Ruthless Angel (Gods of Ravencrest University #5)

CHAPTER EIGHT

CLOVER

After receiving a video of Blaze being waterboarded, Daire lost it completely. He raged through the house punching holes in walls, overturning tables, and squeezing a glass of rum so hard the glass exploded in his hand.

He calmed down long enough to let me clean his bleeding hand. I took deep breaths, counting to ten with each one. Anxiety ran rampant through me. Seeing that video had almost made me empty my stomach.

There were several small cuts all over Daire’s fingers. The especially deep gash in his palm needed stitches. Daire wouldn’t hear of it.

“Fuck that. It’s fine. Just wrap it up. I’m not going to any hospital. We don’t have time for that.” With his other hand, Daire drank straight from the rum bottle.

“Dude, this is insane. You need to calm down. We’ll figure this out.” Cash had gone around righting the overturned tables and cleaning up whatever he could.

Daire and I stood in the main floor bathroom with Cash hovering in the doorway. Blood stained the floor and sink. I’d managed to get the wound to stop gushing, although it continued to slowly seep.

“Figure this out?” Daire snapped. “We’ve been saying that for days. We’re no closer to finding out where Blaze is being held. We need a real plan. We’re backed into a goddamn corner here and Brady knows it. Pretty soon we won’t have any option other than to give him Clover or let Blaze die.”

I stiffened, my frightened gaze darting to Cash. What was happening to Blaze made me sick. He didn’t deserve such torment. But I didn’t want to be sold off to some sick freak who would use me for God only knew what.

“Shut the fuck up, Daire,” Cash snapped right back. “We are not giving them Clover. How can you even suggest such a thing? Blaze would kill you himself.”

Daire’s green eyes met mine. The rage within them faded as he said, “I’m not going to give you to them, Angel. I’m just at a fucking loss here.”

Swallowing hard, I said nothing. Instead, I focused on bandaging Daire’s wounded hand. Again I cursed Zane for getting me into this situation. It had all started with him. He drew Blaze’s attention. He got the Angels all fired up wanting to kill him. He made them want me so bad.

And look where it had led us.

“We can try the Sinners,” Cash offered with a half shrug. “I know we already owe them a favor but maybe we can strike a new deal. They might be able to find us some locations linked to Brady.”

Daire opened his mouth to argue. He seemed to think better of it because he only swore a few times instead. The two of them were bruised from throwing punches earlier. I didn’t want to see a repeat of that.

“Fine. Let’s go see the Sinners.” Daire chugged back the rest of the rum. “You can drive.”

Leaving the house came with its own risks. Daire and Cash went ahead to check the car, the yard, and the street. When they’d deemed it clear, I got into Cash’s SUV with them, quickly locking the door.

All three of us kept an eye out for a tail as we drove. Nothing. That should have been a relief. Somehow it only added to our unease.

When we arrived at the Sinners’ house, we found a party underway. That didn’t mean their security was lax. After a camera stared us in the face, Riot O’Hare opened the door. Holding a drink in one hand, he frowned at us for a long moment before stepping back to allow us inside.

“Are you here to party or for business?” he asked, getting right to the point. “Or maybe you’re looking for another fight.”

“Business,” Cash answered, trying to take the lead. Daire was drunk and didn’t seem to be in the right head space. “No fighting. I promise.”

“Fine. Come with me.” Riot led us through the house to the basement.

His black hair stood up in messy spikes and tufts. Black jeans hung low on his hips paired with a black t-shirt that said, Fuck Off. Riot was kind of a looker in a devil may care, doesn’t give a shit way.

The basement was amazing. A wall of computers stretched before us. So many monitors. Felix Prescott sat in a chair, staring at some code on a screen. He glanced up in surprise.

“Back again, huh?” he asked. “You guys still owe us a favor.”

“We haven’t forgotten.” Cash took the lead, trying to be the voice for the two of them. He probably didn’t trust Daire not to say or do something to screw this up. “We need help. One of our friends is being held hostage by some pretty fucked up criminals. We need to find him.”

Felix nodded, his shaggy blond hair falling into his eyes. “Of course. You guys sure seem to lose a lot of people.”

