VIPERS
1833 Words
The windshield wipers thrashed at their highest speed, barely keeping up with the deluge hammering the glass, but I didn't care. Pressing the accelerator to the floor, I let the SUV's engine roar as I tore through the slick city streets, my knuckles stark white against the leather steering wheel.
Blind to the traffic and the red lights I blew through, my mind was locked on a single, grainy black-and-white image from Eric's monitor: Amelia. Curled into a ball behind a dumpster, shivering in a ruined dress that clung to her like a wet rag, she had been mouthing my name.
Kade, please find me.
The rage inside me wasn't a hot, blinding flash; it was a heavy, razor-sharp block of ice wedged in my chest. For fifteen years, I had built an empire where no one dared touch what belonged to me. I had killed men for stealing shipments and destroyed entire families for crossing boundaries, but this was different. This wasn't business. This was personal.
Silas had left her.
My driver, a man I paid to be reliable, had looked at a twenty-two-year-old girl standing in the storm and decided she wasn't worth his time. He had driven away, leaving her to the wolves.
Tires screaming against the wet asphalt, I took the corner onto 4th Street and spotted the Meyer Warehouse looming in the dark. Right next to it sat the alley Eric had pinpointed.
I slammed the brakes, sending the SUV into a slight fishtail before it halted, effectively barricading the entrance. As the headlights sliced through the sheets of rain, I spotted them immediately: three men huddled beneath the metal awning of a loading dock. They were smoking and laughing, one of them gesturing toward the dumpsters at the far end.
Killing the engine, I shoved my door open to a blast of wind and rain that soaked my dress shirt in seconds. I didn't feel the cold, only an overwhelming, primal need to break something. Boot splashing into a deep puddle, I stepped out. I didn't run. I simply walked toward them.
"Hey! You can't park there, rich boy!" one shouted, stepping out from the awning in a filthy hoodie, a paper-bagged bottle in hand.
I didn't break my stride.
"I'm talking to you!" he yelled, tossing the bottle to shatter on the pavement as his two friends stepped up, chests puffed.
Stopping three feet away, I assessed the leader, unbalanced yet completely confident in his own stupidity.
"Get out of my way," I said, my voice barely carrying over the storm, yet impossible to ignore.
"Or what?" he sneered, digging into his pocket.
"You think because you have a nice car you can…"
I didn't let him finish. Stepping into his space, I drove my fist through his jaw, the bone giving way under my knuckles with a sickening, satisfying crunch. He dropped to the wet pavement without a single sound.
The other two froze, their eyes darting from their fallen friend to me. They recognized instantly that I wasn't just some guy in a suit; I was a man who knew exactly how to dismantle them.
"She is behind that dumpster," I said, pointing into the dark. "If you even look at her, I will bury you right here."
Backing away with his hands raised, one stammered, "We didn't touch her, man! We were just... leaving."
"Run."
Scrambling over their unconscious friend, they slipped on the wet concrete as they sprinted away. Dismissing them entirely, I turned toward the dumpsters, fighting past the overwhelming stench of garbage and soaked cardboard. As I rounded the massive green bin, my heart hammered against my ribs.
"Amelia?" I called out.
At first, she was invisible, a tiny figure pressed deep into the corner where the metal met the brick wall. With her knees pulled tightly to her chest and arms wrapping her head, she shook so violently her teeth chattered over the storm. Ruining the knees of my trousers, I knelt in the mud without a second thought.
"Amelia," I repeated, softening my tone.
She flinched, her head snapping up to reveal wide, terrified eyes. Wet hair plastered to her face framed lips that had turned a dangerous shade of blue as she blinked against the rain, struggling to focus.
"Kade?" she whispered, the broken rasp tearing at my chest.
"I'm here. I found you."
"I... I didn't run," she stammered through clicking teeth. "He left me. I tried to walk... but I got lost."
"I know you didn't run."
When I reached for her, she flinched again, bracing for a blow, a reaction that made me want to burn the entire city to the ground. Slowing my movements so she could track my hands, I gently cupped her freezing, marble-cold cheek. "I'm going to pick you up now and take you home."
With a weak nod from her, I slid my arms under her legs and back. She weighed nothing. Lifting her effortlessly against my chest, her soaked dress offered zero protection against the elements. She buried her face in the crook of my neck, pressing her icy nose to my skin.
"You came," she breathed.
"I will always come," I promised.
