Drake above^^

Chapter 65

Drake took a taunting drag from his cigarette, then tapped the ash to the ground between us and ran a thumb across his bottom lip. "I never would have looked for you here." He tilted his head. "In the mountains. All this time, I've been checking bridges and street corners." He took another drag and blew the smoke out extra slow. "Then I find out who your PO is, and low and behold, he leads one of the guys up here." He threw the butt down, stomped on it, and motioned to our surroundings. "To the mountains... These ones of all places."

My breath held as if it were too afraid to come out. I already knew where he was going. He was leading up to it, like a cat playing with the mouse. He enjoyed the build up; the head games.

"Why?" His eyes sent a clear message. It was a test. Do not lie to me, they said. "What brought you here?"

He knows.

I took an unconscious step back and tripped into the shelter behind me. The structure collapsed beneath my weight, and a mess of branches and leaves swallowed me as I hit the ground.

Drake laughed. "Dammit, Jessie. Now you fucked that up, too!" The other men rumbled laughter, but Drake didn't pay attention to them. His eyes stayed glued to mine, and the smile slowly fell. "That was some fucking legit looking shit you built." He motioned to the pile, gaze thoughtful. "But... You don't know how to do shit like that. Do you?" He scratched his chin. "So, who built it?"

I swallowed hard and fought to get back to my feet. I needed to be ready. I needed to get into stance. There was no way I could take them all, but dammit if I wouldn't try. He wouldn't take me without a fight.

"Who helped you?" he bit out. It echoed the early morning quiet and kickstarted my heart.

My eyes strayed over to Fred, my only friend among the group. He couldn't help me. I already knew that, but just seeing his face steadied me.

"Did you fuck him?"

My heart stopped, and cold dread settled over my skin.

He knew.

Drake knew about Bard.

Even worse, Drake knew me. As much as I hated to admit it, Drake knew me better than most, and my reaction said a thousand words.

All it took was one step. One minuscule movement from him, and I lashed out. Hours upon hours of training, all for this moment. I swung low, landed a right punch to his ribs, and Drake grunted, stumbled, clutched his side and turned enraged eyes onto me.

I froze. All the training I'd had meant nothing in the face of my own fear.

I hit him.

Drake was on me fast. He gripped my hair and jerked my head backwards. I bit back a cry and struggled to twist out of his hold, but it felt like my scalp would rip away.

"You, fucking bitch!" He jerked me back again, threw me to the ground, then kicked me hard enough to crack my ribs.

My knees curled upwards. My arms circled my head. I gasped for breath, but it wouldn't come. He'd knocked it all out of me, and my lungs were too broken to try.

Drake nudged me with the toe of his boot. "Where is he?"

I couldn't answer.

Another kick, harder than before. I coughed, and blood spattered the grass beside me.

Drake knelt down and ran a hand across my mouth. Sticky, red coated his fingers. He pulled them up to his face and studied it with a sick sort of fascination. "Where is he, Jessie?" His voice quieted.

I managed to drag in a raspy breath, then wheezed out, "He's gone."

"What do you mean he's gone?" He gripped my hair and pulled my face closer. "You did this to yourself. Just answer the question. You know I don't want to do this to you."

Bile rose into my throat. The hell you don't.

"He's dead," I rasped, voice hollow and distant. The odds that it was true were too great to ignore, and the admission broke me more than Drake ever could.

"That's a shame." Drake dropped my head and turned away. "Fred, help her. I'm ready to get the fuck out of here."

Fred eyed the tree line. "You sure she's telling the truth?"

Drake walked away without a backwards glance. "If she isn't, he'll come to us."

"C'mon, girl." Fred gently pulled me up, then cast a careful glance over his shoulder. When the other men made it a few feet ahead of us, his eyes met mine. "You've never been stupid, Jessie. You had to know he would find you." His voice was barely audible, and the other men trailed after Drake like flies after a piece of shit. "Then you hit him? He's gotten worse since you left. You need to try and stay out of his way."

I choked a laugh. "I was out of his way. He could have just left me alone."

