Deviant (Boys of Winter 3)

Cruz’s face twists with the decision. “Fuck. She’s right.”

The boys break out through the doors and instantly break apart. Carver looks back at me. “Don’t fucking move,” he roars, gaining attention from everyone around us. “I swear to fucking God, Elodie, if you move …”

“I won’t,” I promise, nodding. I may be reckless, but I’m not fucking stupid and I know a life-or-death situation when I see one.

Carver holds my stare for a moment longer before finally rushing away, and within seconds, the whole house is put on lockdown. Steel shutters slam down over each of the windows, an iron gate comes down in front of the main doors of the house, and the music is completely shut off.

Cruz fires one single bullet into the ceiling and everyone drops to the ground, his impatience getting the best of him as silence floods the room, all eyes on him. “Listen up,” he roars, his voice loud enough to be heard right through to the kitchen staff as Grayson and Carver come back to my sides. “There’s an organized attack currently taking place in the Ravenwood mansion. All women and children need to make their way down to the storm cellar below the house while everyone else is to protect what’s ours.”

“What the hell is going on in here?” Mr. Danforth demands, racing back in with Harlen Beckett.

Grayson steps up in front of his father, slamming a hand against his chest to stop him from getting too close to me. “There’s another attack,” he explains, which gets the mens’ immediate attention. “We’re taking Winter somewhere she can be safe. Put calls into the other families who aren’t here. Have them lock down their homes. It won’t be long until they realize Winter isn’t there. Keep everyone safe.”

Both Danforth and Beckett nod, more than onboard with the plan, and just like that, Carver grips my arm again and I go flying out of the room, my feet pounding against the hard marble tiles for the second time tonight.

We break through to the impressive garage and before I even know what’s happening, I’m shoved into the back and pushed down into the floor space of the Danforth family SUV. Carver claims the driver’s seat while Grayson and King launch themselves into the trunk, guns already in their hands. Cruz climbs across the backseat, kneeling as he drags a bag of ammunition and weapons up onto the chair above my head, and the second the door closes behind him, Carver hits the gas and the car goes screeching out of the garage.

CHAPTER 36

The SUV races down the long driveway and it takes all of two seconds to gain the attention of the men at the end of the street.

“Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” I chant over and over again, my stomach practically in my ass and feeling like I’m about to hurl all through the back of the car, though I’m sure it wouldn’t be the first time that happened in here.

“You’re going to be fine,” Cruz calls down to me as he loads up a bunch of guns with expert hands and passes them to the boys in preparation. “Just whatever you do, keep down. Carver will lose them before we get the chance to kill them. This is all just … precautionary.”

I groan, knowing he’s just making it sound better than what it actually is. This is going to be a shit show and something tells me that the men currently racing to their trucks have been promised something really nice if they were to bring my head back on a stake.

Carver pushes the SUV to its limits, only to have to skid to a stop to enter the code for the gate which only serves to piss him off. He barely waits for the gates to peel back, clipping the front bumper of the car as he goes.

The second he hits the road, he takes off like a bat out of hell as I rock around in the back, my head slamming against the side door. “Fuck,” I curse. “I know you’re trying to save my ass and I swear, I’m not being an ungrateful bitch, but could you watch yourself on the corners? You drive like a fucking madman.”

Carver just grunts, concentrating on the road as not a minute later, he’s forced to another stop as we reach the main gate into the Ravenwood estate. He enters the code as quickly as he can while glancing up in his rearview mirror, getting a good look at how many trucks are currently speeding to catch us.

“We’ve got six on our tail,” Grayson says, practically reading Carver’s mind.

“Yep.”

We get through the gate and Carver even takes the extra second to stop on the other side to make sure the gate closes properly before taking off again. He races out into the traffic on the main road and even though the men behind us are currently trapped behind a slow gate, it won’t be long before they catch us.