"I sold drugs to the cult."
Silence flooded the room, ice flooding my veins. I couldn't say that this wasn't my fault, or that I didn't see this coming. The boys had warned me of this, yet I stayed ignorant and played it off as long as I could. Anna, however, played the long game with me. I had to compliment her acting skills, I didn't suspect her to do anything like this.
Especially when she was just fucking me in my own car less than an hour ago.
When she first pulled the gun on me, I thought to myself that this was some kind of new kink she wanted to play with. But her eyes...it showed something that I couldn't decipher. I'd never seen her look at me that way. Through the months of hurt, love, and other emotions; they never showed the look she gave me when the gun kissed my skin.
"Is that what you wanted to hear?" I scowled, flicking my gaze between the three of them, "That I'm a terrible fucking person? That I've been selling drugs to Angela this entire time?" I chuckled quietly, furrowing my brows as I stood to my feet, "You'd be correct, thinking that, but–,"
"Why?" Anna finally spoke for the first time in what seemed like...hours.
But her voice cracked and so did my chest. Hurting her was something that I never wanted to do. Her eyes hollowed with a glazed emotion. I lifted my foot to take a step towards her, only for the click of the gun to sound through the warehouse. My eyes widened for moments.
"You wouldn't shoot me." I said quietly, between us, like we were the only ones in the vicinity.
She said nothing, tongue pushing the inside of her cheek as her lips pursed. I scoffed lightly, turning my head back to see Niall and Pete still passed out in their seats. I almost sighed, but kept it to myself, the disappointment that flooded me of letting their guard down. How could they be so–,
"Why?" Anna pressed again, "Why did you lie to me? Why are you..." Her voice shook, anger building roughly in her words, "You're helping her kill people!"
I clenched my jaw roughly, snapping my head towards her.
"That's a serious accusation," I quipped, tilting my head, "To think that I would help them kill people. Who do you think I am?"
"Someone who would supply drugs to a cult," Rina hissed, "And to think that I thought you guys of family..."
My eyes darkened as I stared at Rina. Then I clicked my tongue, running a hand through my hair.
"The plan," I said almost shakily, but regained my composure, "Was never for you to find out. Because it was none of your concern. What we were doing," I started to pace, each step I took, the gun would follow me, "Was not what you thought it was. Ajax warned me that you would try to push your way into this, and I didn't think you would ever try. Not when you've begged me for a normal life,"
"And," I continued, turning on my heel to look back at Anna, "When I first found my mum, it was in the basement of the church. I knew deep down that there would be a cost to taking my mum from the church. I sat down with Angela and I..."
"What do you want Angela?"
Angela smiled, a wolf in sheep's clothing, "Now we're talking. Sit. Let's talk."
I circled the seat in front of me, sitting down carefully. My fingers clutched the wooden arms of the chair as I shot a dark, yet defeated stare at Angela. She curled a loose strand of hair around her finger, tilting her head.
"Your mother has been a burden for a while now," She sighed, letting her shoulders drop, "She is entirely too hard to take care of. Don't you think?"
"I wouldn't know." I quipped quietly, scowling.
"Oh, of course you wouldn't, you haven't seen her in some years," Angela's face twisted, a smile so wicked, she knew she had me right where she wanted me, "And given your past, I'm sure you were too high to remember her most of the time."
"What. do. You. want." I hissed lightly.
Angela rolled her eyes, bored, and pressed her lips together tightly.
"You can have your mother," Angela licked over her small, chaste lips, "Under one condition."
"I'm...listening."
"We are no longer welcome here, and I think you know that. You've brought a lot of negative attention to the church," She said, folding her hands together, "It's only right that you fix this," she paused, as if waiting for me to say something, but continued, "I give you your mother, you let us relocate. Leave me and my church alone..."
"Is that all?" I furrowed my brows.
There was a beat of silence.
"Your friends..." She started, looking behind me at the door, "They are in the business of medicine, so I've heard," she paused, taking out a small checkbook and a pen, tapping it against the leather pad, "We make a deal. I pay you handsomely for your services and we go our separate ways."
"No," I hissed, "No. You can relocate, but I will not give you anything to hurt these people more than you already have."
Angela sighed, "That's a pity," Her pen clicked, setting it down on the table, "Because I was hoping that you'd say yes, you know, for Anna's sake."
The sound of my loves name coming from Angela's lips was like poison. I felt my veins grow ice cold, my body stiffened as I leaned forward.
