Atonement (The Protectors #6)(46)

"Dante," Aleks said hoarsely as he tugged free of Vaughn and rushed to Dante's side. Dante was still on his back and his eyes had shut at some point.

Vaughn pulled a knife from his boot and headed towards me. I wasn't surprised when he cut through the ties on my hands and feet because it was clear that even though he was in Parks's employ, he'd sided with Aleks. "There's one more," I said as I remembered the man Parks had sent to look for Vaughn, my brain still addled from knocking my head against my captor's face.

"I took care of him," was all Vaughn said.

I scrambled to Dante's side and cradled his head against me. "Dante, baby, wake up."

Vaughn cut Dante's hands and feet free and then dropped down next to Aleks to examine the wound on Dante's arm. "He's lost a lot of blood." Vaughn straightened enough to rip a strip off the bottom of his T-shirt. He tied it around Dante's arm.

"Let's go, we need to move."

"Dante," Aleks said again as he stroked his brother's face with shaking fingers.

"Aleks," Vaughn said gently as he pushed Aleks back. "You guys need to go. Can you help get your brother out of here?"

Aleks studied the man for a moment before nodding. Some unnamed emotion passed between the pair, but I didn't have time to consider it as Vaughn helped me get Dante upright. "Can you carry him?" Vaughn asked me and I nodded. He helped me get Dante over my shoulder.

"Aleks, take them to the garage. You know which car is mine, right?"

"Y … .yes," Aleks stuttered. His fingers were wrapped around Vaughn's arm.

To me, Vaughn said, "Take my car to get to yours, then use the gas in the trunk to torch it. Then get out of here … out of the city. I know he needs a hospital, but they'll question you about what happened to him."

I nodded in understanding and began walking. "Who are you?" I asked as we neared the front door.

"Nobody," was all he said. "Remember that."

I managed another nod, but with Dante's dead weight, I needed to keep moving. I hurried down the stairs leading towards the driveway and cast a glance over my shoulder at Aleks who suddenly threw himself into Vaughn's arms. The older man held him for several long beats and then released him and urged him on his way.



       
         
       
        

Aleks rushed past me. "It's this way," he said as we made our way towards the six-car detached garage. There was an older model sedan parked next to it that Aleks pointed to. "This one."

"Open the back door."

Aleks did as I told him and climbed in. He held Dante's head as I eased him onto the seat.

"Keep pressure on his wound," I urged Aleks. The young man was frighteningly pale and clearly distraught, but he managed to do as I said. His luminous eyes, so much like Dante's, lifted to meet mine.

"He's not going to die, is he?" he whispered.

"Your brother is far too stubborn to die," I said softly which had Aleks nodding in agreement.

I hurried to the driver's side and got in. The keys were already in the ignition and the car started up without protest. The gate at the end of the driveway was open and it took just minutes to get to the rental car which we'd left near the woods we'd used to access the property earlier in the day. Aleks and I quickly worked to maneuver Dante into the back seat and I used the interior lights of the car to check his wound. Thankfully the bleeding had slowed.

"Magnus," Dante whispered, his voice sounding parched. His eyes opened marginally, but that in itself was a weight off my shoulders.

"I'm here, baby," I said as I carefully stroked his face.

"Aleks?" he asked.

"Look up."

Dante lifted his head a little to see Aleks watching him. He once again had Dante's head cradled in his lap.

"Aleks," Dante breathed in relief and then his hand was coming up to search out Aleks's. Aleks took it in his and then leaned down to press his forehead to Dante's.

"Meu melhor," Aleks whispered.

A smile spread across Dante's mouth and he closed his eyes. I heard him say something back in Portuguese and could only assume it was in response to their childhood game. I left them to it as I focused on getting us out of there. I remembered Vaughn's instructions and searched out the gasoline in his trunk. The sight of a pack of matches sitting next to the gasoline had me wondering what exactly Vaughn had been planning and why. But I didn't have time to give it much thought because suddenly a huge explosion rocked the night air and I was knocked off my feet. I looked up to see the mansion consumed in a ball of fire as smaller explosions began going off one right after the other. I clambered to my feet and grabbed the gas. It took only a few seconds to douse the inside and outside of the car in gas and then light it on fire. I wiped my prints off the gas containers as best I could and threw them in the open trunk before getting in the rental car. We'd only made it a few blocks when I heard another explosion. 

