Page 101 of Wicked Deceit
“The Agents were in the woods,” I murmur, praying to God above that Veritas takes out the evil shits responsible for this.
“Over here!” A woman’s voice cries, startling us out of our stupor when she frantically runs past me and kneels over Kaycee. Relief works through me, and I swear I could fucking cry at the sight of her paramedic’s uniform.
“No! It’s not secure!” Another woman cries out from a distance in the shadows with panic spearing through her. Squinting, I barely see her from here, waving her arms and trying to pull back her coworker.
The paramedic looks Kaycee over, frantically checking her pulse, and nods. “Strong heartbeat despite the blood loss. The knife stopped a lot of the bleeding, but she’s still in critical condition,” she says confidently, looking between Zepp and me. Her mouth pops open once again to say something else, but she never gets the fucking chance.
I fall back onto my ass, hurrying back toward Zepp with wide eyes when a bullet lands right between her eyes. To my horror, she stays upright for half a second before falling backward and dying right in front of us with one last gurgle bubbling in her throat. And then, her body goes limp, draining the life from her.
A shrill scream echoes through the night from the direction of the paramedic who tried to warn her. My fucking heart breaks in half at another life so needlessly fucking lost at the hands of these dickbags. Her friend was just trying to help and do her duty by saving Kaycee’s life, and she paid for it with her life. Fuck. Fuck! Could this get any fucking worse?
“No!” I shout in a frantic voice, leaning over Kaycee as best I can to protect her from whatever is stomping closer to us.
My breaths catch when I look up at Zepp’s pale face, and he shakes his head at me. Fear rings through his eyes as he stands rigid, curling his fingers into his palm.
"Stay with her," he breathes out, not taking his eyes off the figures finally getting close to us.
"Don't be fucking stupid," I hiss, grabbing at the bottom of his shirt in desperation, trying to pull him to the ground before he gets shot, too.
In the blink of a fucking eye, more black-hooded figures surround us, forming a tight circle around us. My eyes move over the masks covering their faces, and fury bleeds through my veins.
"You're the cocksuckers who keyed my car!" I grit out, earning no response in return.
They simply stand in silence with their arms at their sides staring at us like prey while surrounding us, and there's nothing we can do. They don't move. Hell, it doesn't look like they're breathing either. Maybe they're zombie fucks who need a good fist to the brain, and I'm more than fucking happy to do it.
Suddenly, they split apart revealing the reason they haven't made a move. Three figures dressed in deep red robes approach us with disgusting and twisted masks covering their identities. But if I had to fucking guess, it's the three monsters in charge.
“No,” I breathe, shaking my head in disbelief. They should be fucking dead and rotting in the woods by Veritas. Unless… “They… they fucking shot you!” I snarl, pointing at the minions and the red-cloak-wearing assholes.
All hope drains from me in one swoop when they enter the circle and loom over us. Their freaky masks lift from their faces, revealing the monsters they are. One by one, they rest them on top of their heads and give me a view of the real them. Their eyes shine at my misery when I scramble to my feet and stand in solidarity with Zepp. I grip his hand in mine, checking on Kaycee's breathing again. Her chest rapidly moves up and down, but she's fighting for her fucking breaths. The knife still sticks from her stomach, but the blood has dried. These assholes eat us alive with their gaze thinking they've found their next perfect targets. But we're far from that. I squeeze Zepp's hand letting him know I'm not going down without a fury of fists. And in return, he squeezes mine, letting me know he won't back down either. We're an impenetrable force, blocking them from taking Kaycee again.
Carter’s dad looks at me with a grin, and a laugh spills from his lips. “You naïve little boy. Do you think I’d let some two-bit government agents ruin my plans? I have more firepower and have more men in place,” he snarls, slamming his fist into my face.
Pain erupts in my mouth when my teeth bite down from the force, and blood floods my tongue. I grunt, falling onto my back next to Kaycee, giving him a view of the girl I’m trying to protect. I rub the heated spot on my cheek and jump to my feet again, spitting the blood on the ground. My jaw fucking aches from his hit, but if he thinks one measly hit is going to keep me down, he has another fucking thing coming to him.
