Scout: Devil's Rose #11

Chapter 27: Major Owens

"I'm not saying that, Scout. I just, I don't want you to get hurt."

"The MC has my back. Are you with me or not?" I ask Violet, needing to know now.

"Okay, I'm with you. I'll call Kate because she should know about this," Violet states, giving me room to call Alpha.

The ringing in my ear seems to go on forever until I hear Alpha's voice travel through the phone.

"Are you okay, Scout?"

"I know where Kai is. This could be our last chance to get him. He's at Andrew's abandoned house," I reply without missing a beat.

"Where Kate grew up?"

"Yes. Violet is on with Kate calling about the connection between Kai and Andrew, but she doesn't know exact location."

"What's the connection?" Alpha asks, confusion clear in his voice.

And as much as I want to give him all the information, I know that we don't have another shot at getting Kai. The priority is putting him away.

"There's no time to explain right now, Alpha. We have to get this guy."

"Okay, I understand. I'll send guys out to meet you. Don't be an idiot and go in by yourself."

"Timeline for them?"

If he doesn't want me to go in by myself, they're going to have to be quick.

"Fifteen minutes. Most of us are at the warehouse."

"We will get there at the same time."

I signal to Violet to wrap up her call, and she nods in understanding. Alpha and I hang up after confirming the location, and without another word, Violet and I get on the back of my motorcycle.

I double-check that her helmet is still tight and she has her hands wrapped around my waist before flying down the road, heading up into the woods after passing through the outskirts of Westmoor.

I hear the rumblings of motorcycles behind me, and I can feel my chest loosen. We have our backup.

Violet sends them - my mind so focused on getting to Kai and keeping Violet safe that I don't even take the time to decipher who is who - a peace sign as we become a group, the sun streaming through the trees as we turn through on the forest roads.

It's not like we exactly need an element of surprise, so the motorcycles are fine. The man knows that we are here and would know regardless of what cars we were driving.

The second we are on the driveway and in eyeshot of the house, bullets ring out into the quiet forest. Violet lets out a soft yelp hiding behind me and my bulletproof vest.

Tank comes to us, puts a vest over her head, and tucks a knife in her hand. I know the saying that it's not good to bring a knife to a gunfight, but Violet has no idea what to do with a gun.

And it would be more likely she would hurt herself than Kai, which is exactly what we're trying to avoid here. So, I agree with Tank's move. She shouldn't have to use it either way but just in case.

There's nothing wrong with getting her a little protection before I am able to teach her all the larger defensive moves and tactics. If she's going to be with me, she's going to have to know those things.

I don't think that's the worst thing in the world.

We walk into the house, Violet extremely close behind me with one hand latched onto my back and the other on her knife.

Reaper and Bullet are nearest to me because they are the most skilled, and because I have my girl with me, it only makes sense that they are here to protect her.

We are all skilled with many different weapons, but they have the most experience and ways of using guns which takes years of practice.

It's just like Slasher's knife skills are unmatched. He would bring a knife to a gunfight and win. Not that he's ever tried because he's not a dumbass.

The house is quiet, too quiet for my liking, as we continue to move through the corridors. And just as my footsteps, yelling comes from the other side of the house.

Kai comes barreling through the hall, directly toward us, a smirk on his face. Behind him is a roaring fire, hot and unyielding, torching everything in its path - which is soon to be us.

While Bullet and Reaper deal with Kai, I break open the window next to us, using my sleeve to clear the class around the sill. I practically throw Violet out of the window knowing that she'll land in the bushes below.

We are only on the first floor, and even if she broke something, I would rather she be alive.

She screams my name when she hits the bottom, but I'm too focused on the hand-to-hand combat happening in front of me. I hear shouting as the other men put the fire out, running around with buckets of water and tossing them.

Tank, Bear, and Whiskey all salute men once the fire is put out, and I see them soaked with water, head to toe. But at least no one was burned alive. The wood of Kate's old home is charred, like a tree after lightning strikes it.

I hear a grunt coming from my right, and it snaps me out of my millisecond daze. Reaper is trying to get a good shot on Kai, but he can't with Kai and Bullet tumbling.

I force my mind to think, to be in the moment but scan my surroundings and situation. I feel something sitting in my hand, it's sort of heavy but not as heavy as a gun, and I glance down to see the knife that Tank had given to Violet.

I think I'm in love with her. Not that I don't have a knife of my own, but it doesn't matter.

I don't have to kill the guy with the knife but pain can distract him. I step behind Reaper, obviously not wanting to get in his way because if he has a shot, he's going to take it.

Bullet has finally gotten Kai off of him, Kai now looking worse off than Bullet does (Piper's going to be pissed), and all I have to do is wait. Finding an opening, I thrust the knife into Kai's side. He screams and doubles over, clutching the wound as blood pours out of it.

As he stumbles back, Bullet and I move away from him, giving Reaper a clear shot. One pop echoes through the room and then another and another.

Kai crumbles to the ground, and as soon as his body hits the wooden floors with a thud, Reaper begins to lower his gun.

The three of us stand over Kai for a moment, waiting for any sign of life, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen. With the stab wound and the three bullet wounds in his chest, he's not getting up anytime soon.

I lean down to check his pulse, which he doesn't have anymore, to make sure that the job is done. Killing someone is never the outcome we want. The feeling I get, and that I know others get, after taking a life is sometimes too much.

Even if they are a bad person, it just doesn't feel like enough to justify their death. That's a human being who could have changed, could have been different. And yes, I'm furious that he hurt people that we love.

Killing doesn't take that fury away though. It only makes sure that he can't do it again.

Tank and Bear, Whiskey and Slasher trailing behind them, come into the hallway where Kai lies dead. Slasher has a box of items in his hands, but he sets it down on the floor as he squats down next to Kai's body.

He eyes the stab wound, scrutinizing it.

"Your aim was off, Scout. You gotta make sure that it actually punctures something, you literally went through his ribs."

"How did you know it was me?"

"Cause Reaper and Bullet know how to stab a person."