Page 123 of The Saviors: Part Two

“Axel,” Ari says. “You have a look on your face that I don’t like. What the fuck is going on?”

“Get outside and grab Sean. Don’t say shit. We have to get Chelsea first.”

Ari takes off in front of us, and we bust through the door minutes later. Ari has Sean’s hands behind his back, and Sean looks ready to spit nails. “You want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” he barks.

“We don’t have time. Take him with you,” I instruct Ari. We make it back to the SUV, and Kai rips off the concealing tarp. He pops the hatch, and I dump Charlie in the back. Cole stabs him in the thigh with the sedative to keep him out, then turns to me.

“Axel?” he says.

I shake my head. “I can’t right now. Drive us until we have a phone signal.” We pile into the car, and Cole takes off. Nolan turns to me from the passenger seat, and when he pulls his mask off, his eyes are sad.

“Is she okay?” he asks.

“She is right now.”

A loud boom splits the air, and I whirl in my seat to watch the compound go up in flames. We were seconds away from being fucking blown up all because my dad wanted me dead. Nolan keeps checking his phone. “STOP!”

Cole slams on the brakes. “Call Les,” he orders.

Nolan dials, flips it to speakerphone, and Les answers, sounding out of breath. “Meet me at 458 Elmore Drive. Chelsea took off.”

“I know,” I bark. “How the fuck did she get away from you?”

“We don’t have time for this. I feel bad enough as it is. We’re three minutes out.”

The line goes dead, and Cole stomps on the gas. Nolan plugs the address into the navigation system and starts making calls to warn the others. Nolan turns in the seat. “What’s going on with Sean?”

I lay out the story, getting more pissed and hurt by the second. Could he be the one? I have no fucking idea. All I know is I can’t worry about him right now. “We need to get her, and then we’ll handle him.”

“There’s no fucking way, Axel,” Cole says. “I know Sean better than anyone. He’d never do this to us.”

“How do you know?!” I yell, my temper hitting its peak. “You know as well as I do that Sean is good at acting.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Cole yells back. “This is what Charlie wanted. Dead or alive, he wanted us to split up because he got the final word. Think about it, Axel. This is Sean. We went through this same thing thinking it was Ari. Do not let Charlie win.”

“You didn’t hear Amber,” Kai says in a deadly voice. “She sounded legit.”

“She’s a good actress. She’s been pretending to be Chelsea’s friend for two years,” Nolan reasons. “Sean wouldn’t hurt us. More importantly, he’d never hurt her.”

“I can’t do this right now,” I say, shutting the conversation down. “We’ll have this discussion when she’s safe.”

“I see the look in your eyes, Axel. You already have plans to kill him,” Cole says harshly. “He at least deserves the chance to explain.”

“Or lie. Shut up and drive, Cole.”

Cole gives me one last glare in the mirror but thankfully drops it. Can I even make the decision to end Sean’s life? He’s been with us for five goddamn years. He’s fought side by side with us through some awful shit.

Cole continues to drive like a maniac until he’s skidding to a stop behind Gage’s Range Rover. I jump out. “Where is she?”

“In here!” Les yells.

We run up the stairs and burst into the house. When I see Chelsea, I almost hit my knees. She’s laying on the floor, covered in blood. Les’ mouth is moving, but I can’t hear her.

“…not hers,” cuts through the haze, but the air is still whooshing through my ears. I drop to my knees beside her and reach out with shaky hands. “Axel! It’s not hers!” Les yells. I jerk my head to Les, and she points to the body beside Chelsea. “It’s Amber’s. But I think Chelsea’s in shock.”

“Cupcake,” I say with a shaky voice, running my fingers down her cheek. Her eyes close tighter, and tears leak from them. “Let me see those beautiful green eyes.” All the guys gather around her, and Les steps back. “Come on. Look at us. We’re okay.”

She starts shaking her head, and big wracking sobs start shaking her body. I pull her into my lap and wrap my arms around her. Kai scoots in behind her. Cole and Nolan move in on the sides. We’re rubbing her back, whispering in her ear how much we love her. The elephant in the room is bigger now that I have her, and still feel like Sean might have done this to her.