Dante and Aleks had both fallen quiet in the back seat, but I could see that Dante was still awake. I searched out my phone and dialed, knowing we needed help.

Thankfully, help answered on the second ring.





Chapter Twenty-Three




Dante



"And if you ever go into a situation without adequate back-up again, not only will I fire your ass, I'll hire you back just so I can kick your ass and then fire it again!"

I hid my smile as Memphis ranted on and on as he paced back and forth in front of the bed. But my smile died a quick death when Ronan began stitching up the wound on my shoulder. Despite the injection Ronan had given me to numb the area, it still hurt.

"Do you need more?" Ronan asked me softly as he paused in what he was doing.

I shook my head. "Just finish it, please."

Truth was, I was fucking glad to be feeling the pain. I was glad to have Memphis tearing me a new one, even if I knew his anger was based on concern. I was thrilled beyond words to have my brother sitting next to me on the bed, holding my other hand as I was getting patched up. And I had no words for the sight of Magnus watching me from a chair in the corner, his beautiful blue eyes telling me exactly how he was feeling at the moment.

I'd been so certain I was going to lose him. That my life was over in those few seconds as Parks had walked towards me, gun pointed at my head. I'd already died a thousand deaths after realizing Aleks had betrayed us and then understanding why he'd done it. I'd been horrified as I'd watched him strip and bend over that desk like he was nothing more than a plaything for Parks, but in that moment, I'd realized that was exactly what he'd become. At some point in the years after he'd been taken, he'd learned to focus on one thing and one thing only.

Surviving.

And for that I was eternally grateful. Pride, dignity, self-respect, pleasure, happiness  –  those could all be restored to him in time. But they would have cost him his life if he'd tried to stand up to a narcissist like Parks. I'd seen the marks on Aleks's back … I'd heard him refer to the man as 'Father.' There was no fighting that kind of evil, there was only surviving it.

Magnus hadn't said much as he'd gotten us out of Chicago. I'd been in too much pain to notice what was happening around us and by the time Magnus had stopped the car, I'd been on the verge of passing out again. Once he'd gotten me onto the bed in our new hotel which was actually a run-down motel several hours outside of Chicago, I'd done just that and I hadn't come to until Ronan had started examining me. I'd garnered that Ronan and Memphis had been the people he'd called as we'd driven away from the ball of flames that had once been the Parks mansion. I was glad he'd made that call rather than risk taking me to a hospital because the staff would have called the cops for sure.

Memphis had waited only long enough for Ronan to declare that I was going to live before laying into me for my foolishness in going after Aleks with just Magnus and inadequate intel. The old me would have bristled at Memphis's words, but the new me realized two things. One, that he was so pissed because he was actually worried about me. And two, he was absolutely right.

I'd put myself, and more importantly, Magnus and Aleks at risk with my brash behavior. My instincts had been telling me something was wrong with the whole situation as we'd entered the house, but I'd had a one-track mind.

Save Aleks.

"And another thing-"

"Hey Memphis," Ronan said.

"Yeah?"

"Give it a rest." I saw Ronan's gaze shift from Memphis to Aleks and I finally realized how terrified my brother looked. His hand had been holding onto mine hard, but I'd figured he was upset about watching me get stitched up.



       
         
       
        

"Aleks," I said gently, getting his attention. "He's not really mad at me," I said, motioning to Memphis. "He's just worried. You know like when we were at the zoo and you ran off and Mama couldn't find you and when she did, she yelled at you and then started crying."

Aleks nodded and then took a deep breath. "He's like family?" he finally asked.

I nodded. "They all are," I said. "This is Ronan. That's Memphis and over there is Magnus."