“Why the hell should we help you?” Crossing his arms over his chest, Riot scowled at Daire. “You’re lucky I haven’t ruined your life yet. Can’t say I haven’t thought about it.”

I tensed, hoping Daire managed to keep a lid on his temper. It wasn’t all that long ago that he and Riot had fought at a party when Riot made a remark about having a night with me as the favor the Angels owed. I’d chalked it up to men being idiots once they had some liquor influencing their stupid decisions.

“Yeah, well, you’d only end up six feet under, right?” Daire countered. “If you’d prefer to hold a grudge, then we’ll leave. Otherwise, let’s do business. We both have things to offer one another.”

Riot and Daire glared hard at one another. Felix and Cash exchanged a look that said they weren’t interested in whatever those two had going on.

“Ten grand,” Riot said. “And a favor to be done tonight. In fact, a favor to be done by your girlfriend.”

“She is not fucking you,” Daire hissed.

Riot chuckled. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. The tension in the room felt thick. Ominous. We had enough problems without beefing with the Sinners.

“Then what do you want?” Daire eyed Riot with obvious distrust. He’d angled himself closer to me, taking a protective stance.

“We’ve been trying to find a way to lure this creep that’s been finding young girls online. He gains their trust and gets them to meet him. Obviously, that doesn’t end well for them. We’ve been carrying on a conversation with him pretending to be a fifteen year old girl. But he won’t meet up until he video chats with her to prove she’s real. That’s where Clover comes in.”

“You want me to be the girl,” I filled in, seeing where this was going.

“Bingo.” Riot pointed a finger at me. “Get him to meet you. We’ll come along and beat his ass.”

“Fuck no.” With a shake of his head, Daire dismissed the idea immediately. “Find someone else to lure your creep.”

Felix spun around on his chair to face us. Steepling his fingers, he cocked his head to one side. “I thought doling out justice to guys like this was kind of your thing. Why wouldn’t you want to stop him from raping young girls?”

I didn’t love the idea of luring a creep off the internet. However, I was willing to do whatever it took to get Blaze back, and I didn’t want this guy to hurt more girls.

“I don’t want to risk Clover,” Daire said, his eyes meeting mine. “She’s been through enough.”

Riot sipped from his drink before saying, “Then I guess we’re done here.”

That was enough to set Daire off. “You’re a real piece of shit, you know that.”

He took a step toward Riot. Cash stepped in between them, pushing Daire back with a hand on his chest. Riot openly grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

“I’ll do it,” I volunteered, hoping to keep the peace. “It doesn’t sound that dangerous. Especially if you guys will be there.”

Riot’s face lit up with satisfaction. The Angels sure did seem to make a lot more enemies than they did friends.

“You don’t have to do anything,” Cash insisted. “It’s not on you, Sunshine.”

“We need to find Blaze. We’re running out of time. Let me do something to help. Otherwise, how will we find him?” All I could do was appeal to their good sense.

Daire’s jaw twitched. “Get us something to work with first. I’m not sending her out there if you can’t get us anything.”

“Fair enough.” Felix spun his chair back to face his computer screen. “What are we looking for?”

“Anything and everything related to a Brady Rollins,” Cash supplied.

Felix began clicking around on his computer. Riot grabbed a phone from the long table that stretched along the wall and held it out to me.

“Here. I’ll get the guy to call this phone. Go over there in the corner where the light is dimmer and do whatever it takes to get him to meet you. Tell him to go to the park on Cherry Street. Nobody lives close enough to hear anything.”

I took the phone, staring uncertainly at the blank screen. I wasn’t sure I passed for a fifteen year old, although if people in their mid to late twenties could play teens on TV, maybe I’d be able to make it work.

Riot took a seat at the long bank of computers. He pulled up a chat window and began typing.

Next to me Daire muttered angrily beneath his breath. Louder he said, “Just for the record, I am completely against this plan.”

Not sure if he would be receptive, I took his hand in mine. He didn’t shake me off like I expected. Instead, he held tight, like he didn’t want to let go.

“We have to do something,” I said softly. “We have to save Blaze.”