Hello beautiful people!

Firstly, I have an announcement. EMB hit a million views that I'm so ecstatic about! I wanna thank everyone who didn't skip Athena and Eros' wild journey and fell in love with this unlikely duo. Writing about them was a pleasure and the love you've showered them with has always been a delight for me. It's where Roman and Vincent flourished which made us all fall in love with those idiots, so thank you once again. I couldn't have gotten here without you guys. EMB sort of brought in the majority of the people who then gave Leo and Arie a chance too so I love you guys very much ❤️

Also, I made new family edits for each family when someone had asked about the family trees on Instagram. Save the family trees if you wish to so you can go back and look at them if you're confused about who is who.

Vote, comment, and share this story with your friends. ENJOY! ❤️

It's almost 5 am here so point out any errors if you see them ❤️

——————————————————

(Arie's POV)

          The dark blanket of night loomed over us—haunting and menacing—as I slowed the car down as per Rex's instructions. The man was still brooding in the passenger's seat with his bruised ego, considering I had tied him up nicely to the seat. After his paprika marination, I didn't trust him to not strangle me to death and he didn't trust me either—as expected. He wasn't going to make the mistake of letting his guard down around me again.

          Halting the car down the hill from the location, I unbuckled my seatbelt and reached for the gun I had placed in the car door to my side in case Rex started acting up, but he was a doll—a grouchy doll.

          When my hand inched toward the door handle, Rex let out a sound of disapproval. "Wait for Luca."

          Rex's reddened eyes dissected me fiercely as if trying to take a peek at my soul. He was still sniffling occasionally from the aftermath of the paprika show. The man had practically drowned himself in water and milk to soothe the pain and sting when I released him from the chair. He proved to be very difficult to treat, and I didn't expect anything less. Making the most out of the supplies I was given, I cleaned the wound by his ear, cleaned the one I inflicted on his face, then tied his broken fingers to pieces of wood. His chances of dying weren't great right now, so his proper medical attention had to wait until I got my hands on the girls.

          "Didn't you say he'd be here before us?" I took a quick gander around us, scanning my eyes over the vacant road and the lush forest to find no soul in sight. "Does he dabble in the dark arts of invisibility or what?"

          "If my mouth wasn't burning, I'd laugh at that," Rex mocked.

          "Thank you for sparing me from your hyena laugh then," I quipped with the brightest smile I could offer him, then exited the vehicle.

          "Going in without Luca is a bad idea," Rex's voice rang behind me as I walked to the trunk of the old car.

          "Do you not trust your abilities, Mr. T-Rex?" I taunted the fool whilst strapping on a bulletproof vest that was hidden in the foundation of the bed I had slept on along with more weapons. Rex told me about it on our way out. The man had some sense to keep us safe because I didn't expect there to be only a couple of guards patrolling Athena. I was certain she had struck down many in her wake, so the security had to be tight. Besides, I didn't know what monster had her and the power he wielded, but whoever it was, he was going to meet his maker in a brutal manner. The mistake he made was dire.

          As I fastened holsters to my body, my heartbeat began to run at a quicker pace. The pain in my muscles was dull, but it was consciously present. Admittedly, I wasn't at my best, so the fear of failing Athena gnawed at me, but waiting for my body to heal was too precarious in this situation. This was a game too dangerous I couldn't afford failing at.

          After securing handguns, grenades, knives, and extra ammo to myself, I physically looked ready to march into a battle, bellowing a war cry meant to travel into the hearts of my enemies and make them bow before me, but the ache of trepidation in my chest alluded to the opposite.

          What if I was too late? What if luck sided with the monsters and I lost the battle before I could ever reach the girls?

          Fuck!

          Whilst clenching my trembling hands, I inhaled slowly, trying the absolute best to calm my nerves. Athena and Robyn were my goals, my driving force. There was no way I was going to pull this off on my own.

          There were too many snakes that needed to be skinned alive for their transgressions against Leo and the people he loved, so the path that led back to him crawled with monsters from the depths of Tartarus itself. Giving up and doubting my abilities was futile. A war had been declared ages ago—since Evelina's birth or maybe even earlier—and I wasn't going to be a weak link that was going to lead to the downfall of the king. I was Leo's strength, and sitting around like a damsel in distress for my roaring lion to save me was a pathetic excuse. I was his leonessa (lioness) for a reason. Tearing each and every last one of these fuckers to shreds was going to be my pleasure.

