Tangled Hearts.

~Chapter 45~

~Jake~

The silence in the car was unnatural. Not the good kind. The kind that comes before a storm, when even the trees seem to know something is about to go terribly wrong.

The house loomed ahead, swallowed by woods and rot. The headlights stretched across the decaying siding like a crime scene spotlight, illuminating sagging wood and busted windows. A place where ghosts didn't haunt—they ran.

My hands were white-knuckled on the wheel. I turned slowly to the girls in the back.

"Listen to me—don't play hero. You hear screaming, you hear gunshots, you sit your asses right here. Doors locked. Got it?"

Kat's mouth opened like she wanted to argue, but I cut her off with a look.

Devyn nodded, pale. Tara was wide-eyed. Silent. That alone scared me more than anything.

"Jake," Devyn whispered. "Be careful."

"I don't do careful," I said, checking the chamber in my Glock. "I do stupid, reckless, and aggressive. But thanks for the sentiment."

I stepped out. Gravel crunched under my boots like bones. My breath steamed in the cold.

The house felt wrong. Not just sketchy—evil. Like something about it wanted to swallow you whole.

I stalked toward the porch. The door was slightly open. Dumbasses. Overconfident.

Good.

My gun was raised before I even crossed the threshold.

Inside was darker. Stiller. Smelled like blood and rotting wood.

I didn't knock. I kicked the door fully open and stepped in like I owned the place.

"WHERE IS SHE?" I barked.

Dallas turned from the table looking like he lost of fight with Mike Tyson, his eye black and nose bloodied. Jason stood behind him, arms crossed, smirking like a cartoon thug.

"You lost, pretty boy?" Dallas drawled.

"Get out of my way, Dallas," I growled. "Now."

Jason chuckled. "Someone's got his panties in a twist."

Dallas took a step forward, eyes glinting. "Y'know, it's no wonder Colby's obsessed with that little slut. Girl's got talent. Might've passed her around a bit."

My blood went ice cold.

I closed the distance in a blink. "What the FUCK did you just say?"

He didn't move. Just smirked.

"Yeah. You heard me. I raped your homie's girl."

He never got to finish that grin.

BOOM. Gunshot to the chest.

Dallas hit the floor like dead weight, eyes wide. The rest of the pack froze.

"Anyone else wanna talk slick?" I snapped, turning in a slow, deliberate circle, gun raised. "I swear to God, I'll paint this floor with every one of you."

One guy started to raise a hand.

"Don't even think about it."

Jason muttered something and backed away, hands up. Smart move.

Then I saw him—Liam—hovering near the hallway. I was on him in two steps.

"Where is she?" I demanded as he stiffened.

"Liam—*look at me*." I shoved my phone in his face. A picture of Raelyn. Bloody, bruised, smiling.

His jaw twitched. "Lockdown. Basement."

"How long?"

He didn't answer.

"HOW LONG?!"

"She's in bad shape," he said, quietly. "You better move fast."

I was already gone.

~Raelyn~

Don't pass out. Don't pass out. Don't—

Pain pulsed through me like waves. My ribs were bruised, broken—maybe both. My shoulder was bleeding from where Layne slashed me. I couldn't breathe without tasting copper.

Layne grabbed me by the hair again and slammed me into the concrete wall.

"I will end this bloodline myself," he spat. "You think you're stronger than me? You're nothing. You're a womb with teeth."

"Fuck you," I whispered.

"You're not strong," he growled. "You're just stubborn."

Another kick. My body folded.

I didn't scream anymore. Screaming was for people who thought someone was coming. I'd given up that hope fifteen minutes ago.

"Billy!" he barked.

Footsteps. Someone else descending into my private hell.

"Take her to chamber three. You know the drill."

"No," I gasped, trying to push myself up. My body failed.

My limbs weren't listening. My head swam.

Layne was laughing.

Then—

CRACK. THUD.

Layne dropped. So did Billy.

Behind them stood Jake. Covered in dirt, blood, sweat—rage. He was holding his gun like a baseball bat, face carved from granite.

My heart stopped. "Jake?" I croaked.

He was beside me in a heartbeat, arms sliding under me like I weighed nothing.

"Jesus, Rae—" His voice cracked. "I got you. I got you."

I collapsed into him, sobbing silently, my face buried in his shoulder.

"Where a-are the girls?" I choked out.

"In the car," he said. "We're leaving. You're safe."

Safe. The word didn't feel real. My body didn't believe it. My bones were still braced for the next hit.

Everything went dark.

~Jake~

Her body shouldn't have been that light.

She was all cuts and bruises and blood-soaked skin. But the way she collapsed into my arms—quiet, limp—*wrong*. Rae didn't go quiet.

I carried her up the stairs like she was made of glass and fire. When I burst out of the house, the girls screamed.

"OPEN THE DOOR!" I barked.

Devyn flung it open and I slid Raelyn inside. She slumped into Devyn's lap. Tara immediately reached for the first aid kit. Kat looked frozen.

"Rae?" Kat whispered. "Rae, baby, c'mon. Talk to me."

Nothing.

"She's breathing," I said. "She's in shock. We're getting her out."

I didn't wait. I threw the car in reverse and hit the gas so hard gravel sprayed behind us like shrapnel.

In the backseat, Devyn pulled shards of glass from Raelyn's shoulder. Blood soaked her shirt. Kat whispered her name over and over.

"She's gonna be okay," Tara said, trying to sound sure. Her voice cracked on the word *okay.*

My eyes stayed on the road—but my jaw clenched so tight my teeth ached.

Layne. Billy. Dallas. If Raelyn lost this baby...If she didn't recover...

Colby wouldn't just kill them. He'd rip them apart with his teeth. And I'd hand him the bones.