"You leave her out of this." I sneered harshly.
"It's out of my control," She wiped her hands, pushing the check towards me, "You supply us and let us relocate, where you and your friends, most importantly Anna, can live their lives again. Or...not. Or we can recruit a few more members, this time harder to find and no fires in the end."
"You fucking bitc–,"
A click. Angela pointed a gun at me, her eyes wide with entertainment and mischief.
"It's in poor taste to curse in a sacred place, Harry, now please sit back down."
I stayed on my feet, only for moments, but her finger was tightening on the trigger. I slowly eased back into my seat, the tension in the room thick just as the rage inside of me.
"We will kill her," Angela sounded bored, placing the gun back down onto the table, "And you will be left with nothing. Surely never to love again, I'd assume."
I wondered if killing her now would solve the problem. There was a gun in the back of my pants, I could end all of this now. But that would start something much bigger, the cult following she had, if anyone were to find her; it would be my blame. Angela had been force feeding them drugs for enough time that they would grovel at her feet.
She was a God to them. There was no doubt.
I needed to play this carefully without any innocent casualties.
"We let you relocate," I repeated softly, "And supply you, and you will leave Anna alone and let me have my mum back?"
"Yes," She hummed, deadpan.
"How do I know you will keep up your end of the deal?" I stared coldly.
"My word is the only thing I have," Angela said smoothly, "And I can assure you that it's in your best interest to take this deal. You will want to."
I clenched my fist. Glancing at the checkbook on the table, the numbers were higher than anything I'd seen. Angela was willing to pay handsomely, and I was willing to take care of Anna by any means necessary. I blew out a small breath, brushing my eye with my knuckle.
"Deal," I said coldly, "But if you ever touch Anna–,"
"Anna will not be touched, as long as you mind your own and keep your hands off of ours." Angela reassured.
"Then...it's a deal."
Everyone's eyes were on me. Watching as I paced the room. I stopped in the middle of the room, still staring down the barrel of the gun. I parted my lips as I dug my hand into the pocket of my suit jacket, flicking a cigarette from its carton.
"Mind if I...?" I hummed as I placed the stick between my lips.
A single nod from Anna.
I lit the cigarette, inhaling sharply.
Recalling the memories of the deal I made with Angela, I blew the smoke out.
"Why not just kill her?" Rina scowled, "Why not just get rid of the problem? Why would you make a deal with the devil when you know that it's going to end up hurting more people?"
"That wasn't an option," I quipped, sending a cold glare, "Because, Rina, you know nothing of what me and my friends have been through," I hissed lightly, jaw clenched before sighing, "If I killed Angela, it would've caused a bigger mess. The amount of people she had under her thumb was enough to raise the concern of how many innocent lives would try to come after us."
"But," I continued, ashing the cigarette, one hand in my pocket, "Once I made the deal, I had a plan shortly after. We all agreed that killing Angela would end those innocent lives. We never wanted to hurt anyone,"
"But you're selling drugs to them. You're the reason why these people are drugged up. You're the fucking reason–,"
"You know, the more you move your lips, Rina..." I scolded softly, sending another cold glare, "The more you will find yourself embarrassed at the end of my explanation."
Rina scowled, opening her mouth to reply, but instead pressed her lips together tightly.
"Anyways," I took another drag of my smoke, then threw it to the ground, heel hitting the lit cherry of it, "Anyways. I knew that the first couple deals would have to provide the real stuff. They asked for heroine and Xanax. I was quite surprised that they hadn't asked for psychs, but that's neither here nor there,"
"So," I sighed, brushing a hand through my hair, "We planned carefully. The first deal, we sold them a brick. I expected for them to test it, which they did, and they were pleased with the high of the real stuff. However, under the guise of the real stuff, was just placebos,"
Anna's eyes widened, "So...you...but what about the pills?"
"The Xanax's were buspar," I corrected as I strolled towards the seat, sitting down carefully then locking my leg over my knee, "Anxiety medication. Which, technically is an off-brand Xanax, but less sedative," I clasped my fingers together, scanning the shocked gazes in the room, "Overtime, we have been winging people off of drugs without the cults knowledge. Slowly. Some medications we sent were to ease the withdrawals, others were for depression, some anxiety."
Gracie's face twisted, a few tears welling up in her eyes.
"So, my parents aren't being drugged?" She asked shakily, a small hopeful smile on her lips.
