Page 150 of Stormhold

“You want me to run? From my own fucking city?” An empty chuckle left my lips as my eyes met hers. “You think he won’t come for me after all of this is over? As long as he’s alive, he’ll be out for my blood, Bella.” My voice softened toward the end at the worry in her eyes. “I’ll be fine,” I whispered, pressing a kiss on her forehead.

She gave me a small smile, but her apprehension didn’t fade.

“Do you have any idea who he is?” Karl arched a curious brow. “Has he done anything to out himself?”

“No,” I muttered. “He’s good.”

“Done,” Mikhail announced, as a loud whirl rumbled through the house as Gigi activated. Steel bars started to lower down on the windows, and by now, all our entryways should’ve been barred shut and rigged with class A explosives. No man could ever get inside this house now.

“What about the walls?” Bella asked.

“They’re fortified.” Unless the White Hand had more Invictus lying around, there was no chance for the Surmans to ever get in. But what about the tunnels? Why waste the Invictus there?

Just as the thought left my head, I heard hurried footsteps approaching us, and we all stood on guard, waiting as a large shadow appeared in the doorway. The low light flickering almost made it look like light effects from a horror movie.

It was Grayson.

He stood in the same spot he was hours ago, only now he was bloodied and bruised, his eyes blazing with rage.

“I don’t know what the fuck is happening,” Grayson growled, raising his hands. “But someone took Lucien and Marcus, and we need to hurry now if we ever want to see them alive.” His chest heaved harder with every word he spoke.

I took a step forward. My gun was aimed at his head. “Why should I trust you?”

He looked me dead in the eye and took a step forward, the gun now pressing on his forehead. “You don’t,” he simply said.

Only minutes ago, I aimed this same gun at my other brother, and this didn’t feel any better either.

“Fine,” I said, dropping my hand. “Tell me everything.”

Grayson gave me a grateful nod and entered the room, something resolute in his expression. “We heard the blast come from the basement, so we went to check it out, thinking something had happened to you. But there was no one there, or so we thought,” he explained. “There was a fucking huge hole in the wall, and before we could even comprehend what was happening, we got fucking jumped.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Who were they?”

“It was too dark to see.” Grayson ground his jaw. “But they separated us. I was able to fight them off and make a run for it.”

“How do you know Lucien and Marcus are still there?” It wasn’t like I didn’t believe his word, but I had an inkling that getting me into the tunnels was exactly what the White Hand wanted.

Grayson shook his head. “I don’t.”

I sighed.

“What do we do? None of this makes any sense.” Karl asked, flinging his jacket aside and donning the bulletproof vest Jon handed him.

Jon then patted Grayson’s shoulder and handed him one as well. “Suit up, brother,” he muttered, sliding his eyes to me. “I think we’ve got a big fight ahead to keep Kane’s head in place.”

Bella turned to me with the same question in her eyes, and all I could think of was one possibility.

“He wants us to go in,” I said slowly. “He wants me to walk inside his trap willingly.”

Grim silence clouded the room as the words left my lips. A multitude of emotions crossed their faces as the realization set in.

“I’ll go alone. It’s my fight…”

Before I could finish my sentence, Bella raised a sharp hand. “You’re not going anywhere alone, and this isn’t just your fight.” The resolute tone of her voice left no room for argument.

“Yes, what she said,” Jon countered with an intent look in his eyes. “I’m not letting my brother die on my watch.”

I exhaled, my gaze colliding with theirs, and they conveyed the same thing,