Bradford's Orders Book Two The Legacy Series

Chapter 28

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Chapter 28

Bradford

The salt stung my eyes. Wind clawed at my jacket, flinging cold spray against my face as I scrambled up the rocks, boots slipping on the slick edges. The ocean roared below, louder than my heartbeat, louder than the shouts behind me, just one endless, violent crash against the cliffs like it wanted to swallow us whole.

Zane was up ahead, stumbling over the rocks like a man possessed. He moved fast but wild, erratic. His limbs flailed for balance as he climbed, cursing under his breath and yelling at shadows like he was fighting demons only he could see. He'd gone feral.

He wasn't thinking. He wasn't planning. He was reacting, scrambling higher toward a dead end because his brain couldn't process that there was nowhere left to go. Just sheer cliffs and black, violent sea.

Fine. Let him run.

The others were gaining. I could hear them all around me. Sawyer's boots are hammering against stone, Derrick shouting something I couldn't make out, Matt and Cade flanking wide to block any last-minute swerve. We had him boxed in. All that was left was the corner.

But it had to be me who ended this.

I climbed faster, rage simmering just under the surface. I didn't want to kill him. Not unless I had to. But I needed to look him in the eye when it happened, when he realized the game was over.

My flashlight landed on him again. Zane had reached the highest ledge, and he was pacing like a caged animal, muttering to himself, eyes darting. His hands trembled. He looked... unhinged. Like the mask had finally fallen off and what was left was pure, panicked madness.

He turned toward me as I stepped onto the same narrow ridge.

"There you are!" he shouted, voice cracking as he spread his arms wide. "Here to be the hero? Big, bad Bradford come to save the day?"

The wind nearly knocked me sideways, but I held steady. Planted my feet and met his stare.

"It's over, Zane."

He let out a shrill, half-crazed laugh. "You think so? You think you've won? You think this is the part where I just drop to my knees and beg you for mercy?"

"You should."

"I'm not afraid of you." He jabbed a finger in my direction, sweat and rain pouring down his face. "You're nothing but a name. A fucking name! Everything you have was handed to you."

"You have no idea what I've fought for." I took a step closer, my voice calm, level. "You don't even see the people you hurt. Holly. Tempy. Lowe. My mom. You set fire to everything and thought you'd walk away clean. That's not how this ends."

He was pacing again, barefoot now, somewhere along the way he'd lost a shoe. His eyes were wide, whites showing all around like a cornered animal. He kept jerking his head toward the cliff, the path, the sea.

"I built this!" he screamed. "You think I didn't earn it? You think I didn't deserve it? I've been in this story longer than you!"

I felt the others closing in. Aiden had circled around above us. Cade was already coming from the right. We had him. But I didn't look away. I had to keep him looking at me.

"You were never part of this," I said, cold and clear. "You were a mistake we tried to forgive. And you just kept digging deeper."

He lunged toward me, fast, clumsy. I caught him by the arm and twisted, driving him back toward the rocks. He stumbled, slipped, landed hard. I was on him before he could get up.