"If anything, they are being sedated," I answered slowly, flicking my gaze to her, "Being sedated mimics getting high. As long as Angela sees the tired look in their eyes, the dullness, then she wouldn't suspect a thing."
My gaze waved to Anna who's eyes watered. I watched as the grip on the gun wavered, shook, before slowly falling to her side with defeat. Anna looked behind her to the man in the red jumpsuit, her lips parted as she gave him a once over.
"As far as he goes," I stood to my feet once more, letting out a harsh sigh, "You've brought him to our warehouse. Kidnapped him. Which goes against the deal that me and Angela had made," My jaw tensed, tilting my head as a dark glaze fell over my eyes, "And we cannot return him because he knows too much now. So the second that they find that someone is missing..."
"They're gonna come after us." Anna whispered softly.
"That's right, Angel," I took a step towards her, she looked up at me with a hopeless look as I took the gun from her hand and held it up to her line of sight, "Do you see what happens when you get involved in things that don't concern you?"
Anna's eyes squinted, "You still lied to me..." She said harshly, "You gaslit me for so long–,"
"For good reason. Look what you've done," I scowled, "Look at the mess you've made, all of you made. You've kidnapped one of the men that lives in the village, and they are going to know exactly who took them. You've just started a new war between us and the cult."
Anna's words died in her throat, and the other two were silent. I couldn't even begin to explain the shit that this is going to get us into. Whether they think that the man ran away, or if he was kidnapped, they were going to come looking for him. And the only place they were going to start is with us, because nobody else in Madrid would ever think to take one of them when they were nonexistent in their location.
Rustling echoed from behind me. I turned my head, seeing Niall and Pete both holding their heads in confusion as their eyes fluttered open. I crossed my arms, turning my body fully to them.
"Good morning." I chirped loudly.
"What the fuck–," Niall winced at the pain in the back of his head, a soft groan pushed through his lips, "What the fuck happened?"
"My head...fuckin' hell." Pete mumbled, squinting his eyes at the fluorescent lights.
"Your little girlfriends knocked you out," I said plainly, strolling to one of the tables in the corner. I sifted through some bottles, finding some pain relievers that were low milligram and grabbed two of them, then handed them to the two of them, "Isn't that right, girls?"
Rina shifted on her feet, turning her head away.
"Pete..." Gracie sniffled, "I'm so–,"
"You...you knocked me out?" Pete frowned, eyes flashing with pain.
"You don't understand, we–," Gracie tried to explain, but I cut her off.
"Niall, you were certainly right about Anna knowing," I watched as the two of them took the pain killers, "More so, all of them knew. They were plotting against us."
"Did you get knocked out too?" Niall scowled, desperately waiting for the medicine to kick in.
"No, I just got a gun to the head," I muttered lowly.
"Why do you always get the lucky end of the stick?" Niall rolled his eyes, rising to his feet as he stretched out his aching body. He then sent a glare towards Rina, "I can't believe you've done this to me, Rina. Why would you do this?"
"I'm sorry," Rina shook out, for the first time tonight, she was finally showing some remorse for her actions, "I'm so sorry, Niall. Anna said...well, it doesn't matter. I just thought that..." She trailed off, biting down on her quivering lip, "I thought that you were trying to hurt us."
Niall's face twisted, a ping of hurt.
"You'd think I'd...hurt you?" Niall breathed out, his face twisted in disbelief, "After everything I've told you? After I opened my heart to you?"
Rina choked on a breath, "I'm so sorry."
Niall grumbled something under his breath, turning his body to flee the area, only to place sight on the man tied to the chair. He froze, pointing his finger at the man with confusion.
"Why is he here?" Niall's pale color turned ghostly white.
"Why don't you ask the girls." I patted his shoulder, my voice tight.
Anna took a step forward, blinking hard.
"We took him," Anna strained, "We found the cult's location and we took him."
Ice flooded my veins, but there was a burning rage inside my stomach that flooded my chest. I squinted my eyes at her, taking a daring step.
"You...what?" I hissed quietly.
She didn't fucking mention that.
Anna cut me a cold look, "We followed Gracie's parents to the cult's location, and we saw everything. He tried to attack us and we ran him over and took him."
