FULL NOVELXO Before the Storm: Chapter 65
My heart beats heavily in my ears as we stand with our backs to the elevator wall. It seems so simple now that we’ve seen it in operation but trying to work out how the fuck they were disappearing was driving Everett nuts. It does beg the question though, to have something like this in place, to have built a headquarters beneath the city, below an abandoned warehouse, how long had they been planning to take us down? At least a year, but probably more like two or three. Annalise set the wheels in motion long before we even knew she existed, and that only makes my anger burn hotter.
The doors begin to open and I take a deep breath, looking over at Tommy and Elijah beside me. We came just the three of us, seeing as we already have a team down here, but I fully expect to be shot at the second the heavy steel doors reveal us. We’ve been as careful as we can be, and Everett has managed to hack into the security feed, but there are things we can’t prepare for, including the fact they’re going to know none of their people called this elevator.
But when the doors slide open, we’re met with silence. There’s no one standing on the other side, and we take careful steps out of the elevator into what seems like a parking garage. There are no less than fifteen black SUVs and a few black sedans perfectly lined up along the walls. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.
Elijah and I exchange a look before creeping forward. We have no idea about the layout down here aside from the basic overview the team gave us, but we can’t stay in one place for long. We have to get out of here in as little time as we can manage to give ourselves the best chance of this plan going off without a hitch.
We move quietly as a unit, each of us covering the others at all times. Elijah may be new to our family, and we may have grown up hating one another, but strangely, he’s slipped right into our family and our operation like he was always there, as have we with his business.
The moment we round the corner into an open space full of lounges and surveillance equipment, we all slam into the wall to stop ourselves from being seen. I don’t know where everyone is, but we’re yet to come across any of Annalise’s men, and that’s making me nervous. The last time our team checked in they had apprehended a handful of guys and tied them up, but surely that’s not all there is down here.
The screens that cover the far wall show whatever Everett has playing on repeat, and I take comfort in the fact something is going to plan.
“The team has located the night quarters,” Everett says into the earpiece the three of us are wearing. Perhaps that’s where they are. It is the middle of the night after all, and although they’ve taken one of our women, they probably think I don’t know. I did send her away after all. I thought it would keep her safe. I thought she would be able to live a normal life without me, and without all the threats I bring to her doorstep, but I was wrong, and because of that, she was taken from the place I thought she would be safest in the world.
I don’t acknowledge my best friend because I don’t want to give away our position. Elijah nods toward the hallway on the other side of the room and I shrug. It’s as good a direction as any, I suppose, but I suspect it’s a rabbit warren down here, and we have to be careful not to get lost.
A bloodcurdling scream fills the quiet and my stomach drops. Ayvah. I take off in a dead run toward the sound before I can think through the decision, but quickly find myself slammed into a wall.
“Are you insane?” Elijah growls. “They know we’re here. They could be using her to draw you out.”
“I don’t fucking care,” I snap. “I can’t let them hurt her.” I shove him off and run toward the scream. I couldn’t care less if this is a trap. If it will save Ayvah pain and suffering, I’ll run right into the fire and burn alive.
My heavy footfall fills my ears alongside the rapid beats of my heart, but no matter how hard I push myself, I can’t get to her fast enough. It’s like one of those dreams where no matter how fast you run, you’re still running on the spot, and I’ve never wanted to wake up more than I do right now.
Two other sets of footsteps follow behind me, and for a moment, I wonder if I’m doing the right thing. I’m dragging one of my best friends and my brother-in-law into what is very likely a trap, and I could get all three of us killed, and yet I can’t bring myself to slow down, not even for a second.
I turn a corner and stop dead in my spot, not even budging when Elijah slams into me. Heavy sobs fill the concrete space as a male voice sprouting vile words cuts through the sound. A man hovers above my woman, her pants bunched around her ankles as she tries to dislodge the man. His hand is fisted in her hair as he slams her face into the concrete, but I’m frozen.