Shielding her body with my own, I carried her to the SUV and set her gently onto the leather passenger seat, where she immediately curled into a tight ball. Reaching into the back, I grabbed the heavy wool blanket I kept for Amy, wrapping it securely around her until she was entirely cocooned.
Once in the driver's seat, I cranked the heat to maximum and glanced over; she was staring straight ahead, eyes glassy.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I hit the speed dial. It rang once.
"Is she safe?" Nick answered immediately.
"I have her," I said, dropping the phone onto the dashboard to free my hands.
Throwing the car into reverse and spinning the wheel, I added, "She's hypothermic. I'm ten minutes out. Tell Halloway to draw a hot bath. Not warm. Hot."
"Done. And Silas?"
Glancing at Amelia, I saw she was listening. I wanted her to hear this. I needed her to know exactly what happened to people who hurt her. "Is he in the basement?"
"Yeah, he's down here crying, Kade. Says it was a misunderstanding."
"Don't touch him," I ordered, my voice dropping to a deadly calm. "Do not let anyone touch him. I want him fresh."
"Kade..." Nick warned.
"I want him to scream for three days, Nick," I projected over the heater's roar. "He left my property in the rain. He left her in the rain. I'm going to peel the skin off his back one strip at a time. Do you understand me?"
A heavy pause filled the line. "I understand. I'll have the tools ready."
I ended the call, leaving only the sound of blasting warm air filling the cabin. Merging onto the highway, I drove fast but smoothly, reaching over to envelop her icy hand in mine. I rubbed her fingers, desperate to transfer some of my heat.
"Did you hear that?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the road.
"Yes," she whispered.
"Good. Because I meant every word."
Ten minutes later, the estate gates parted before I even had to slow down. I parked right at the front steps and left the engine running, ignoring Mrs. Halloway waiting on the porch with an umbrella. I hurried to the passenger side just as Amelia fumbled with her seatbelt, her fingers shaking too badly to manage the buckle.
"Stop. Let me."
Unclicking the belt, I scooped her up, blanket and all, and carried her inside, brushing past Mrs. Halloway.
"Draw the bath," I ordered as we crossed the foyer,
"and get some hot soup ready."
"It's already done, sir," she said, eyeing Amelia's pallor. "Should I call Dr. Thorne?"
"Not yet. I'll handle this."
Without putting her down, I carried her up the grand staircase, past Amy's nursery, and straight into my suite, the warmest room in the house. Kicking the door shut, I brought her into the steam-filled bathroom and set her on the vanity stool beside the massive, full tub.
"Can you stand?"
She nodded, but her knees instantly buckled. I caught her before she went down. "Okay, I've got you."
Unwrapping the blanket revealed her ruined white dress, stained with mud and alley grease, clinging stubbornly to her skin.
"I'm going to take the dress off, Amelia," I said, holding her gaze. "I need to get you in the water."
Offering no argument, she weakly lifted her arms.
I pulled the sodden fabric over her head, tossing it into the corner. She stood shivering in her underwear, pale and stippled with goosebumps. I kept my eyes on her face, refusing to look at her body.
Right now, I was her protector, not a man.
Lowering her into the tub, she hissed as the heat shocked her freezing skin, but soon sighed, sinking until the water reached her chin.
"Is that okay?" I asked, sitting on the tub's edge.
"It burns," she whispered. "But it's good."
Grabbing a washcloth, I dipped it in the water and gently wiped the mud from the cheek she had pressed against the dumpster.
"Why?" she asked suddenly, her eyes opening to meet mine.
"Why what?"
"Why did you come? Silas said... he said I was just the help. He said you wouldn't care."
Dropping the cloth into the water, I gripped the tub's edge and leaned in until the steam curled intimately around our faces. "Silas was wrong," I growled. "You aren't the help, Amelia. You are mine. And nobody leaves what is mine in the rain."
"What are you going to do to him?" she asked, searching my eyes.
Standing up, I wiped my wet hands on my trousers and glanced toward the door, my mind snapping back to the basement. "I'm going to make sure he never drives a car again. Stay in the water. I'll be back."
I made it halfway to the door before her voice caught me.
"Kade?"
Looking back, she was sinking lower into the bubbles, impossibly small and fragile. "Don't go. Please don't leave me alone."
I weighed the door against the tub. The rage still burned a hole in my gut, demanding my pound of flesh, but the desperate plea in her eyes pinned me in place.
Loosening my tie, I walked back and sank to the floor, resting my back against the cabinets. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here until you're warm.”
- Writer