"Are you three...stupid?" Pete raised his voice, echoing, and everyone turned to look at him. He stood there with a scowl on his face, the utter look of pure annoyance, "I've stood idly by and watched all of you do some really dumb shit, but this takes the cake," He scolded everyone, shocking everyone in the room, "I mean, I have played peacemaker for a while now. Tried to be level-headed, but this is a new level of..."
Pete waved his hand, shooting a cold glare to Gracie, "And you," He said quietly, "You should know better than to do any of this!"
"Don't talk to her like that," Anna stood between the two of them, a stern expression, "Don't you ever talk to her like that."
Pete's eyes widened, jaw feathered as he clenched it tightly. I took a small step towards them. Watching.
"If you wouldn't have..." Pete stopped, taking a step back from her before shooting his cold glare to me, "If you two would just fucking be honest with each other," He scolded now, the two of us, "Harry is too hard headed to fucking listen to anyone, and Anna is too nosy and independent to keep to herself."
"Pete..." I warned.
"Look at this fucking mess!" Pete raised his voice, "My girlfriend knocked me out. We have one of the cult members in our basement," He looked at all of us, shaking his head as he waved his hand, "Ajax is going to be fucking pissed when he sees all of this."
"I'm going home," Niall muttered lowly, not making any eye contact with Rina as he pushed past the lot of them.
"What are we doing to do about him?" I asked as Niall walked towards the latch doors.
Niall turned around, giving me a once over.
"Figure it out yourself. I'm tired of cleaning up your mess."
And with that, he was gone. Rina with tear stained cheeks chased after him, and Gracie and Pete were having their own argument in the corner of the room. Still, silence between me and Anna. Chaos was raining on us, the kind that didn't have a rainbow afterwards. I found myself sinking into the chair, staring at the man who had a confused, panicked look on his face, yet his eyes were dead behind that stare.
I hadn't noticed that Anna moved from her spot to sit in the chair next to me, staring at her feet. I was sifting through many things in my head, unsure of what to think about first. The relationship with the love of my life that was crumbling in front of me, or the possible threat a new war with the man sitting in front of us.
Of course, I took blame for most of this. It was me who signed the deal with Angela. I take that blame, it wasn't anyone else's burden but mine. Lying to Anna was only to save her, only to keep her safe. Even if I were to try to explain that to her, I feared that she wouldn't understand it. I dug a deep hole that I didn't know if I could get out of.
"Harry–,"
"I have to take care of this." I rose from my seat, ignoring her pleading stare.
It was worse enough that the stranger had witnessed the downfall of this group. I didn't want him to watch the downfall of my relationship either.
"We'll...talk about this later," I said quietly, then looked at Pete, "Will you help me get him upstairs?"
Pete shrugged one shoulder. He said nothing as he grabbed the man's chair and wheeled him back to the doors.
"What are you going to do to him?" Anna stood to her feet, fidgeting with her fingers.
I froze at the door, barely sending a glance back to her.
"Take my car home," I said quietly, "The two of you. I'll have Pete take me home."
I didn't leave any room for argument. Pete and I carried the man up to the first floor of the warehouse, to the large room where we kept our stash. Rage, guilt, sadness, I felt all of it. It was a tug of war game, each emotion coming in waves, trying to win the battle of which one I was feeling the most.
I'd have to talk to Anna about this, sooner than later, and I knew it would be a conversation that we'd have tonight. If she even went home.
"We need to call Ajax," Pete said, wiping the seat off his forehead, "Just to debrief with him. We don't want to make any moves we may regret."
"Good idea." I said quietly.
Pete clicked on his phone, holding it to his ear as he walked away.
It'd do me no good to try and talk to this man. For whatever reason, I'd never caught his name. I vaguely remembered doing some deals with him when the others weren't available, but he was very quiet and never said a word. The woman that I did the deals with, Blake, she typically did all the talking. After a few visits, I couldn't tell if she was drugged or not. If she was a part of this scheme where they held mercy over her, or if she was sober enough to do this deal just to get high after leaving.
Regardless of the deceit, what we were doing was a good thing. The girls wouldn't understand, they never would, and I didn't expect them either. I hated the picture that Anna painted of me, a monster. Someone that would willingly sell drugs to hurt others; that was by far what we had planned. If anything, we were taking them off drugs and onto something that would rather help the trauma they'd been through.
Soon enough, we had planned on making our move.
But now I feared that they were going to make the first move now that one of their men was missing.
"Ajax said not to kill him," Pete strolled back, running a hand through his hair as he stared down at the man in the chair, "He's on his way right now. I told him everything I knew, but you may need to explain things a little more to him."
