Royal Ever After (11 page)

Erica was gone and the Kellys had her. I was so stupid thinking she would be safe at my apartment. I ran all the way back to my Dodge Charger, not paying attention to my labored breathing or burning muscles. All that mattered was Erica. I'd do whatever it took to get her back—even if it meant my life.

My car raced through the streets, weaving in and out of traffic. There was only one place Erica could be. The Kellys and I had a fallback plan in case the cops were ever on to us. We were to go to the log cabin on the edge of the lake. It was a remote area and far from civilization. I'd been there a couple times with them, securing the place and making sure we had everything we could possibly need in the event that we had to stay for a long period of time.

I pulled off the freeway and navigated through the wooded area on a dirt path. My knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel too hard. I was going to kill the Kellys if they touched Erica. Breaking their necks with only my bare hands would give me no satisfaction. These men were my brothers for so long. But they had crossed the line.

When the log cabin came into view I parked to the side of the road. I needed to approach it on foot. I was most likely walking into a trap. I needed to be careful. I wasn't going to let my rage mess this up.

I hid behind some dense bushes and watched the log cabin. I counted two of Kelly's henchmen, holding AK-47s. One guarded the front door while the other made the rounds around the cabin.
Only two men?
Surely the Kellys thought more of me than that. I'd have to take them out quietly. Couldn't afford raising the alarm.

I sneaked around the back of the log cabin and waited in the shadows for the the one goon to come around. I'd only have one chance at this. If the man screamed, my surprise would be blown. I listened carefully and heard his footsteps coming closer. The sound of leaves breaking and twigs snapping increased. I pulled out my switchblade and popped it open.

The man came around the corner and I sprung into action. My left hand covered his mouth while my knife slipped under his chin, slicing his throat open. The man squirmed in my grasp, blood spurting out of his neck. I slowly lowered him to the ground and he was dead. I picked up the AK and slung it over my shoulder, knowing that I wouldn't be able to use it.

I rounded the cabin and peeked around the corner at the guard by the front door. He had no clue what was about to happen to him. I picked up a rock and threw it about fifty feet in front of the guard. It made a loud crack as it hit another rock. The guard became alert and drew his AK. I waited patiently as the guard tiptoed forward. I came up behind him and did the same to him as I did to his buddy. I dropped him to the ground and blood gurgled out of his mouth as he tried to speak to me.

I looked through the window and spotted Damon and Russel talking alone. I wouldn't be able to take them both at the same time. I needed to wait for them to separate.
But
w
here the fuck was Erica?
I didn't have much time before they realized their guards were all dead. I crawled on the ground and peered through the window that looked into the living room. There she was. Erica was sitting against a wall with her head down. She was still alive.

Damon came into the room and I ducked out of the way. I'd take out Russel first. I quietly opened the front door and turned to my immediate left to the bedroom. Russel had his back turned to me, looking at a map on a laptop. I had to kill him before he saw me. It wasn't the death he deserved but it was the only way.

I popped up behind him and clenched his head with both hands. I twisted with all my might. Russel's head snapped around and made a pop. His body became lifeless instantly and dropped to the ground.

“Sorry old friend,” I whispered to him. I dragged his heavy body out of the bedroom and heard Damon calling out.

I came into the living room and dropped Russel to the ground. I drew my AK and pointed it right at Damon's chest. All I had to do was pull the trigger and this entire nightmare would be over.

But Damon was pointing the end of his pistol right at Erica's head.

“Don't even think about it, Brody. One move and I'll blow her brains out. Put your gun down.” Damon forced his pistol against Erica's temple. I did my best to avoid any eye contact with Erica. One look from her and I'd go weak in the knees. I needed my whole focus on the task at hand. Our lives depended on it.

I placed my boot on Russel's dead neck and pressed down just a little. “Let Erica go and I won't kill your brother.” Damon didn't need to know that his brother was already dead. He looked like he could be passed out. I didn't leave any visible marks on him.

“Let's not get too hasty here, Brody. How are we going to settle this?” Damon was beginning to sweat. He knew I was just crazy enough to kill Russel. And he was right because I already did it. But I also knew he was evil enough to kill Erica and not feel a thing.

“We settle this like we did back in school. No weapons. Just our fists,” I proposed.

