Kings of Chaos (Dirty Broken Savages #1)(77)

The sound of footsteps alerts me to someone getting close, but slow, like they’re taking their time. Gage or Priest, then. And whichever one it is, they’re alert.

I crouch down a bit more, gun aimed and ready. I feel like a hunter, waiting for my prey to get close enough to my trap that it has no choice but to spring it.

It’s Priest, walking softly, scanning the area with his gun held up, finger on the trigger. I leap out, tagging him with a vicious splash of green.

But instead of backing down or tagging me back, he bum rushes me, dropping his gun to the ground halfway through and tackling me hard.

We go down into the brush with him on top of me, and I grapple him, trying to flip our positions and get the upper hand. He’s bigger than me though, so it’s easier said than done.

His weight bears down on me, and the fingers of our hands interlace as he pins me down.

It’s almost like a sense memory, the way his fingers feel laced through mine. It’s not on purpose this time, but last night it was. He sat there with me, holding my hand while I shook and shivered under the covers, far away, drowning in bad memories.

Those icy blue eyes look down at me, and I stare up at him, the way I couldn’t last night.

And then, with a sudden rush of clarity, I realize that this was his idea.

Priest did this.

For me.

The thought freezes me in place, and I’m locked in his gaze. There are a million questions I want to ask, and I don’t even know where to start, but before I can so much as take another breath, the sound of shooting rings out over our heads and Knox and Ash come crashing through the trees, shooting at us.





32





KNOX





WE CRASH through the trees in time to see Priest tackling River. She’s been lying in wait all this time, taking her shots where she can. Tactical and precise and damn good at it.

Ash turns to grin at me, and I grin back. There are two of them now, and two of us.

Seems like fair odds.

Priest gets off River, and she pulls herself up, not even bothering to brush the leaves and shit off her gear. She picks up her gun and lifts an eyebrow at me.

Her expression is all challenge, and it stirs my blood in the best fucking way.

“Oh, bring it,” I say, and we face off.

River jerks her head at Priest, and they turn and run deeper into the trees, making us chase them if we want that glory.

The thrill of it beats in my chest, and I take off before Ash can catch up. The hunt is so fucking good, and I raise my gun, firing off a round when I see a flash of that gear in tactical black.

I catch Priest in the leg, and he swears under his breath before turning to return fire. I manage to dive out of the way, but he hits Ash right in the chest. If it was anyone else, they’d probably be laughing and gloating, but Priest just watches with those neutral eyes and then runs off.

We take off after him.

River has managed to slip away somewhere, hiding in the woods like the little fox she is. You’d think with that bright hair, we’d be able to see her, but she’s damn good.

I slow my steps and my breathing, listening, waiting. That hunter’s instinct taking over. Sometimes you have to be calm and chill out for a bit before you can catch your prey and toy with it. It’s always worth it in the end.

A branch snaps not far away, and I turn with my gun raised, just in time to get pelted in the back of the shoulder by paint.

River laughs, perched up on a tree branch with her gun raised. I don’t even know how she had time to get up there.

Before I can fire back, she’s jumping down and running off again.

We keep up the chase, darting around and taking shots where we can. I tag River and Priest a couple more times, and Ash catches up enough to get in a few shots, too.

Actually, Priest and River make a pretty good team, which is weird, considering he hates her and wanted her dead at the beginning. Maybe doing this is a way for him to let off some of that aggression he’s always pretending he doesn’t have until it comes bleeding out when he doesn’t want it to.

Either way, it’s fun as hell.

Gage joins the mix soon enough, and the teams kind of fall apart into an every man for himself situation. It gets out of control, and I fucking love it.

We all have violent tendencies that need an outlet, and this is the perfect one. No one dies and we get to work off this energy. River’s no different, either. I can see that savageness in her, and I know she loves this every bit as much as we do.

She’s right in there, tackling people, butting them with her gun to get them out of her way. She sweeps her leg and sends Gage sprawling in the dirt and then runs off before he can shoot her in retaliation.

He snarls, and before he can take off after her, I put myself in his path. Not to protect River, because she can sure as hell handle herself, but because the energy of this fight calls to me. It makes the monster in my chest almost purr with the desire to throw myself into it. So I do.

Gage has a rage in him. He always has. It simmers behind his eyes and comes out in the way he scowls and glowers at everyone when he’s pissed off. Usually, I take it in stride, teasing him and working around his moods, but right now, I want the brunt of it.

I wanna see what he’ll do.

His eyes snap with fury, and I smirk back, squaring off against him. He lunges for me, catching me around the middle and knocking me off balance, but I recover easily.