"Why doesn't he want us to kill him?" I shot a glare towards him.
"Because," He gestured, "If we kill him, and they find out, then it'll stir shit up."
"We can't take him back, he knows too much," I said through gritted teeth.
"Obviously," Pete rolled his eyes, "I don't know what Ajax plans on doing with him yet. We don't want to kill him, but we don't want to return him either. No matter what we do at this point, we are fucked the second they find out."
"Shit," I hissed, clenching my fists tightly, "Shit."
Pete gave me a once over, annoyed, "We warned you–,"
"We can save the I told you so's for later," I interjected, pushing myself off of the wall, and ruffling my curls that fell into my face, "I'm well aware that I play a part in this mess."
"Good," Pete quipped, crossing his hands over his chest, "I'm glad that you realize that. It's about time that you start holding yourself accountable."
My jaw clenched, "When have I never?" I argued, ice in my veins, "I have all my life to make up for the lies and deceit, it will never be enough for anyone, will it?" Before Pete could reply, I brushed my hand into the air, "It does not matter. Not anymore. We need to move on."
"Go home, Harry," Was all Pete said, turning to stand in front of the man that was surely zoned out in pure boredom by now, "I'll take care of him and Ajax. But he will want an explanation."
"Fine–,"
"From Anna. Tomorrow. Bring her back."
I clenched my jaw, "I don't want her involved."
"It's too late for that, H," He argued, sending me a glare, "She's involved now."
I balled my fists up. The one thing that I never wanted to happen, happening in front of me. All the work I'd put in to make sure that Anna stayed out of this, that she was safe, it was all for nothing. Two things now weighed on my mind, but surprisingly the stress of losing Anna was heavier on my mind than the thought of dying in this fight between the cult and I.
"We'll talk about this tomorrow."
And with that, I called a taxi and left the warehouse.
An hour later I had arrived home, my car parked in the driveway. Thankful for many reasons, one of them being that Anna decided to stay at home. I didn't deserve this, I didn't deserve to come home to someone that I loved, but I was.
The house was dark and quiet as I entered the living-room, not even the light of the TV greeting me. I shrugged off my coat, hanging it on the hook before kicking my shoes off. Walking into the room, Anna was sitting in the bed, sitting up, and staring at the doorway as if she was expecting me; well, she had to have been.
"I'll..." I parted my dry lips, "I'll sleep in the living-room tonight."
Anna nodded softly, not saying a word. The pain in my chest hurt, the distance between us. I had done this to us, I had driven her away with my lies. And as I sifted through the closet for the spare pillow and blanket, my eyes burned with deep regret.
I stepped away to make my bed on the couch, but...
"Wait."
With the pillow and blanket in my arm, I looked back at her. Barely. I didn't deserve to even look at her, to see the pain I'd caused, to see what I'd done to her all these months. If Anna was to end things right here, right now, I'd crumble to my knees and curse myself, but I'd know she deserved better than what I was able to do for her.
"You..." Her voice hollow and broken, I was able to tell she had been crying and it broke my heart, "You were helping those people all along? Trying to get them sober?"
I shrugged one shoulder, hanging my head in defeat.
"What can I say? It's my savior complex," I spat the words out that people cursed me for, for so long.
As if it was a bad thing to want to help people. Like I was not worthy of saving those in need, while people waited for a man with a cape and superpowers to fly over the city and cure it of its evil. I was not worthy, but I wanted to be worthy.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I heard Anna remove herself from the bed, taking small steps towards me, yet I still didn't look back, "Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"
"Because," I inhaled slowly, trying to refrain from the sharpness in my tone, "Tonight was a prime example of why..." I then turned to face her, finally seeing the tear stained cheeks that burdened her beauty, "You kidnapped someone, Anna. From the cult. You took them and you...you have no idea, no idea what you've just done."
She inhaled sharply, "I wouldn't have done it if you would've told me the truth."
"You had no business looking into the cult," My voice was tight, the tension between us was building and I could feel my patience start to wither away, "You had no business looking into me as if I was some sort of villain. Painting me in a different light, knocking out two people that cared enough to keep this from you all."
Anna's brows furrowed, her top lip twitching.
"I had every right to look into this," She scolded, voice raising with each word, "I had every reason! When it affected me, my mental health, the things you were saying weren't piecing together like it should! You lied to me, Harry, whether or not you were saving those people; you lied to me."