Damon grinned the same way he used to back in school when a fight would break out. He loved the sound of bones crunching and the feeling of beating a kid within an inch of his life. I know because he told me. Damon tossed his gun to the side and I could hear Erica breathe a sigh of relief. I lifted my boot off of Russel and dropped my AK to the ground.

Damon cracked his knuckles and raised his fists in a defensive stance. “Last time we got in a fight, I nearly killed you, Brody. What makes you think this time will be any different?”

I craned my neck to side until it cracked and jumped on my toes to loosen my body up. “Last time I let you win. Wouldn't be good to beat the boss now would it?”

“Fucking liar,” Damon growled, charging at me and throwing the first punch. He was fast. But not fast enough. I ducked under and sent my fist flying into his stomach. Damon doubled over and bull rushed my legs. I lost my balance and fell over, crashing backwards onto the ground.

“You son of a bitch! You betrayed me!” Damon climbed on top of me and battered my face with blows. Every hit brought me back to the schoolyard. Those bullies used me as a punching bag everyday. Damon saved me from them but I realized that all I did was trade one bully for another.

Time to take back my life.

I brought my knee up with all the force I could muster and knocked Damon off. My head felt dizzy and I had to use my knee to lift myself off the floor. Damon grinned as he stood up to meet me. He always loved a good fight.

“This ends here, Damon. I won't be your bulldog any longer.”

Damon laughed. “You think you've already won? I taught you everything you know, Brody. And I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

This time it was my turn to charge Damon. I gathered all the rage in my heart and channeled it into my fist. I swung hard and fast, aiming for Damon's head. His arm came up for a block and deflected my blow. Damon returned with an uppercut to my chin that sent my head rocking back. The dizziness became more apparent. I didn't know how many more blows I could take to the head.

“See how pathetic you've become, Brody. Fighting to the death all for some junkie whore.” Damon pointed right at Erica. “She's done this to you. Can't you see? You've become soft.”

I looked behind to see Erica on the floor all tied up. She shook her head slowly, tears filling her eyes. Bad idea for Damon to mention Erica. I didn't want to admit to myself that it was all for her.

But it was.

My love for Erica rejuvenated me. My head became clear and my fists lighter. I faked with my right hand and surprised Damon with a left hook to the jaw. Bones cracked as Damon's head swiveled side to side. His blank stare gazed up at me as he fell to the ground.

I didn't even wait for him to hit the floor before I went to Erica. “Are you okay?” I asked, bending down and examining her bloody lip.

Erica nodded. “I'm all right. Just get me the hell out of here.”

I went around Erica to untie her but the ziptie was too strong. I needed my switchblade to cut it.

As I got up, Erica screamed, “Look out!”

I turned around to Damon on the ground and in slow motion, watched as he pulled a small gun from his ankle holster. How could I have forgotten? He always kept a spare gun for situations like this. My blind love for Erica had gotten me killed.

“I told you I still had a few tricks up my sleeve,” Damon sneered.

I closed my eyes and remembered my first time with Erica—her soft naked flesh and my hard cock pounding in and out of her. At least I could die happy.

BANG!

The smoking pistol in my hand was warm to the touch. This time pulling the trigger worked. Damon lay dead on the floor with a hole in his head, blooding pooling around his body. Not bad for firing a gun for the first time in my life. I kept the gun pointed at him, my grip firm on the handle. I wouldn't let him hurt us ever again.

Brody opened his eyes and checked his body for bullet holes. He turned to me and realized what happened. He knelt down and pried the gun from my fingers. I wanted to shoot Damon a million more times. Make sure he'd never come back to life.

“You saved my life,” he said, gazing into my eyes.

“Only because the gun was loaded. You really need to keep that shotgun of yours loaded at all times. Could have saved us all a headache.”

Brody chuckled. “I'll take that into consideration.” He looked down at my wrists and saw that they were still bound together by the ziptie. “How the hell did you get your hands free.”

I pointed to the broken pipe. “I was trying to break it the entire time you guys were fighting. I guess seeing you about to be shot gave me that extra ounce of power.”

Brody walked over by Russel and picked up his switchblade. He returned to me and sawed the zipties until my hands were free. My wrists were red and raw from all the struggling. Brody held my wrists in his hands and looked over them. “I'm so sorry this happened. It was all my fault.”

