Protective Shadows (The Protective Series, Book 2)

Chapter Thirty-Four

[Asko's P.O.V]

"Jed, what's wrong?" I asked, witnessing the colour drain from his momentarily vibrant face.

He panned his head back up from the Samsung clutched between his trembling fingers, holding the screen up to my face. I laid my hand lightly over the top of his, narrowing my eyes to try and decipher the small text in the bubble that had come through.

Once my eyes skimmed over the threat, my heart did a somersault inside my chest. Somehow the person sounded like Corey, the only difference being that he would never call me cute, which ruled him out completely from the equation. As far as I was concerned, Corey had been instantaneously killed when Izzy had pulled the trigger on his bazooka.

"We have to go to Australia," Jed whispered so silently I nearly missed it.

"No we don't," I said, sliding the phone back into his hands. "Whoever sent that text is probably just jerking your chain, Jed. If we rush off to Australia, who's to say Ricki-Lee will even be there held hostage?"

The screen of his phone flashed from inside his black leather jacket. Just as he reached for it, a volley of shots rang out through the street. Bullets shattered through windows, and glass rained down over us as we hit the ground on our stomachs, shielding our heads with both arms. Two pairs of thick boots walked forward on the concrete at least five metres away, pausing in front of the bar. Jed harshly grabbed me by the wrist, dragging me along my stomach east towards the nearest corner. My breathing had grown hard and heavy, the only sound filling the space between us, mixed with his.

Jed half-stumbled to his feet, pushing himself up by planting his hands firmly against the damp concrete sidewalk. He extended his hand back to me, and I accepted it, grunting as he pulled me to my feet in conjunction with my own effort. We both ran straight up ahead at the next street, jumping over a wooden fence and into someone's back yard, attempting to quieten our breathing. The thick treetops offered us a lot of cover, so I knew that if whoever it was peeked over the top of the fence, they would not be able to see us.

"We have to go back," Jed pressed, inching away from me slightly to get a better look at my face. "I don't want those psychopaths hurting Ricki, Asko. She hasn't done anything to deserve this."

I swallowed against my dry throat, resting my wrists atop of my parted knees. I knew what Jed was explaining to me was right, and valid, but I was unable to shake the feeling of apprehension dawning on my mind the longer we sat here talking about it. What if we went out of our way to go back to Australia, only to find an empty room? Or even worse, an ambush? These criminals were smart, and had definite potential to kill us.

"Come on," he whispered, rising to his feet in complete self-assurance. "I've just forwarded the message to Izzy, and he just texted me telling us to meet him outside the arena. Apparently he has a gift for us, or something."

I nodded and joined him on my own two feet, jumping up against the wooden palings of the fence and grabbing firm hold of the spiked tops. I pulled my stomach over with a grunt, clenching my teeth as the wood dug hard into my t-shirt, pulling against my skin. Dropping into a low crouch, I scanned the nearby houses for any indications of even the slightest movements, confirming that there were none. The night was dark, but clear, giving me and Jed both exceptional visibility.

We ran side-by-side back towards Manchester Arena, both of us completely out of breath as we reached the looming structure. The curved steel roof stretched vastly overhead, towards the back of the arena, and three flights of stairs at the front led up to the front doors, which fans had been crowding merely hours before.

A familiar bulky figure stepped out from the sideline, approaching both Jed and I with his fists swinging by his sides. Izzy's entire face lit up as soon as he saw us, and he ran the last few steps, scooping us up into a bone-crunching hug within his muscular arms.