Page 23 of The Wayward Sons & The Vampires of Fortune (The Wayward Sons #4)

M y eyes burned, and the endless buzzing at the back of my skull had my nerves going haywire as I woke up. I went to rub my eyes—to clear my vision—but a sharp tug on my hands prevented me from doing so.

What the fuck?

“Fuck…” My tongue felt heavy when I tried to get my mouth to work. I tried again, and the tug around my wrists was tighter.

“Easy, Gray. You don’t want to hurt yourself.”

I froze. It took my brain a hot minute, but I recognized that voice.

Cole fucking West.

I blinked repeatedly and did my best to get my bearings straight, leaning into my power for help. The rush of wind past me… the rumble of the earth underneath me. Even if I couldn’t see straight, I knew the feel of a car under me when I felt one.

“What the fuck did you do?” I demanded as the thickness of my tongue began to fade. “What the fuck did you do to me?”

“We did what we had to,” he said. “Ain’t no more complicated than that.”

“Fuck you,” I snapped. I shook my head once… twice… slowly appreciating the way my vision returned. It was more than enough for me to take in the open road he drove down with nothing around us—just dark skies and flat landscapes. Everywhere.

And everywhere was nowhere near Ryder. My temper spiked, and my control over my power slipped. The wind picked up around us, slamming into the side of the car.

“Gray,” Cole warned. Yeah, that wasn’t going to work on me.

“Turn the fuck around,” I ordered.

“No.”

“ Now. ”

“No.”

“I’m warnin’ you,” I threatened. The wind picked up, hitting the car hard enough to force him to step on the brakes. “Turn the fuck around, West.”

“Kid, you ain’t goin’ to win this fight,” Cole replied, his voice eerily calm.

Outside the window, lightning crashed dangerously close to the car.

My gaze snapped to him, catching the silver glow in his eyes as he stared at me.

Fuck. He could control energy. Which meant this fucker could electrocute me and never be affected. “Now, you listen here, Gray.”

“Fuck you.”

“Right now, my team is rescuin’ Ryder—”

“And I should fuckin’ be there,” I interjected.

“You’re too goddamn emotional,” he retorted. When I opened my mouth to say something, he spoke over me, “Look outside the window, Gray, and tell me you’re thinkin’ straight.”

We both knew I wasn’t. I was running high on anger. Ryder needed me, and instead of being there, this goddamn moron had me in the middle of nowhere.

“He needs me, and I need to be there,” I said.

“No, you need to be out of the fuckin’ way so you don’t get no one killed,” he replied. “One wrong move, Gray, you’d get everyone killed or do somethin’ you can’t take back.”

“You don’t know—”

“I do,” he cut me off. “Now, we have a plan, and we’re goin’ to stick to the fuckin’ plan whether you like it or not. I got your ass tied up. Don’t make me knock your ass out.”

I scowled because what the fuck was I going to do? Clearly, this had been their plan the whole goddamn time—get me out of the way. I fucking hated it. I needed to be with Ryder. What if something went wrong? I couldn’t be stuck in some kind of limbo of not knowing.

“There’s three of them gettin’ him out of there,” Cole continued as if reading my thoughts. I didn’t want his stupid attempts to comfort me. “They’ve got a solid plan, and they’ve got vampire-killin’ bullets.”

“Yeah, Sam gave me this fuckin’ talk. I ain’t that stupid.

I know it ain’t all that easy to kill a goddamn vampire.

” I did a lot of things on a whim in life but not when it came to Ryder.

It’d taken a lot of sneaking around in our early days for me to learn everything I could about vampires.

There wasn’t a ton of information out there, but I refused to be caught unaware. Not with Ryder’s life at risk.

The vampire-killing bullets had been a new thing—new information I’d never heard of. Lucky for me, I had the best damn sniper out there for a partner.

“Do you know what he can do?” I asked.

“We know his military record,” he said. “And yeah, we gave him a goddamn gun. We ain’t that stupid, kid.”

“You’re somethin’, all right,” I muttered. I took a moment to glance at my hands—to figure out how the hell he had me tied up. Vines. “Where the fuck are you gettin’ vines from in a movin’ vehicle.”

“I put a plant in the back seat,” Cole replied. He said the words so simply that I couldn’t help the bark of laughter that came out of me. “Don’t you fuckin’ laugh at me. I keep one in my car at all times.”

And apparently put one in mine too. Yeah, he’d taken my baby. I had feelings about him driving her too.

“You keep a goddam plant in your car to… what? Kidnap people?” I demanded. Who did that?

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” he grumbled. His eyes flashed green, and the vines around my wrists receded into the back of my car. “You ain’t been—”

“Tell me I ain’t been kidnapped. I fuckin’ dare you.”

“You ain’t been kidnapped, Gray.” Cole sighed.

“Oh, yeah?” I retorted. I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah.”

“Then what the hell do you call tyin’ me up and throwin’ my ass in your car?”

“You’re bein’ relocated for your safety.”

“Kidnapped.”

“Not kidnapped.”

“We ain’t ever goin to agree,” I told him. “Tell me what they’re goin’ to do and I won’t fight you.”

Okay, I wasn’t sure I could follow through with that promise, but we’d see. If they had a shit plan, I’d rather level all of Phoenix than trust them with Ryder’s life.

“A real goddamn answer,” I snapped when he hesitated. “Or you’ll see just how fuckin’ powerful I am.”

“Fine,” he relented way faster than I anticipated. I expected the same pushback Sam had given me. “But you try any bullshit and I’m knockin’ your ass out. I ain’t playin’ games. We ain’t doin’ this the whole goddamn way.”

“Deal.” Not.

“We’re goin’ to use an abandoned buildin’ to get him out—not the precinct.”

“You can’t take them head-on. Not that many,” I interrupted quickly. I already hated this plan.

“It ain’t about takin’ them on or takin’ them out,” he assured me. “It’s about gettin’ out of there long enough to create a diversion—human diversion. Vampires track by smell when they’re honin’ in on a kill.”

“Don’t fuckin’ say that.” I shook my head. I refused to think of Ryder like that.

“It’s just a fact, Gray,” Cole said. “We stole Ryder’s clothes—”

“Now, why in the hell would you do that?”

“—and Sam’s payin’ some guy—a human—to help with a bait and switch,” he continued loudly, ignoring me. Asshole. “We plan to send the vampires chasin’ after him while we drive Ryder across the state.”

“That’s a crappy fuckin’ plan.”

“That’s half the goddamn plan,” he told me. I rolled my eyes. Like that made any difference? “The other half involves a private jet.”

Okay, he had me there. I wasn’t expecting a private jet. Though, it sure as hell beat trying to outrun a vampire in a car. I stared at him as I weighed my options. I didn’t like it—not at all. I didn’t like not being a part of it.

I struggled. Every part of me wanted to start a fucking fight—make him turn the goddamn car around. But what plan did I have? What plan did I have that didn’t involve tearing down an entire city of people and then hoping to hell we could outrun vampires alone?

Not a goddamn one.

I didn’t like being useless. Not when it came to protecting Ryder. Not when he needed me.

“Now, can I drive without you doin’ stupid shit again?” Cole demanded. I scowled but said nothing. Instead, I focused on the radio. I reached for the dial to change whatever bullshit it was that he was listening to. When he tried to stop me, I glared at him.

“Lay off. Kidnapped passenger picks the goddamn music, driver shuts the fuck up and lets him do whatever he wants.”