          I needed to give Leo one less thing to worry about on my end. Athena had a plan in mind that we needed to execute in order to get leads on the person that was responsible for this fiasco before we made our way back to our families. I still had much to learn about the underworld and its workings, but from what I knew, there was no way I was backing down. I was going to get Leo his sister back.

          After another second in my solemn pondering state, I slung an assault rifle over my shoulder with a strap, slammed the trunk shut, and walked over to the passenger seat where the brooding man sat. When I opened his door, all I heard was a groan of objection in return.

          "We must wait for Luca if you wish to survive," Rex muttered.

          "You know," I bent over to get a better look at the man and continued, "I had a feeling this was possibly a trap for Luca to drug me again and take me back. Now I'm starting to think that's actually the case."

          "At what point did you hear Luca instruct me to take you anywhere else or to a usual spot that we share?"

          "I'm sure you had plans in place if a situation like this arose."

          His lips tightened in indignation as he looked away from me. "We didn't humor the idea of a girl besting us. A girl who doesn't even come from the mob."

          "Well, surprise, motherfucker!" I forced a conceited grin forth, lowering myself even more to match his eye level. "Now I'm going to assume you just don't trust your abilities any longer after you got your ass handed to you by a girl which is why you seem so scared."

          "It's a bloody suicide mission. His henchmen are everywhere, and thanks to you, I'm not at my best."

          "And who is he?"

          Rex's gaze faltered, his lips pinching into a thin line of shame that dictated it all. My heart immediately sank to the nauseating ocean of bile in my stomach. A bitter taste emerged in my mouth, twisting my insides itself.

          "You gave them to the man who bid on me," I muttered to myself as my fingers curled inward, forming fists. "The monster Luca said would rape me bloody?"

          Nothing but a menial sigh left Rex's mouth before words found their way up his throat. "Yardanov was promised a Bonferroni whore. You're too vital to be given to him. Too important to Luca's brother. You were saved from a cruel fate."

          "So you condemned another woman to that fate? For what? To use me for some evil master plan that you and Luca cooked up?" My hand lunged out for his shirt collar and twisted it harshly between my fingers. Anger drove my heart into a rapid pace. "You forced a fifteen-year-old into the clutches of that monster. A fucking child!"

          Rex's brows knitted together, a flicker of remorse glinting in his reddened eyes, but he immediately tightened his expression. "There is no master plan. We gave you a chance at life."

          Releasing his collar, I clenched my hand and rammed my fist into his stomach which knocked the air out of him momentarily. "Chance at life, my fucking ass! I want to burn you alive for what you've done, but I'll let you live until I've exhausted your purpose, fucking asshole!" Unsheathing a knife from the strap around my leg, I cut the ropes around his body, purposely nicking his arm in the process.

          He winced. "Really?"

          "You deserve a lot more than that. Now get your ass up and move. Don't make me shoot your brain out just yet."

          Like an angry child, he trampled back to the trunk of the car and got himself ready with the bulletproof vest and weaponry. There was a slight tremble in his hands. I wasn't sure if it was because he was scared of what laid ahead of us or if it was just his broken fingers that made him nervous. His thumbs, index, and middle fingers were good enough to hold down a trigger which was adequate. Aim would be off but it was better than nothing.

          Once all ready with handkerchiefs as our makeshift masks, Rex led us toward the lone building. We scrambled through the thick array of wild bushes, concealing ourselves behind tree trunks along the way. I didn't trust the man behind me. If someone had to be shot, I'd rather it be him. And if this was a trap, I'd kill him right away.

          The dingy double story building that was erected before us had no one standing guard as we watched from the safety of the jungle.

          "Where the fuck is everyone?" Rex mumbled to himself before leading us both further along the side of the road toward the other end of the perimeters of the building. No lights illuminated the area. The lack of street lamps didn't make the scanning any easier on our eyes either. The moon was the only help, but it wasn't enough. Outlines of cars were spotted past the metal bars of the gate, and it was the only indication that someone was probably in.

"Follow me. Lay low," Rex instructed, dashing across the empty road. I followed suit and hid beside him by the rusty metal fencing that wrapped around the building. We waited for a few seconds, watching for any movement on the enemy's end. Once we noticed nothing, Rex led me to another side toward a door in the fence and shot the keyhole. With the suppressor on the handgun, the sound it made wasn't loud at all. I made sure to attach them to my guns too. I'd rather take them down in stealth, especially with my aching body.

"I imagined more people to be here."

