Blood and Bone | 1

3 | 9

      Sirens sounded in the distance, no doubt coming to investigate the crime scene I'd just made.

      "Destroy the gun," Jake hissed to me. My eyes dropped to the weapon I was carrying. It wouldn't be easy to flee if I was carrying a gun with my fingerprints all over it.

      The sirens were getting louder as the police neared. Throwing the gun into the pile of bodies, I tore it apart with my mind. The shards of metal shot out in all directions as if the weapon had blown up.

      After I'd destroyed the gun, I quickly followed after Jake and the girl. "Start talking," I commanded her in a low voice, hoping that she hadn't been lying when she offered us information.

      "My name is Mariette Oleson. I've been with the Club for two years. Adiago doesn't want you to know what I'm about to tell you. Part of his plan was to keep you in the dark about it. He-"

      "I already know this. Skip to the part where you're useful," Jake interrupted flatly.

      The girl sighed as she became annoyed with Jake, but continued talking. "The rest of your crew is still alive. Hundsen only wanted to make you think that they were dead."

      I blinked twice, taking in this new information. I'd been sure that Hundsen had killed them. He was certainly not the kind of man to keep alive those that were a threat to him, so why were they still living? Were they going to another connection of Adiago's?

      "How do we know you're telling the truth?" Jake demanded, his eyes glittering under narrowed lids.

      "You don't," said Mariette. "But it is true. I've seen them with my own eyes. They're chained in the warehouse, beaten and half-starved, but they're definitely still alive."

     But Jake was still skeptical. "Why would he keep them alive? We both know that Hundsen kills off the people he doesn't need."

      The girl shrugged and pursed her lips slightly. "Who knows what goes on in that madman's head? But from my guess, it's that he doesn't want you two trying to go after them. You're clearly all stronger together rather than split up like this."

      "We know that Hundsen was sending us off to one of his connections before we escaped," I stated, speaking out loud as I tried to piece together the information. "What was he planning to do with the other six?"

      "I'm not sure," Mariette admitted, shaking her head so that her short black hair grazed her shoulders. "But I do know this: he's having them transported to a small airport north of Straubing, Germany."

      "When?"

      "In four days," Mariette alerted us, her black eyes flicking between Jake and I as she watched for a reaction. "At five in the morning."

      "What's the name of the airport they'll be landing in?"

      "I don't know. But I can find out."

      There was silence between the three of us before Jake asked Mariette, staring at her so intensely that it made her squirm, "Why are you telling us this?"

      "Well," the Club member started uneasily under Jake's glare, "Not all of us are happy under Adiago's rule. He's a murdering bastard that leads the rest of us in fear for our lives. Things were better before, when you were the leader."

      What? I made sure to keep my face devoid of any surprise I had, but I watched Jake's face for his reaction.

      Jake ignored the last part of what she'd said. "Why should I trust you?"