Page 49 of Ravaged By the Dark (The Righteous 2)
Arek couldn’t stop his heart from racing. He’d had this same feeling just before the building his unit was hunkered down in was hit by an RPG, causing half the building to collapse.
Nothing was going to happen, he would get there, and she was going to be fine.
He had to believe that—he had to believe this time he wouldn’t be too late.
“Sweet Delilah, go silent and dark for a one-mile radius.”
“Silent and dark mode established,” the AI answered as he turned onto Renee’s street. He killed the lights, and the Hummer purred like a kitten as he quickly parallel-parked into the only available spot along the shoulder.
A pair of teens walked past and gave the vehicle a once over, their eyes lighting up with an appraising look before they continued on their way.
“Heat signature count,” Arek asked.
“There are over fifty heat signatures in the immediate vicinity.”
“On the street, only on the street.” If he could, he would bitch slap his vehicle.
“There is one heat signature heading due west.” That meant they were coming up the street right at him.
“Show me.”
The windshield switched modes, and there was the fucker he was after as clear as day. What were the fucking odds? Ice Man was slowly walking up the road, and the slight angle of his body made it clear what house he was after. “Oh no, you don’t. You’re not taking her.”
“Sweet Delilah, go full lockdown on the street,” Arek commanded. He could hear the soft whirring noise as the AI set up the satellite to shut down all cell phones and video capabilities that may be present.
Arek slinked out of his vehicle, the door automatically closing softly and locking in place. Like a ghost, he slipped between the shadows, cars, and small hedges as he neared his target. The Ice Man darted between two vehicles as Arek snuck behind the closest tree.
He peered around the side just as the guy gripped Renee’s small gate, and Arek counted in his head the seconds until he made his move. A deadly calm washed over him as his breathing slowed. He sized up his opponent, his size, weight, and muscled form, and quickly pinpointed his target’s weak spots.
The moment Ice Man’s head turned to face the house, Arek struck from behind, taking him down hard in a tackle that had them rolling toward the steps. Their roll stopped with a severe thud. Ice Man grunted on impact, and Arek’s knees took the brunt of his landing, but he’d worry about himself later.
Ice Man recovered quickly. He was strong and obviously street trained, which meant he was used to getting down and dirty. The guy managed to shift himself around and push Arek off him, an impressive maneuver that spoke to his sheer power. Arek leapt to his feet, ready for round two. He was not giving this fucker a chance to pin him.
Ice Man rose to his feet and rolled his shoulder as he wiped the blood trickling from his nose. The glare he fixed on Arek would have made a lesser man cringe.
“You just make the mistake of you live mother fucker!” Cody snarled. “Who the fuck are you anyway?”
“That is of no consequence.”
“You just attacked me for no reason. I think it is very fucking relevant.” Ice Man flexed his obvious injured shoulder.
Arek tracked his movements like a cat would a toy. Ice Man flinched before he moved in and took a swing. He was a hell of a lot faster than Arek would’ve expected from such a big guy, but Arek had taken down bigger and meaner demons.
Arek ducked and just missed getting sucker-punched, but as he slipped under Ice Man’s outstretched arm, he landed a blow to the guy’s kidney. He was rewarded with a pained sound as the large body bowed away from the assault.
Arek stayed close, anticipating the next move. As Ice Man spun, fist already raised, Arek brought his elbow backward to meet the guy’s jaw. A smattering of blood went flying with the harsh impact. Unfortunately, his forearm slipped into Ice Man’s mouth, slashing his arm on the man’s teeth.
Hello, hepatitis check.
There wasn’t much room to maneuver inside the confines of the small fenced front yard, but Arek backed away and took up his fighting stance again. Under any other circumstance, he would have been kind of impressed Ice Man hadn’t fallen to his ass yet because that was a hard fucking blow to the face.
All he saw was red at the thought of Renee being taken to be used by Tyson. The urge to rip this guy in two was coursing through his veins, and he had to keep reminding himself that he needed him alive to get answers about this Tyson asshole and the Golden Dragons.
Ice Man moved in again, and for the first time in a while, Arek was taken by surprise when the guy stutter-stepped and then pulled back. Arek couldn’t stop his momentum and received a hard blow to the side of his face for his miscalculation.
His eyes swung back to Ice Man, his lips pulling up in a sadistic smile as his inner demons broke free—the dark rage that Arek worked hard to keep at bay clouded his mind. Flashes of his past crossed his mind. Images of his brothers’ mangled bodies danced before his eyes, and their screams of painful deaths filled his ears.
A malicious sound left his mouth as he fixated on the face across from him. Ice Man was going to die tonight. He didn’t care how pissed his brother would be, and he knew he had him when Ice Man’s eyes widened with just a hint of uncertainty.
Arek clenched his fists, his muscles flexing, loving the sensation of being pushed with a purpose.
“You’re a dead man.” The words came out soft like he was whispering something loving instead of a promise of pain.
Arek lunged in close to his target, his body going left, right, then left again in such quick succession that Ice Man could only back away and swing wildly at the air. A yell ripped from his throat as he struck three vicious and accurate punches square to the face before the guy flinched. He followed it with an uppercut that lifted Ice Man off the ground. He went down hard, and Arek chased the body to the ground, his knee squarely pressed into his opponent’s chest.
Death was his only companion.
It was what he’d been baptized into and was reborn into this—a monster.