"Am I the bad person for that?" I now towered over Anna, darkness in my eyes as the objects in my arms dropped to the floor, "For giving you what you wanted? You wanted a normal life, I gave you that. I kept you in the dark so you didn't have to fear for your life every fucking day like you used to. I did this...for you."
Anna's lip quivered and I desperately wanted to reach out and hold her, but I couldn't stand the thought of her rejecting me. My love. My touch. The comfort that I wanted to bring her, but I knew that she wanted her space and I was supposed to become some astronaut that could give her that.
But I was not.
I was tired of space. I was tired of fighting. I was so fucking tired of continuously being put under a microscope, damned if I do, damned if I don't. Everything I did was wrong; the way I breathed, the way I moved, and the way I thought. It was all wrong.
I was so...tired.
"I know that now," Anna whispered, faltering back till her bottom hit the bed and she was sitting on the plush blanket, "I know that everything you did was for me..." She trailed off, looking at her feet as she swung them softly, "And I appreciate you. Everything you've done for me, but you still...you made me feel like I was going crazy, Harry."
"You..." She continued, "You made me feel like there was something wrong with me. Like my medication stopped working, like it was me that was making up all these paranoid thoughts in my head. The entire time I was right and it took me following you and seeing you swap out a bag of drugs–good or bad–to figure out that you were the reason why I was going crazy."
I swallowed hard, but the tightness in my throat remained.
"I was wrong for that," I whispered, falling to my knees in front of her as I hovered my hand over her knee, "I was terribly wrong for all of that and not a second goes by that I damn myself for every making you feel that way, but it was only to protect you."
Anna stared at the hand that hovered over her, and for a moment her hand moved as if she was going to take it, but it fell back to the bed. She stared down at me, pinching her eyes in annoyance before softening the glare.
"I believe you," Anna finally said, "I believe you."
And as I opened my mouth to retort, her hands cupped my jaw as she leaned down to kiss me. My knees straightened as I pulled myself up to connect my lips to hers. Her thumbs brushed my cheeks, pecking my lips lovingly, nudging her nose against my thick one, and feeling my broad shoulders and caressing the muscles of my chest.
"I love you," She tore from my lips, whispering, "And I should've never thought that...that you were one of them. I'm so fucking sorry..." She paused, sudden panic in her eyes as she nearly jumped, "And the man...the man, I fucked up–,"
"Shhh," I whispered against her lips, nudging my nose against hers in attempts to calm her nerves, "Don't think about it. Please, love. We will take care of it, no matter what the cost. I will never let them hurt you."
"But what if..."
"Not more what ifs," I scolded lightly, lovingly, taking her face into my large hand as I stared into her eyes, "Let me take care of everything. You know all there is to know, there's no more lies...no more secrets..."
Anna sniffled, fighting back the stressful tears as she searched my eyes for truth, and she surely found it.
"No more lies, no more secrets," Anna took my hand and kissed my fingertips, "If you go...I go."
"If you go," I repeated, kissing her open mouth, "I go."
The next day, we all called for a meeting at the warehouse. Anna was scared shitless, wondering if Ajax was going to tear her a new one. I wasn't sure, I wished that I could've told her otherwise, but the truth is that we weren't as prepared as we wanted to be.
And with the man in the warehouse, held hostage, the clock was counting down until they surely found the man that we had.
We were all annoyed about what happened last night, but there was a wash of relief from Anna's forgiveness and understanding. I was so scared that we were going to fight again, that she had packed her things and left, or worse. Much worse things that I couldn't even stomach to say.
For the night, we held each other. Exchanging kisses and touches, kissing down the valley of her chest until I reached the apex of her thighs and put my mouth against the heat of her core. I showed to her how much I loved her, how I'd die for her if it came down to it. Her breathless whimpers and moans, her begging, the feel of my curls being pulled as she reached her climax, I could still feel it on my skin this day.
And as I pushed myself inside of her, and rode her delicately, whispering to her the passions of how I'd like to spend my life with her, that these days are our own, to make the most of it; we came to a silent understanding that it was me and her against the world. That she, too, wanted to be apart of something bigger and greater, helping others, and loving me all the same while she did so.
In the warehouse, Rina and Niall stood a distance between each other. There was a cold tension, and everyone could feel it. I felt bad for Niall, but I didn't know if I felt bad for Rina. While last night was a mistake, and should've never happened, Niall had always made sure to stick his neck out for the people he cared about.