"I think they are here, just not patrolling which means they're busy with something else," Rex informed. "There are no cameras this way. Come."

I braced myself, hoping that "something else" didn't mean Athena or Robyn. I don't know where the fuck I'd go from there.

          "The security room can be accessed through that window down there." Rex pointed at the last window at the end of the building. "If no one is there, we're ready to go. If not, I'll talk to the man for which you need to stay hidden, so he doesn't get suspicious."

"And they won't be suspicious if they see you masked up and battle-ready in your broken state?"

"They know me well enough."

"Because they're your buddies, right?" I scorned whilst following him along the side of the brick building, the small puddles of rainwater mixed with muck splashing on my boots.

"Yet you're the Bonferroni whore who willingly warms a mobster's bed. Do you need me to tell you of the horrid things he's done or do you already know?"

"Firstly, I'm not anyone's whore," I forced the words out through my clenched teeth, harshly poking the barrel of my handgun into his back. "Secondly, I know enough about Leo to stand beside him as his strength. You're not above Leo nor are you any saint. You willingly fraternize with sadists."

"Sometimes you do business with people you don't wish to eat with. Survival of the fittest. That's how it's always been since the dawn of time for every species," Rex retorted, lowering his voice the closer we got to the window. "You don't think your boyfriend has broken bread with them? Fucking hell, he's worse than them. An animal. A predator at the top of the food chain and predators will rip through anyone to stay at the top even if it means forcing his own sister into marrying a rapist who was his best mate for more power. And now she's married to that rapist's brother who is another rapist. How do you begin to explain that?"

His words scraped against my nerves excruciatingly. The mere thought of Astor soured the taste in my mouth, and the mud he was throwing on Leo's name rattled my insides.

"You shouldn't speak on things you're not fully aware of," I spat, holding myself back from pulling the trigger on him for implying nonsense about Leo that was far from the truth. The love Leo had for his sisters in his heart was too strong and pure. His protective nature would never allow him to force them into something like this. "He doesn't rape little girls. He doesn't buy them, beat them, torture them in the most horrendous ways. Nor does he condemn another woman to such fate the way you and Luca did with Athena and Robyn. And I was there when Leo ripped Astor's head right off his shoulders for what he did to his sisters and everyone else, so you need to watch what you say."

          The last statement was ironic coming from me considering the amount of times I opened my mouth when I shouldn't have.

          Admittedly, Leo was a monster, but he was a monster to those who wronged him or his family. And he definitely wasn't the monster who plunged women down this path of horror.

Rex halted his feet briefly, throwing me a glance over his shoulder. "He actually ripped Aguillard's head off?"

"I have a feeling that you might meet the same fate by my hands this time if you keep talking," I threatened.

"Fucking mental," he grumbled under his breath.

          "In order to survive people like you and worse, I think I need to be a little more than mental."

          As we got closer, Rex silently motioned his hand, indicating me to get down. I crouched on the ground as he wiped the grime from the window to look inside. Rex pulled down his mask and knocked on the dirty glass pane which was indicative of someone's presence.

          The window sill leveled along Rex's chest while the top of the window—from my guesstimate—was almost four feet above the man's head. Once I heard the creak of the window sliding open, I pressed the muzzle of my gun against Rex's crotch to scare away any wild ideas he must have gotten in the moment.

          Rex sucked in a sharp breath but managed to keep his expression indifferent. At least that was what it seemed like from my vantage point. I was below him after all. If someone were to see us from the side and from a distance, they'd get a very wrong image stuck in their head.

          The man from the window spoke in a very gruff voice and in a language I didn't understand a single word of, but Rex comprehended it easily and responded in the same language with a hint of feigned desperation. After something the man said, Rex pointed at the laceration running down his face then patted his bulletproof vest with his broken fingers. After another couple of seconds of conversation between them, Rex stepped forward to haul the man out through the window, throwing him to the ground in front of me. Before the man could alarm his cohort of goons, Rex shot him in the head.

          "Bloody hell," Rex cursed, scanning his eyes over his fingers. "I can't even pull a fucking lad out without being in pain all thanks to you."

          I rolled my eyes. "Stop whining and let's go."

          Holding my breath, I climbed in through the window and tumbled on the tiled floor, a soft whimper escaping my lips with the subtle twinge in my body. Rex followed me in and looked at the security monitors as I did. Multiple screens showcased different hallways and rooms, but there wasn't much to see. A few men were seen occasionally strolling through some of the halls. However, a particular door had two men standing guard outside it.