His lips pursed. "He's obsessed with you, girl. The boys not right. Nobody will question him." He cast another furtive glance, then pulled me along at a slow pace. "He's killed five men since you disappeared, and two more have gone missing." He kept a steady hand under my arm, gaze sharp on the backs of the men in front of us. "Just... keep your head down. Don't go fighting him. Don't admit to anything. He wants you back. If you play it nice–"

"I'd rather die," I spat.

Fred shook me. "Keep it up, and you just might."

I turned my gaze forward and grit my teeth. I knew that. I expected it. If Bard truly was gone, what did it matter, anyway?

"We don't have all fucking day!" Drake barked back at us.

Fred's jaw squared, but he quickened our pace, and the conversation dropped.

I didn't fault him. It was the way things were. It was just the way this kind of life worked. It was all about survival, about number one, you against the world, and Fred couldn't help me without getting himself killed in the process.

And for what?

Drake would kill me, anyway. No. I didn't fault Fred. Fred cared, and that was more than I could say about most people.

Or, at least, it used to be more.

Until Bard cared. Just like everything else about him, it was more. He'd cared enough to sacrifice himself to save me.

Drake shot a look over his shoulder, then turned to one of the men beside him. "Which way?"

The man shrugged and pointed to the blonde at Drake's left.

Drake's jaw clenched as he turned his gaze over. "Which way?" he asked again, tone tighter.

Blondie stiffened under the sudden attention, then looked around as if a sign would suddenly appear to point the way.

"You mean to tell me not one of you mother fuckers thought to keep track of where the fuck we were going?"

The men fell silent.

I looked around the group. They weren't made for this any more than I was. I couldn't help myself. A laugh bubbled out of my chest, small at first, then louder. Fred shook me, but the sound wouldn't stop.

I've finally lost it. I've gone insane.

Drake turned dark eyes on me. "You think this is funny?" His voice was the calm before the storm. I knew it. I'd heard it. I knew what happened next.

But, for some reason, I didn't give a single shit.

He stared me down, from my feet and back up again. "Do you know how to get out of here?"

I did.

I laughed harder. Large, guffawing, Zeke-style laughter. "I do!" I cried out, clutching my stomach, tears pooling into my eyes.

Drake seemed to grow less and less patient. He didn't like being taunted, and my laughter was just that. Disrespect. He'd tortured men for less.

"Bring her to me," he directed at Fred, his eyes never leaving mine.

Fred didn't move an inch. "I think she's delirious."

Drake's glare could have singed every hair off the old man's face. "I said...Bring. Her. To. Me."

Fred stiffened. His grip on my arm tightened, but after a moment's pause, and a long look around the group, he gave in and lead me forward.

My laughter died at the inevitable threat, but no fear arrived to take its place. What could he do that he hadn't already done? Bard was gone. My back was fucked. My life wasn't worth anything.

I'm immune.

The minute we were within reach, Drake wrenched me from his uncle's arms. "You've gotten awful ballsy." He held me by my biceps and leveled threatening eyes with mine. "I wonder why that is." He released one arm to grip my chin.

I shrugged, ignored the bite of his fingers against my jaw, and met his gaze head on. I was done cowering for him. He didn't get to have that power over me. Not anymore. I was stronger. Bard had shown me that. He'd shown me that I was more. "Maybe..." I batted my lashes at him. "Maybe...He literally fucked my brains out."

His brows lifted in surprise, but his teeth bared. He released my chin, jerked his hand to the waist band of his jeans, and whipped a gun to my temple.

The world froze.

"Do you want to die?"

The cool metal dug into my skin, and as much as I wanted to challenge him further, my natural human reaction wouldn't let me. Survival instincts kicked in, and my brain refused to do anything other than try to prevent my death. My pulse quickened, eyes widened, lips locked shut.

Drake sneered. "That shut you up real good, now didn't it? Are you going to lead us out of here?"

I nodded, then heaved a breath when he lowered the gun.

"Which way?"

I pointed in a random direction. The truth was, without the stars, I was just as lost as they were. But even with the stars, I had no plans to lead them.

I wasn't leaving the mountain without Bard, not unless death himself removed me from it.

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