Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“We split up. One group goes through the front door. One group finds the back door. We attack at the same time. Lincoln and Claude search for her, while everyone else keeps the Hornets at bay,” I reeled off the plan that we all agreed to earlier.
“You’re leading the front charge, while I lead the back,” Kai reminded me. “Don’t make any stupid moves.”
It was hard to think straight when I looked at the clubhouse, seeing the Hornets’ logo on the front door and how I wanted to shatter the glass with my fist. No matter what happened today, we had to put an end to the Hornets, whether that was running them out of town or scaring them so badly that they didn’t want to be within ten miles of us. They couldn’t keep doing things like this.
“Hush. Someone is coming out,” Auden whispered from behind Kai, pointing ahead as the front door swung open.
I gritted my teeth as I saw Ghoul stroll out of the clubhouse, lighting a cigarette and blowing a faint cloud of smoke into the air. He looked so damn smug that it made me want to punch that look right off his face.
Ghoul took his phone out and pressed it to his ear. He was a natural loudmouth, so his voice floated across the street enough for me to make out the words he was saying.
“She’s a feisty one, alright. And she’s about to pop. Instead of messing around with that flaky bitch, we should’ve been looking for an heir to steal,” he laughed.
I ground my teeth, hating every single word that was coming out of his mouth. He would regret every single one of them when I got my hands on him.
“Such a shame. This one is a pretty one. Who knows how long it’ll be until she delivers? Maybe I’ll have some fun with her in the meantime,” Ghoul said with a smirk.
Every string holding my resolve together snapped. There wasn’t a thought in my head after he said those words. My body moved on its own, driven by sheer fury.
“Bradley, no!” Kai bit out, reaching out to try to grab the sleeve of my black t-shirt.
I slipped away from his grip and ran across the street, not even bothering to look and see if cars were coming. When I was close enough, I lunged at Ghoul, who dropped his phone and cigarette as I crashed into him.
A curse rang from Ghoul as we hit the ground. He kicked at me, striking my shoulder with his boot and knocking me off.
“Hornets! We’ve got company!” Ghoul shouted.
I looked up just as Hornets started pouring out of the clubhouse, my heart thundering in my chest as I realized that I was terribly outnumbered. I quickly pushed myself to my feet, preparing myself to fight as many as possible so that I could get inside and get Aisling.
“Come on!” I shouted.
It wasn’t long before Kai and Auden joined my side, followed by the other Serpents. Our cover had been blown, and our element of surprise was gone. It was us out in the open, which was never a good battle environment. There was nowhere to find cover.
Ghoul cackled as he faced off with us, flanked by his other members.
“Did you really think you could break into our clubhouse and attack us? Seriously?” he asked with a ridiculing tone. “You’re not getting anywhere near her. That baby is mine.”
“No, he’s not!” I spat, feeling Kai grab my arm as I tried to lunge forward. He wasn’t laying a finger on my son. I didn’t care what I had to do to stop him.
Ghoul looked over at Kai and smirked.
“Control your attack dog before I put all of you down,” he said.
I looked at Kai, silently pleading him to let me go, to let me rescue the woman we loved. We couldn’t just give up, not when she was just inside.
Kai narrowed his eyes and pulled me back, making us all take a few steps back to retreat from the stand-off before things spiraled even more out of control.
“This isn’t over,” he warned Ghoul.
Ghoul cocked an eyebrow at Kai.
“Oh, really? Let’s see if you guys make it back in one piece,” he said before nodding his head toward us.
In an instant, the other Hornets ran at us, itching for us to take the bait and fight right here and now. They knew that our chance of success was strikingly low, and they wanted a quick victory.
We only had a second to decide what to do, and Kai chose for us.
“Run!” he shouted, grabbing my shirt sleeve to drag me along, knowing that I would throw myself into a fight first.
With a curse, I spun around and followed the others, hearing heavy footsteps behind us as the Hornets chased us back across the street. Realistically, I knew that we would have to catch them off-guard to beat their bigger numbers, but I hated having to flee. Having to give up.