"That's our door. Let's go!" Rex exclaimed, covering his face with the mask once again.

"Wait."

Rex sighed, clearly annoyed. "Now we're not getting late?"

Ignoring the fool, I withdrew one of my knives and sliced through all the wires, cutting off any connection to the cameras so our location would be a mystery for the next person who walked in here after learning of our presence. Although I wished I could smash all the screens in, the noise would only cause us trouble by luring men in.

          "Ah, smart!" Rex praised with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

          "More than you, that's guaranteed," I quipped.

          He bit his tongue as we walked toward the door, holding onto our handguns and stepping into the hallway. The big guns weren't needed yet. Silence was required on our end until we got the girls out of here, or else reaching them would be a nightmare through a swarm of men.

          Trudging into the hallway, I looked to my right for any sign of the enemy while Rex took care of the left. It was oddly empty. Not a soul in sight. However, an echo of music rumbled softly beneath our feet.

"Someone's having a party."

"They won't know what hit them then," I declared, following him down the narrow hallway.

"The room that was being guarded is on the second floor. Stay behind me."

I kept an eye behind us, making sure no one snuck up on us. If this was any indication of how our little rescue mission was going to be like, then it was going to be much easier than anticipated. Too easy.

Rex pushed past a door that accessed the stairwell where we both froze upon seeing two men stumble up the stairs from below, not noticing our presence.

"Don't," Rex warned in a low whisper when I exchanged my gun for a knife for a silent kill. "They're as drunk as a skunk."

The way their feet barely held their floundering bodies was evident of a drunken state, and their inability to even notice us made it blatantly obvious. When their sunken eyes finally settled on us, it took them another few seconds to finally realize the predicament they were in. Before they could shout a slurred warning from their mouths, I leaped forward and stuck my knife into one's neck while Rex handled the other one. The man's bloody gargles splattered on my masked face as I worked to soften his fall and ensure the noise didn't attract unnecessary trouble. Even a trifling task—such as this—weighed too heavy on my aching muscles. I wondered how the fuck was I going to get through more that were bound to come.

          As if someone heard of my complaints and decided to do the opposite, the goons came in behind us right on time. I guessed they were the few who had been minding the halls. My arms were grabbed by two men while another two pounced on Rex. The knife had been dropped from my grasp as they dragged me out into the hall and shoved me against the wall.

          I muffled a whine of pain in my throat when the lanky one to my left slammed his fist to my guts. The air was knocked out of my lungs when the muscular one to my right punched my stomach. Even the bulletproof vest didn't soften the blow. Their incoherent words went over my head as I tried to gasp for air. My mask was yanked down to reveal my face to them. The lanky man held my jaw in place, his eyes ogling my features, while the muscle man stripped the guns from my body.

          Rex's grunts from beyond the door leading to the stairwell anchored my attention back to the purpose behind this. I couldn't give up because of pain, which was a temporary sensation, but my endurance or the lack of it, at this moment, could change everything. The hope was for my actions to steer us in the right direction, which was getting the fuck out of here. I wasn't dying tonight nor was I going to allow such an end befall Robyn or Athena.

          Since the muscle man was busy removing the grenades strapped to the belt around my waist, the lanky one was the only one holding me steady. If his punch was any indication of his strength, this was going to be a losing battle on his end. Hell, my Ana had a better punch than him. She made Leo bleed for fuck's sake, but this one only accentuated the already present ache that his partner took to a new level. I was sure the lanky one was a complete idiot because even I'd know to restrain the hands of someone who came in with such weaponry as I did.

          After a deep breath, my hand reached out for the knife still strapped to my thigh that muscle man hadn't gotten around to removing yet. In a swift move, I brought it up and plunged it through the wrist of the hand that held my jaw which was lanky's. I only allowed an agonized gasp to slither out his mouth before I forced the knife through the underside of his jaw until I saw the tip of it rip through his tongue in his mouth.

          I was suddenly grabbed by my hair and yanked back forcefully by Mr. Muscle whose voice carried anger when he spoke in his language. He bashed my head against the wall before throwing me to the ground, but I held onto my knife for dear life despite the surge of pain that erupted like a volcano in my head. The ceiling spun. Even muscle man was bouncing from left to right before my woozy vision. I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing in and out through my nostrils to bring my mind back to a state of normalcy.

         'I can't fail', I chanted in my head. Not today. Too much is at stake.

