Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 36214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
He nods to the guards. They haul me up and tie me to a chair a few feet from Dad. The plastic digs deeper into my wrists. My ankle throbs from the earlier scuffle. I look at Dad through blurry eyes. His face looks so broken but his expression stays fierce.
"Stay strong kiddo," he says quietly. "Kraken will come. That boy doesn’t know how to fail."
I nod even though fear claws at my insides. The warehouse feels colder now. Distant voices echo. Guns click as guards check weapons. The smell of oil and rust and sweat makes my stomach turn. I focus on Dad’s face. On the love in his swollen eyes. On the faint hope that Kraken’s already tearing the city apart to find us.
Minutes stretch into what feels like hours. My shoulders ache from the awkward position. My mouth feels dry. Every small sound makes me jump. A guard walks past and smirks at me. Another brings water and holds the bottle to my lips like I’m an animal. I drink because I have to. The liquid tastes metallic.
Dad keeps talking to me in low whispers when the guards aren’t paying attention. Stories from when I was little. How I named my first goldfish after a cartoon character. How proud he was the day I graduated. He tells me he loves me. That none of this is my fault. That we’ll get through this together.
I cry quietly. The tears fall onto my lap. I think about Kraken. His stormy eyes. The way he held me after we made love. The way he brought Kevin to my bedside so I wouldn’t wake up alone. He’s coming. I know it. But the waiting feels endless. The fear feels alive. Like it has teeth and it’s slowly chewing through my hope.
The tall cartel man returns eventually. He drags a metal chair over and sits across from us. His smile never reaches his eyes. "Your biker should be here soon. We left plenty of breadcrumbs. When he arrives you get to watch what happens to men who think they can own these streets."
I lift my chin even though my voice shakes. "He’ll kill you. All of you. And I’ll smile while he does it."
The man laughs again. Loud and mocking. Several guards join in. The sound fills the hangar and wraps around my fear until it feels suffocating.
I close my eyes and picture Kraken’s face. His voice in my ear. The way he said I was his. I hold onto that. Onto the memory of his arms around me. Onto the promise he made.
He’s coming.
He has to be coming.
Right? Oh god, please let him come.
24
Kraken
We head west toward the small private airfield on the edge of the Glades. They’ve got Tia and Gunny there. My blood turns to fire. I don’t waste time asking questions. I bark orders and we roll out heavy. Every brother who can ride joins us. Engines thunder through the Miami streets like judgment coming for the men who dared touch what’s mine.
The ride feels endless and too fast at the same time. Wind whips against my face cutting like knives. The highway blurs under my tires. The smell of exhaust and hot asphalt fills my lungs. My hands grip the bars until my knuckles scream white. Tia. My woman. Taken because she got too close to their dirty money with her data work. Gunny beaten and used as bait. They’ll all die screaming for this.
Mace rides on my left. Ghost on my right. The rest of the crew stretches out behind us. No one speaks. No one needs to. We all know what this is. War. The final stand. I picture Tia's face. Her smile when she saw Kevin on the nightstand. The way she moaned my name when I buried myself inside her. The trust in her eyes when she asked me to hold her. I love her. The feeling burns hotter than the rage. She’s mine. My light in this dark world. And they took her.
We kill the engines a mile out and go in on foot. The small airfield sits quiet under the moon. Runways stretch empty. One hangar glows with light near the far end. Hangar five. We move through the tall grass like shadows. Boots sink into soft earth. Crickets scream in the night. The air smells thick with mangrove rot and jet fuel. My gun feels alive in my hands. Brothers spread out wide. Flanking positions. No mercy tonight.
Gunfire erupts the second we breach the fence line. Cartel guards spot us. Bullets whine past my head and chew into the dirt. I drop low and return fire. A guard drops with a spray of blood. Mace takes out two more with precise shots. Ghost moves like death itself. Silent. Deadly. He slits one throat before the man can even scream.