Carter’s dad’s eyes glue to Kaycee’s dying form, and he chuckles, admiring his dirty work. “It’ll be my pleasure to eliminate you all. You’ve been a thorn in my fucking side since she walked on campus. I couldn’t touch you two because your dear old step-mommy paid me off each month to keep you safe. But now? Fuck, now I want to take you back to my house and drive a screwdriver through each of your eyelids and watch as I get paid, and you fucking die like my disappointment of a son,” he snarls the last part, looking way too similar to Carter, and my fucking heart drops and shrivels up into nothing.
I shake my head, fighting against the barrage of thoughts running rampant. That moment in the woods when the gunshots sounded into the night air, piercing the silence.
"You shot him?" I rasp, looking at Cushing with frantic eyes, looking for any sign of remorse. But I'm only met with pride and fucking happiness. "You… you fucking killed Carter?" Grumpy. Fuck. Our grumpy ass bear. He's… dead. No! I refuse to believe it until I see that fuckers body and bury him myself.
Tears burn my eyes, and I want to slump over and fucking grieve for my friend—fuck no—my goddamn family member. The same friend that we just gained not too long ago and brought out of the darkness. And now…..
Carter's father grins more, tilting his head. "Does it eat you up?" He coos, bending at the waist, talking to me like I'm a child. "Four bullets passed through his chest, and he fell to the ground like the wasted betrayal he was. He died almost instantly." My chest caves in at the thought, but I don't have fucking time to think when the crazies continue their speeches.
“What if…” Crowe says through a manic grin, looking between Zepp and me. I wrinkle my aching nose at his fucked up face, mentally high-fiving Carter for the punches he rained down on him. Or at least I hoped he did that before….before…the shots rang out. His beady eyes zero in on us, completely ignoring the dying girl he’s already used as a punching bag. “This is fucking perfect,” Crowe says, strolling forward with a cocky grin on his battered face. “Ransom,” he says, pointing to Zepp and me, raising our hackles.
“Ransom?!” Zepp barks, jumping to his feet. He places himself between us and the red hoods, puffing out his chest.
“Of course.” Shaw sneers. “You and your brother combined are worth more than that bitch. I can imagine getting millions out of your father for your safe return.” He smirks, flicking his wrist at a few of the black robes.
And just like that, with that one fucking command, they descend on us—grabbing, pulling, trying to kick us to our knees. But we’re the mother fucking Wests, and we don’t go down that easily. We fight back, throwing punches, choke slamming, kicking, and grunting as our fists collide with their masked faces. We give as good as we get. All the while, we work around Kaycee, making sure these asshats don’t fucking touch her again. The black-robed fucks yelp and curse through disguised voices, distorted by their creepy as fuck masks I recognize from our research. I grab the one in front of me and pound my knee into his nose, knocking his stupid fucking mask to the ground. My teeth grind when it reveals Oscar, sneering at me, throwing a fist into my already aching jaw. I wrap my arm around his head and fucking secure him in a headlock, repeatedly pounding my fist into his face. He struggles to break free, crying out like a goddamn ballsack when his nose cracks. And I fucking cackle with glee. Die, you asshole. Suffer for what you’ve done to Kaycee at the house, you sick fuck.
“Enough!” Cushing’s voice echoes, forcing everyone to freeze. Our backs stiffen at the authoritative tone he uses, but I take my time keeping Oscar-fucking-Sanchez in a headlock. He tries to pry me off him, but I keep a good grip, slowly choking the air from his lungs with my arm secured around his throat.
The fight continues again as more black-robed dickbags come out of nowhere. I swear, they’ve tripled in thirty seconds surrounding us, waiting their turn to beat us down. Oscar wheezes, finally pushing away from me and stumbling away to catch his breath. He glares at me, baring his teeth, and returns for more. I gladly give him all I’ve got.
Zeppelin punches Trent in the ribs, hissing when he returns the favor. Surprise rocks through me when Zepp hits Trent right behind the ear and sends him flying to his back, knocking him out cold. Trent doesn’t move an inch, and Zepp focuses his fists on another sucker jumping into the fight.