          When I opened my eyes, I finally realized the man was dragging me. Before he could haul my ass any further, I reached up and thrust the knife up his crotch repeatedly without remorse. He released a roar of agony before a bullet found its way in his head. His flaccid body toppled over me, crushing me under its dead weight.

          "Fuck," I wheezed.

          "Are you going to live?" Rex asked, standing over my head like a giant.

          "Get him off," I coughed out the response.

          Rex pushed the body off me and pulled me up. He supported me when my stance wavered a bit due to the ringing in my head that was still present. It felt as though my brain would explode at any moment.

          "Pull yourself together," Rex chided. "We need to get out of here soon now. The dead bodies won't go unnoticed. I'm certain they didn't hear us downstairs with their music, but people on this floor certainly did, so move it."

          Shrugging off his hold, I used the wall to walk to my weapons that were laid out on the floor. "Where the fuck is Luca?" I seethed. That fucker was supposed to be here.

          "I have no idea. Something must have happened with him which is why we need to leave immediately. No time to waste here."

          I put the guns back into their holsters, strapped the knives to myself once again, attached the grenades to my belt, and then finally propped the assault rifle on my shoulder.

          Whilst pulling my mask up and fisting my handgun, I grumbled, "Lead the way."

          We stepped over bodies and found ourselves in the stairwell once again, taking the stairs up to the second floor. Rex cautiously opened the door and peeked into the hallway. Once clear, we walked out and discreetly ambled down. Rex's pace slowed when we neared the end of the hall, indicating that the next turn was where the goons were standing guard. Rex gave me a quick nod, and I understood what it meant instantly.

          "On the count of three," Rex whispered.

          One.

          Two.

          Three.

          We both jumped out at once and shot the two men at once before they could strike us down. Because of my slightly woozy mind, Rex's broken fingers, and the distance, it took us a couple of shots to ensure they weren't among the living any longer.

          Without wasting another second, I immediately made my way toward the door they were guarding and swung it open. My eyes spotted the little girl jumping up in fright, clutching the blanket tightly to her chest as she desperately backed herself into the headboard of the bed. Robyn.

          I lowered my mask and sighed in relief. "It's Arie."

          The shock on Robyn's quivering features had her contemplating the situation before she finally jumped out of the small bed and threw herself in my arms. Her sobs of agony were quick to find her which squeezed my heart fiercely.

          "I'm going to get you out of here," I promised, and I hoped—with all my heart—to be able to keep it.

          My eyes scanned the small room. Nothing but a bed and a lit candle on a pathetic excuse for a table decorated the dull room. However, the most jarring thing was Athena's absence.

          When Robyn pulled away from me, I wiped the tears from her reddened cheeks. Her eyes were visibly swollen from all the crying she had been doing even before my arrival. Only exhaustion and fear radiated in her eyes.

          "You're okay, right?" I asked, bracing myself for the worst possible answer from her. "They didn't touch you, did they?"

          Robyn shook her head, sniffling. "I'm okay."

          I exhaled with relief upon her reply. "Good, good. Do you know where Athena is now?"

          Robyn's features twisted once again, a new wave of tears streaming down her face. Goosebumps prickled upon my skin with the thought of the worst happening to Athena. My heart began thumping rapidly behind my ribs, my breaths becoming ragged and untamed with wild possibilities.

          "What's wrong?" My own ears heard the tremble in my voice and it was unsettling to say the least.

          Robyn's young eyes reflected guilt a child shouldn't carry, but she held it, and it only worked to petrify my soul even more.

          I grabbed her shoulder, centering her focus to demand answers. "Tell me what happened, Robyn. Now."

          "She gave herself up for me," she cried.

———————————————————

Yay or nay?

Firstly, are you guys enjoying the banter between our T-Rex and Arie?

Who wants to join Dimo Yardanov's little party downstairs? What do you think they're celebrating?

Where is Athena?

What did Robyn mean with "she gave herself up for me"? What could have happened?

Do you think Luca will make it in for some action during this rescue mission?

Will Arie be able to get them out safely in her current state?

Thoughts on Leo?

Or Arie?

Luca?

Further comments and questions are always welcome ❤️

HIT ME WITH THE THEORIES!

Follow me on INSTAGRAM @reetilicious for sneak peeks of the future chapters and fun question times. And we are doing fun little quizzes on the books too now and Never Have I Ever. Come join the fun and the family!

Be kind to one another and yourself.

Stay safe and much love to everyone ❤️
~Reet