It’s like slow motion as I stare at the man hurting my woman. There’s no mistaking what he intends to do. Not when his pants are around his thighs and his pale white ass is all I can see. Before I can think twice about the decision, I pull my gun from the back of my waistband and empty my clip into the man, relishing in the blood that spews from his body. He deserves more pain than I’ve given him, but I don’t care. As long as he no longer breathes the same air as my woman, I don’t give a fuck how he dies.
The gunfire echoes off the walls and by the time I’m able to lower the gun, Tommy and Elijah are pushing me forward. “We have to get him off her,” Tommy whisper shouts. I don’t know why he bothers considering they’ll absolutely know we’re here now, but I can barely see through the fog of rage that clouds my vision. My body screams at me to get to Ayvah, but I can’t break through the invisible force that holds me in place.
“Storm,” Elijah snaps. “You can lose your shit in a minute, but we need to make sure Ayvah is okay.”
I look up into his green eyes, full of fire and anger, and it snaps me out of the haze I’m in. I take off down the hallway and slide to my knees, quickly lifting the man from her back and dumping him down beside her.
“Ayvah!” I’m scared to touch her, because I have no idea what she’s been through in the twenty-six hours since my men lost sight of her, and that fucking terrifies me. I have no idea if she’s hurt, if her injuries go beyond what the human eye can see. I have no concept of what has happened to her, and it fucking kills me. “Ayvah! Baby girl. I need you to open those pretty brown eyes for me.”
“Is she okay?” Elijah asks while Tommy checks the pulse of the man I shot. I think it’s fairly safe to say the asshole is dead, but you can never be too careful with scum like him.
“Does she look okay?” I snap.
“Let’s get her out of here.”
“What about Annalise?”
“Let’s burn this place to the fucking ground.” Elijah’s eyes flare with anger, and I can tell he’s thought a lot about how he wants to end her life and put an end to the organization who have tried to tear us down. It’s kind of poetic in a way. Annalise tried to burn my sisters alive, and now we’re going to do the same thing to her and all the people who work with her, who have contributed to the shit she’s put our family through.
I give him a sharp nod before turning my attention back to Ayvah who lies still on the ground. Too fucking still. I carefully turn her onto her back and hiss out a breath when I see the state of her beautiful skin. Where it’s normally soft and smooth, it’s covered in mottled bruises and cuts. Her face is swollen to the point I barely recognize the woman who holds my heart, and every inch of bare flesh is covered in varying shades of purple. Whatever they’ve done to her since they took her has taken its toll on her, and the sooner I get her to Doc to check over, the better. If it weren’t for the steady rise and fall of her chest, I would think she was dead, but her shallow breaths are the only thing keeping me from losing my fucking mind right now.
I brush her matted hair from her cheek and press my eyes closed as I uncover more bruising. I’ve never felt physical pain on behalf of another human before. But every single one of her bruises makes it harder for me to breathe. “Ayvah,” I murmur. “Can you open your eyes for me, baby girl?”
Her head lulls to the side, and a groan fills the otherwise quiet hallway. “Storm?” My name is barely audible, but it allows me to let out a sigh of relief.
“You’re going to be okay, baby girl. I’m going to get you out of here. I just need to know if your back is hurt?”
“No.” She tries to shake her head but immediately flinches at the movement. I want to kill the man that hurt her again, make him suffer over and over for the pain he caused my woman, but I can’t allow the anger to get the better of me. Not when I have to get her out of here. Not when she needs a doctor.
“Okay, Ayvah.” I shift closer to her and tug the sweatpants up from around her ankles.
She whimpers at the movement, but I don’t have any other choice. I can’t carry her out of here like this.
“I’m sorry, baby girl. This is going to hurt.” I slip one arm under the back of her knees, the other behind her back, and carefully lift her against my chest. The moment she’s in my arms again, the weight that’s sat heavy on my chest for the last two months lifts. She’s back where she’s meant to be, and the piece of me that was missing slots right into place.
I’m never going to let her out of my sight again.