It was a damn stupid idea. I hadn’t seen my brother since I first caught wind of Hunter being in London, I missed Ace’s funeral which I doubted he’d forgive me for. But he didn’t understand, not fully. I needed this.
And the moment he saw Hunter he would shoot first and ask questions later.
I run my finger down the scratch in the side of the car.
“Thinking about giving it another?” Hunter asks, kissing the side of my face. He looked casual in his dark jeans and leather jacket, but I knew beneath all those clothes was an assortment of weapons, some of which I doubted I could even name. His glasses are perched on his nose.
He was like any ordinary man, but I knew the truth and if you really looked, you’d see those demons in his eyes.
“I’m not sorry.”
He grins crookedly and it might just do something to my insides. He was so bad but fuck, if I didn’t want to climb him like a damn tree. Of course, when I didn’t want to stab him which was most of the time.
“Get in the car,” He orders.
I cock a brow, “Or what?” I may be delaying. Truth was, I was terrified about seeing my brother. I’d been a bitch, I was still going to be a bitch, but Kingston had been there through it all and what? I was just going to rock up with the very man that broke me in the first place?
“Do you want to play, Snow?”
“Maybe.”
“It’s either now or later, Isobel,” he cups my jaw, “And if you don’t come, I’ll go alone.”
And that would end up with either one, or both of them, in the ground.
“Fuck,” I growl, ripping open the car door so hard the hinges scream. I throw myself into the front seat and cross my arms.
“Seat belt.”
“You fucked me with a knife, and you’re worried about my in-car safety?”
“Seat. Belt.”
I narrow my eyes.
What I don’t expect is him literally leaning in and grabbing my belt, forcing the thing across my body. I push and shove him but he’s in a better position to keep me contained. He pulls it tight, pinning me to the chair, “I see you really do want to play today, Snow, I’ll remember this when we come home later."
“If you make it that long,” I snap back.
“So vicious,” he purrs before planting a kiss on my lips, and moving away quickly to avoid the punch I throw his way. I hear his chuckle even after the door is closed.
I forget how playful he can be. It had been that way back in the cells, when he was just Hunter, and I was just Isobel. He made the days easier, playing stupid games to pass the time and take my mind off what was happening outside the door. It was like the man had two personalities, the one that killed and tortured and the one with me, the one who cared and soothed and played. They didn’t seem like the same person and yet I’d seen firsthand that they were.
He climbs in next to me and presses a button to start the engine. It purrs but the sound is barely there, more a buzz than anything else.
“He’ll probably be at the compound,” I say, swallowing, “The penthouse was destroyed.”
Sickness curls my stomach. What happened with Tobias, one of the Syndicate’s rulers, terrified me. He found Kingston and almost killed him. Kingston, of course, won in the end, but it was touchy, and, in the process, Kingston’s best friend was murdered. I doubted King’s revenge died with Tobias. He wouldn’t stop until they all paid for that.
I glance to Hunter.
“Don’t worry about me,” Hunter turns a corner smoothly, eyes on the road.
“I’m not.”
He reaches across and grips my thigh, “Did you know that when you lie you wiggle your nose?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You do, you always have.”
I cross my arms and stare out the window, watching the empty streets turn to bustling highstreets, the pavements becoming more clogged with people and the roads heavier with traffic. By the looks of it, it hasn’t snowed for a while, the snow that was on the ground now melting in most areas, grey and black sludge piled up at the sides of the road. The sky was still a thick, murky grey and it was cold, freezing actually, and ice clung to the cars that hadn’t been turned on for a while.
It's not long before the familiar buildings of London start to take up space on the sides of the road, huge, tall skyscrapers that seem to disappear into the clouds and masses of people hurrying down the streets, bags or suitcases clutched in their hands.
His hand, still resting on my thigh begins to move slowly up my leg, an absentminded caress as he maneuvers through traffic towards the compound on the other side of the city. I wasn’t even entirely sure what day it was. It felt like weeks I’d been trapped in with Hunter, but I’m sure it had only actually been days. By the heavy foot traffic and the cars queued on the roads it was likely a Saturday.
Hunter moves though the traffic at a snails pace until we finally reach the outer city limits where it lets up a little, and then it’s a straight drive to the compound.
He stops the car about a block away, killing the engine.
“Time for a walk, Snow.”
“Just go up the drive.” I scoff.
“And miss the look on your brothers face,” he grins, “I think not.”
“You have a death wish, he’ll kill you on sight.”
“They won’t see us,” he takes my hand once we are out the car, “You think we’re going to walk through the front door?”
“You are underestimating my brother, Hunter.”
“I think I’m estimating him just fine.”
He starts to walk, forcing me along with him. The street is quiet, the houses along the road few and far between. It was why my uncle had chosen this location all those years ago, and why Kingston had maintained it. We may hate my uncle and what he did, but the man was smart. You wouldn’t look at this place and this location and think anything other than it was for the rich. And we were rich, just not in the normal way.
We pass the compound.
“You missed it.”
“Keep up, Isobel.”
I huff, following for another mile and then Hunter turns and heads into a small copse of trees that sit right at the end of the road. We walk across dead leaves and frozen branches that crunch under our weight, and then double back but along the rear side of the properties.
“Here,” Hunter stops, reaching down to grasp something I can’t see. There’s a loud creak that echoes through the trees and then a grate opens, and a narrow opening is revealed in the ground.
“What is this?”
“Your uncle was a smart man,” Hunter rolls his shoulder before holding out a hand, “He had escape tunnels built in long before you and Kingston came along.”
“These weren’t on the blueprints.”
“Of course not,” Hunter frowns, “Why would they be?”
“How do you know about them?”
“I know everything, Snow.” He coaxes me forward, “Down you go.”
I glance down the shaft, panic seizing my chest. “I can’t.”
“I’m right behind you, baby,” He whispers softly, “Nothing can hurt you.”
I shake my head, “Hunter, I can’t.”
“You can.”
“No!”
“Isobel, look at me,” he demands but my eyes are squeezed closed, “Look at me!”
He grips my face, “Nothing can hurt you, not while I’m around, do you understand me!?”
I shake my head.
“You’re not there anymore,” He tells me, “You are not there.”
I breathe in deep and exhale slowly.
“I am right behind you, Snow.”
“Okay,” I breathe, “Okay.”
“Good girl,” he praises, kissing me.
I feel my limbs shaking as I maneuver myself and place myself on the ladder that leads down. Sweat makes my palms slick, and I can feel my heart beating in my throat.
There’s nothing down there, I tell myself as I take the first step down, nothing down there I repeat on the second step.
“That’s it, Snow,” Hunter says from the top, “Keep going, I’ve got you.”
I squeeze my eyes closed as the dark starts to overpower the light. I go down blind, one step after the other until my foot hits solid ground where I crumble and press myself against the wall, trying to steady my breathing.
Hands on my arms make me scream.
“It’s me, Isobel. I’m here.”
“I don’t like it.”
Light suddenly flares, blasting through my eyelids, “No more dark, baby.”
I open my eyes to see a long, narrow corridor ahead of me. No doors and no windows, just concrete walls and endless walking.
“I don’t like this, Hunter.”
“I know but it’s ten minutes, I promise.”
He takes my hand, kissing my cheek.
“Okay.” I breathe.
“That’s my Snow.”
We start down the dark passage, the cold and the damp pressing on my skin, but he doesn’t let go once. He remains a steady presence the entire way down, holding me tight until I can see light leaking through a crack in the ceiling a few yards ahead.
“That’s the house,” I breathe.
“I told you, Snow, I know everything.”