Brody's head was down and tears rolled off his cheeks and fell into my hands. I raised his chin and looked into his eyes. “You saved my life, Brody...twice. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead from an overdose in that godforsaken dungeon I called home. If it wasn't for you, Damon would have killed me.” I kissed Brody softly on the lips even though mine hurt. “You're my hero.”

Brody wiped the tears from his eyes and helped me to my feet. I walked over to Damon and kicked him right in the chest. His lifeless body slumped over. “Fuck you.”

But we still had one more thing to take care of. “What do we do about Russel?” I asked Brody. “We can't let him live, right?”

Brody laughed and kicked Russel over the same way I did to Damon. His head twisted in a way that wasn't humanly possible. There was no life left in his limbs. Russel was dead. He'd been dead the entire time and Brody fooled both Damon
and
me. “You killed him before you even entered the room? But what if Damon noticed?”

“It was a risk I had to take. I couldn't fight both of them at the same time. But if Damon knew Russel was dead, he'd most certainly kill you before I had a chance to do anything. My only option was to act like I held Russel's life in my hands. It was the only thing stopping Damon from killing you in front of me.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. It was the first time in hours that I actually breathed. “I'm just glad it's all over.”

“Not quite yet, Erica. We can't let people find out what happened here. That means we need to dispose of the bodies.” Brody pointed at Damon and Russel. “There's also the guards outside that I had to take out.”

I imagined the amount of digging it would take to bury four bodies.“We have a long night ahead of us then.”

Brody stared down at the body of Damon and I knew exactly what he was thinking. Nobody should have to kill their best friend. “I'm sorry you had to kill him. I know how close you two were.”

Brody nodded and I noticed a line of blood running down from his scalp. “Are you hurt?”

Brody cocked his head to the side. “My face feels sore but other than that I feel fine.”

I pointed at his wound. “But you're bleeding from your head.”

Brody felt around and looked at the blood on his hands. “It's nothing. Don't worry about. Help me move these bodies.” Brody went to the shoulders of Damon and lifted. “You get the legs.”

“Stop for a second. Let me take a look at that wound first. We don't want a bunch of your dried blood all over these corpses for someone to find later.”

Brody thought about it for a moment and dropped Damon to the ground, agreeing with me.

I took his hand and led him into the bathroom off the living room. I flipped the switch and three out of the four bulbs above the mirror lit up. I pulled Brody's head forward and bathed his wound in the light. His short brown hair was matted with blood. “It looks like you have a nasty gash in your head. But it's not too deep. You shouldn't need stitches.”

“Motherfucking Damon. It's those damn gold rings of his. I'm surprised my face isn't cut up more. I've seen guys lose an eye from those.”

I didn't even want to picture what losing an eye would look like in real life. I'd already seen enough death and destruction today. “Let me see if I can find a first-aid kit.”

“There's one underneath the bathroom sink. We've had to stitch each other up here many times before.”

I looked under the sink and found a big white bag with a red cross on it. Inside was everything a doctor would need to do brain surgery. I wasn't that experienced so some gauze and antiseptic would have to do.

“Okay now, lean your head back,” I asked nicely. Brody did as he was told and I carefully poured the antiseptic into his cut.

Brody started squirming in his chair and biting his bottom lip. “Easy, woman. That shit stings.”

“Stop being a baby. You've been hurt so many times I'm surprised you even feel pain anymore.”

Brody laughed and let me finish bandaging his head. He stared up at me with a longing desire. “I won't let anything bad happen to you.”

I stopped for a moment and looked into his eyes. “I know.” he made me feel so safe. Even in the worst, I knew everything would turn out all right if Brody was around.

Brody ran his fingers through my tangled hair. “Do you know how beautiful you are?”

I blushed and slapped him on the shoulder. “You're just saying that because of the blood loss to your head.”

Brody stood up and held me close. “No I'm serious. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.” Brody wrapped his arms around me. “I don't ever want to let go.”

I looked up at him, my mouth inches away from his. I could feel his hot breath against me. “Never let go.”

Brody pressed his lips against mine, holding me firmly. My body felt like goo in his hands as I melted away. My heartbeat raced in my chest. I never wanted him more than now.