Page 88 of Ignite
“It’s so fucked.” Ezra sobs. “So fucking fucked.”
I slam the gas pedal to the floor, swerving through cars and red lights. “Just hold on, okay? I’m on my way. I’m coming for you.”
When I check his pin on my map, it shows me fifteen minutes away. It might as well be hours. This city’s too fucking big, and Ezra’s too far away for my comfort.
“Are you hurt?” I ask.
His little hiccups have my stomach lurching this way and that. Rev should have alerted me if something had gone south. What the fuck had happened?
All that matters right now is that Ezra’s still with me. Despite how much his call is shredding my insides, at least I know he’s alive. I can get to him. I can fix this.
“I’m sorry, Cain,” Ezra whispers. “I’m so pathetic. He…he’s going to hurt me again. He’s never going to let me go.”
Rage spills through me, and I white-knuckle the steering wheel. I growl. “Who’s going to hurt you, Ezra? Gabriel? I’ll flay him alive.”
No one is safe from me if I find a single mark on Ezra’s body. Hell, I might burn the entire city down tonight. It’s filled with scum, anyway.
His pin directs me toward an alley next to an upscale restaurant. What the fuck would he be doing here? My heart pounds in my throat as I ditch my vehicle in the middle of traffic and rush toward him.
Gun poised, I charge into the alley. Only when I’m certain it’s clear, do I let my gaze drop to Ezra. He’s curled into a ball in a dirty puddle, rocking back and forth with that toxic fucking energy that sets me on edge. His fingers spasm on top of his knees, and his hair has been tugged out into a wild mess like he’s been trying to rip it from his scalp.
Pretty sure my heart hits the bottom of my stomach. I can’t seem to push it back into place as I rush over to scoop up his cold, wet, shivering body.
“I’m here, baby. I won’t let you go,” I murmur, resting my forehead on his for a few painful breaths.
Questions burn on my tongue, but I put them in check. I need Ezra safe first. With him in tow, I dart back to the SUV, but Ezra clings to me when I try to place him in the passenger seat.
I curse at our situation. As if to underline this shitty night, a bullet whizzes past my head. Cradling Ezra in one arm, I turn and fire a shot through a muscled guy’s head, dropping him on the street.
People begin screaming as I try to buckle Ezra in the passenger seat again, but he refuses to unhook his fingers from my vest. So I jog around the front of the vehicle, move the driver’s seat back, and climb in with him tucked on my lap. One-handed, I speed to Sinro Enterprises.
Ezra’s silent the entire ride. As much as I want to haul him into Isaac’s office right away when we get back to Sinro, I have to respect that Ezra will talk when he’s ready. He just needs a minute to process whatever happened and find a center within himself. Until then, I’ll bend over backwards to take care of him.
I send a voice message to Alaric with details on where I found Ezra. He texts back that he’ll have Rev and his team sweep the area.
Carrying Ezra into my apartment, I plop us down on the couch in the dark. Wrapping both of us up in the throw blanket, I hold his shaking body. I stroke my fingers through his hair and rub slow circles along his lower back until I’m convinced he fell asleep.
The fact that he can find such peace with me is truly a blessing. One I don’t feel like I deserve. Not when my kill count is too high for me to remember names, only faces, and they haunt me behind closed eyes.
I focus on Ezra’s breaths until I feel like they are stable enough for me to extract an arm and check in with Rev. All he texts back is that Ezra took off after one of Gabriel’s guys. The urge to grill Rev is strong, but I leave him to hunt, hoping he slaughters the piece of shit responsible for Ezra’s pain.
When Ezra finally stirs, I loosen my hold on him so he can sit up. “Can you tell me what happened?”
His voice is weak when he replies, “Gabriel’s working with him.”
I brush my fingers along his lower back beneath his damp shirt. “Who, baby?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know his name. He never told me. I thought I killed him. He’s supposed to be dead, Cain.”
Fresh tears spring to his eyes, and my chest presses in on my lungs.
“Okay,” I say, struggling to wrangle my emotions. Right now, I just need to listen, no matter how much my body wants to take action and solve world problems. “You’ve met this guy before?”
Ezra pushes his face into my chest and unleashes a frustrated growl that has my stomach tying in intricate little knots I don’t think I’ll ever be able to untangle.
“Hey.” I drag my hands through his wet locks, gripping the ends tightly so he’s forced to hold my gaze. “No matter what you tell me, nothing changes between us, okay?”
He stares into my eyes like he needs to see evidence that my words are truthful.
