Russian Roulette: Flashbacks [male x male]

Ch. 55: Organized, thank you!

Then

"Phoenix!"

The shrill scream carried through the private club over the low chatter and sounds from the stage. It held desperation, fear, and above all, panic.

Phoenix's head snapped to where the scream came from. Not because it had really sounded like his name, but because it was unusual for anyone to scream like that inside the private club. Those kinds of noises only came from the stage and never held that level of unhidden panic to them. They were responsible people, after all, and would instantly stop any action that caused distress like that.

At first, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, except for the rest of the people in his vision, also turning their heads. Then Eoin pushed his way through the crowd and rushed toward them.

He stood up instantly, followed by everyone in the VIP section. Brannon rushed past him to get to his sub. Eoin looked upset. Naturally, Brannon went full mother hen on him. Checking his face, touching his arms, and turning him around to check for damages, but Eoin pushed him away and tried to get to Phoenix.

"Phoenix... Club... Help..."

"Eoin, relax. What's up?"

Eoin heaved for air, red in the face, sweating like mad. His focus stayed on Phoenix, though his eyes skittishly shifted because everyone was looking at him. Even the show on stage had stopped, and their attention was on Eoin as well. Eoin grabbed Phoenix's arm, though that was unheard of with a Dominant, and Phoenix no one touched.

"Need... Come..."

"Eoin, fócas, anois!" Brannon barked in Irish, instantly snapping Eoin out of his panicked state, calming him with the control his Dominant provided when he could not find it himself.

"A man," Eoin gasped, still clinging to Phoenix's arm. "He took Jace. Chess and Sydney went after them."

For a man who had no real connection with emotions and swung between very few with understanding, indifference, annoyance, and whatever he identified that feeling he had toward Jace, as the most prominent, Phoenix suddenly found himself in a crash course on emotions. Surprise, disbelief, fear, and above all, anger. They rushed through him with such power it stole his breath.

The fear paralyzed him, and Phoenix could literally not breathe. Hundreds of dreadful scenarios flashed in his mind, and in every single one, he lost Jace. His emotions showed him a reel of what his life would look like without Jace, a reality that only fueled the fear.

"Who? Where?" Phoenix grabbed Eoin's shoulders in a death grip, obviously scaring the kid. His eyes widened, and it did not help his already flustered state to form sentences.

"A man, tall..." Which was the poorest description coming from someone like Eoin, who was half a foot taller than a Smurf, making everybody tall. "Near the lounge."

Letting go of Eoin, Phoenix ran past him and plowed through the crowd to get to his love. Who the hell dared to touch Jace? He asked himself, but at the back of his mind he knew, and dread entered his system, turning his limbs to jelly, yet he kept moving.

Every single person in the room, men and women, Dom or sub, went on the barricades when one of their own seemed in trouble. They allowed the VIPs through and helped guide the more defenseless of the subs to stay back.

"Silent alarm!" Packard yelled at the bartenders, setting in pursuit of Phoenix, followed by Brannon, who barked orders at every security guard they ran past. Telling them to guard the exits and keep a lookout for Jace, ordering them to spread out and be ready to protect the guests, and a few he made to follow if they needed the extra muscle.