ?”

“We do.”

“But what are you going to do about Martin?” Luke asked, “I thought it was part of your plan to get rid of us as well.”

Ray shared a questioning glance with Angel, who crossed his arms and raised his brows. Her question was relayed between them, you or me? Which one is it going to be?

His lips split into a grin in response.

Me .

“Martin’s connected to these new players,” Angel started without breaking away from their stare. They’d decided not to tell everyone about the possibility of it being the rise of someone the two of them had ruined a while back. When the perfect time came, they would be quick in doing so. But not today. Not when none of them were sure about who could betray them, “So when we take them out, I’ll work on disbanding our businesses as well.”

Mia’s exhale was loud enough for all of them, “If we succeed, no more of…” her voice cut off, as if the thought of the possibility was too–

Frightening. Horrifying.

But she saw the glint in Christina’s eyes. The way Jack and Luke straightened, something like stark alertness blasting through them.

Hopeful.

“God, I hope this works.” Akash murmured, clearly catching the twinkle in their eyes. The way they all seemed all the more hopeful for success despite their entire life’s work being disbanded.

“We go slow and steady.” Ray began carefully and got up from her seat. The others got to their feet as well, their gazes following her as she walked to one side and picked up the map from earlier. Knew what she was doing was a warning she wasn’t meant to ensue. But she didn’t give a shit.

She saw Cameron shuffle backward, clearing out the living room area as she grabbed the hem of the map with one hand and looked down at it brazenly. Once the space was clear in the middle, she whipped the map open, spreading it across like a carpet, and let it sit on the floor.

The red thread was gone, the pins marking its place instead. She could see the map. The signs.

“With the groups we formed before, we go after each of these sites. ”

She went down on one knee, the paper rustling underneath her as she moved to point at each of the places, “We find out the people, the workings, everything. Scout out the cameras, find anyone who looks even closely responsible for everything that’s happened.” Her eyes still rested on the map, sudden hatred burning through her as she thought of the death that had been ripped from her hands, “This is a two-day job. One day to scout without getting caught. Second day to place the bombs and blow the entire place up after figuring out who leads these bullshit groups.”

When she looked up, they’d all made a circle around her. Everyone except Angel, who stood right beside her, his expression stark with conviction and focus. It resolved something in her, making that twinge of fear disappear altogether. He would do it with her, she realized, he would let her burn his entire life’s work down if she hadn’t given him a choice. Ray turned to the rest of them as he offered her his hand. Not to get her up. Not to help.

But to support.

Ray placed her palm in his and got up, her other hand balling into a tight fist as she stared straight ahead.

“And if anyone interferes.” She said, her voice calm, “Be sure to get rid of them.”

“We make no mistakes.”

All of them nodded, and she looked at their circle. Noticed how close they all truly were to the end. How close they were to the ending they had envisioned ever since she’d taken it upon herself to avenge Lia. She turned to Angel and thought, somehow that ending had turned into something new.

Morphed into something different that was now merged with revenge.

And how that might change what they’d envisioned afterall.

She just didn’t know if it was for the better or the worse.