Page 20

Flame

It”s been a busy day. Originally I only went to The Gym to do a workout and ended up staying all damn day to cover for the trainer who didn”t show up for work. I”ve seen the texts from Wrath about Jasmine, and I want to get back to find out what he”s learned from her. I”m sure he”s learned something. There”s no way Jasmine didn”t know something; Claire had to have had these plans for us for a long time.

I”m the last to leave The Gym, I sent everyone else home early as it was quiet, and I wanted to get home to my family and not stay in an empty gym. I”m just locking up, not paying attention to my surroundings, and I really should’ve been. I don”t hear someone come up behind me until it”s too late. Something hits me in the back of the head hard, causing everything to go black.

∞∞∞

Ouch, my fucking head. What the hell happened? Why does my head hurt so much? Trying to move my arms to grab my head, I realize I can”t. They’re chained to something, limiting my ability to move them. Fuck.

Now I remember, I was locking up The Gym and felt someone hit me in the back of the head, and that”s it. I have no memory after that. I open my eyes and see that I”m chained by both arms to a wall. I can move them, but not a lot. I can take a wild guess as to who”s behind this. Claire. Fuck Wrath”s going to go mental when he finds out I”ve been taken. I should”ve been paying better attention to my environment, not getting lost in my thoughts. Fuck, I got complacent.

Closing my eyes, I wait. I”m sure I”ll have a visitor soon; they have to know I”m awake by now. There”s no point in stressing myself out or making my injuries worse by trying to get loose; I”ve got to stay level-headed and figure out a way out of this that will work, and I could really do with this headache going away.

∞∞∞

Tech

Cam left a little while ago to go meet his Aunt. I hope it goes okay. He told me he was a little worried about her being a woman, and I can”t say I blame him for feeling that way. I”d be wary after everything he”s been through, too. I wish I could protect him from the pain of his past; he”s such a good kid. Surprisingly, I like the time I get to spend with him, teaching him about computers. He”s a seriously quick learner; he”s picked up everything so far with ease. Suddenly, my computer”s starting to go mental with an alert from The Gym.

Pulling up The Gym”s camera system on my screen and clicking the camera that caused the alert. There”s nothing there now, but I rewind it fifteen minutes, as that”s normally the delay; it”s something I”ve been looking for a way to improve. Maybe I can get Cam to see what he thinks as his first challenge. Yeah, that seems like a good plan.

Watching the footage, first all the staff leave, and everything seems fine until Flame appears. He”s locking up when a figure in all black appears behind him and smashes him in the back of the head. He goes down hard. Whoever it is then leaves with Flame hauled over their shoulder. Switching cameras, I see Flame being dumped in a vehicle, which I can just about see in the corner of the footage. God, whoever the guy was, he was fucking quick and prepared. Unfortunately, the attacker never showed their face on camera, and the shot of the car”s useless. I pause the footage and take a deep breath.

This is bad. Really fucking bad. I”ve heard about the change in the relationship between our President and Enforcer. I”m happy for them, but that change means Wrath”s going to take the news that Flame’s been taken worse than anyone else. No one is going to be happy Flame has been taken, but I”m not under any illusions that Wrath isn”t going to be the worst, and Cam. Oh god, Cam, he calls Flame Papa; he isn”t going to do well with this either. God, I need to find him fast.

Hitting the emergency message programmed on my computer, which will immediately set off an alert on all the Officers” phones, I know they”ll be here shortly. It”ll set Flame’s phone off too, but whoever has him has more than likely turned it off. I”m already attempting to track it and getting nothing. I”m praying that Wrath isn’t the first to arrive after getting my alert; I need someone in here with him when he finds out his man”s gone. I know I have no chance of containing him if he loses it.

While waiting for them all to arrive, I use my system to scan for any signs of Flame, the guy who took him, or the car they left in. I really need to get lucky. I’m not hopeful, though; I have nothing unique to search for; it”s all generic. Fuck!

My cave door slams open, with Eagle, Piston, Ink, and Rock entering. I sigh in relief. Hopefully, with them being here, they can help contain our President when he gets the news about Flame.

“Sitrep Tech.”Eagle barks out.

“Fuck. I got an alert from The Gym. I checked the cameras; it”s bad.”I start to tell them, but stop talking when I see Wrath, Shadow, and Blade entering the room.

“Talk Tech.”Wrath says his voice hard.

He isn”t close to any of my computers, so hopefully they”ll survive when he inevitably loses his shit.

“As I was saying, I got an alert from The Gym. I checked the cameras, and everything was fine at first, until we got to Flame leaving.”I stop talking and take a breath.

I take a quick look at Wrath, and he”s gone pale.

“It”s probably better to just show you,”I say worriedly as I pull up the footage, streaming it to the big screen on the wall.

We all watch in silence as we see Flame lock up and then be attacked and taken.

There”s an almighty roar when the footage finishes, and I turn just in time to see Shadow tackle Wrath to the floor before he can unleash his rage in my cave. With the help of Blade, they manage to get Wrath out of the room. I look at Eagle, who”s clenching his jaw. None of us are happy about what has happened, and we all know if we don’t save Flame, we could lose Wrath too. He’ll never recover if he loses Flame.

“Find him, Tech. Do whatever you need, but find him.”Eagle says.

They all file out of the room, leaving me to my search.

I”d do fucking anything to have a way of finding Flame right now. I checked where his phone last had a signal. It was at The Gym, so that”s a dead end too. Whoever has taken him was smart; there”s nothing for me to go on using my systems. This is not going to be easy. I”m not giving up, though.

∞∞∞

Wrath

Shadow and Blade release me as soon as they get me out of Tech”s cave. Storming into the Common Room, picking up the table right next to the door, I throw it across the room. Next to go are the chairs. Anything close by is being thrown. I’m losing all control; I’ve just watched my fucking man get attacked and taken. I have no clue if he’s okay or where they’ve taken him. I can vaguely hear screaming in the room, but I don”t care; someone has taken my fucking Flame, and I”m entitled to lose it. Shadow is close by, letting me get some rage out so I can think straight and make a plan. Once I”ve trashed half the room, I stand in the middle of the room, panting with my hands on my knees, bent over slightly.

When I raise my head, I see all the bunnies cowering in a corner, and all the brothers are standing against the wall, looking worried.

”Tonight, when Flame was locking up The Gym, he was attacked from behind, knocked out, and taken. Whoever has taken him is dead when I get my hands on them. No one takes a member of Devil”s Inferno and lives to talk about it. Especially not my own man, I”ll wipe them out for this. We”re now on lockdown. If you have a family that you need to keep safe, you have three hours to get them here, or they won”t be getting in. I”m not playing games now; this is fucking war. They”ve just taken one of our goddamn Enforcers. MY MAN!”I shout into the room.

The brothers all roar in agreement, those who need to quickly hurry from the room to get their families.

I turn to Shadow, “Inform Dad, and then go and watch Cam. I need him safe, bro. I can”t lose my son too.”

“You got it. I”m sure Dad will be here as soon as he finds out. I”ll leave Cam with him when he gets here. Is that okay?”He asks.

Nodding, I make my way to my office. Needing a minute away from everyone. I understand none of them are happy about Flame being taken, but no one gets how I’m feeling right now. I’m finally in a relationship with the person I”ve loved for most of my life, and he’s been fucking taken from me before I ever got to say the words I love you out loud to him.

I need him back. I need him safe. I”ll tear this fucking world apart to find my man and those responsible for taking him from me. No one will like what happens if something bad happens to him. There”s a reason I”m named Wrath.