In the time that they had been seeing each other, Niall always took his time to talk about how much he liked Rina. Niall hadn't felt this way about anyone since his last girlfriend that sadly passed away. So of course, I was going to side with my best mate. But I also wanted to see him happy, and it was obvious that Rina made Niall especially happy.
Pete and Gracie seemed to work it out, but they were still distant with each other. Quiet. Sitting next to each other, but never making eye contact, never exchanging touches, or even holding hands. It seemed like they were on the right track to work things out.
I had an urge to play peacemaker between Rina and Niall. It was the least that I could do.
We sat at the table with Pete and Gracie. Anna kept her hands to herself, but still smiled kindly at me when I looked at her. My heart swelled. Even with the night before, it was hard to stay mad at her. Not when I loved her dearly so.
"Let's start this meeting." Ajax said as he entered the room, empty handed, and eyes like fire.
I cleared my throat, glancing around the table. Ajax took a seat between Niall and Rina that joined us. We all waited for someone to say something first, but nobody spoke up. The group was strained after what happened, and I had no doubt that there was some annoyance and severe communication needed.
"Don't forget me!"
Anna's head snapped to the sound of Veronica's high pitched voice. She pranced lightly into the area with a large grin on her lips, a grumble huffing from everyone as she sat in one of the empty chairs. She peered over at the ones that fell annoyed by her presence, and maybe if she didn't think everything was a game, people would take her more seriously.
"Geez, don't look too excited to see me." Veronica rolled her eyes.
"Can we just start this meeting?" Niall ignored Veronica's comment, and most importantly, the awkward tension in the air.
"Right, so," Ajax started, kicking his feet back as he stared at Anna with a dark gaze, "It seems as though you've found out...quite a lot. Took matters into your own hands, isn't that right?"
Anna swallowed, "Yes and no."
"Yes...and no?" Ajax's smile mimicked a wolf, the mess of brown and blonde hairs falling into his face, "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"I know everything," She said carefully, keeping her sight locked on Ajax, "But I've not taken matters into my own hands."
There was a beat of silence.
"It seems as though..." Ajax placed his hands onto the table, drumming his fingers as he crooned his neck once more, "You have. Given that we have one of the members locked away in the next room. You felt inclined to...get involved."
"I felt inclined to get involved because I was being lied to." Anna quipped, annoyed.
"And you realize that your actions, do in fact, have consequences?" Ajax said cooly, darkly, cutting her a cunning stare, "Not just for you, but everyone at this table. Perhaps even so for the people who aren't at this table."
"I'm...well aware." Anna said quietly, hanging her head.
"Don't talk down to her like that," I cut in, reaching my hand out to soothe my thumb over hers.
Ajax turned his gaze to me, "You have little room to speak, Harry."
"I have enough room," I scowled, "And that is enough."
Ajax clicked his tongue, giving a curt nod as his jaw feathered in movement. He turned his sight back to Anna who was desperately trying to hide the shame of her involvement in...all of this.
"You know where the cult is, do you?" He asked.
She was hesitant to speak, but nodded, "We do," Anna gestured towards Rina and Gracie, "We know where they are located."
"You know," Ajax sighed, scratching his head as he stared down at the table for mere moments, "I would scold you, but I'm sure you've had enough of that. I am deeply disappointed in the way all of this has been handled," Ajax was now speaking to everyone at the table, "All of you are adults. Some of you are responsible for things that should never even be talked about," His voice was harsh, but then it softened, "But Anna has the information that we need. For that, we need to be grateful, even if there are consequences."
"I...I do?" Anna frowned, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"You do," Niall finally spoke, arms crossed over his chest with a hardened look, "Harry's deal with Angela was that they relocated, under the circumstances that we wouldn't be able to find them. Which is quite fuckin' shit given they know where we are, but," He shook his head, "When we started this operation, we had to cover our bases. Make sure that nothing was being planned against us,"
"And we lost contact with that person," Pete finished, "A few weeks ago. His phone is off and we weren't able to contact him. Can't even locate where he's at."
"Why didn't you just get the location from him?" Anna asked, tilting her head.
"If they found that he had a phone," I cut in, "And that he was giving us their exact location, they would kill all of us."
"But how..." Anna shook her head, "How did you send in a spy? How did he know...where they were?"
"From the moment that I made that deal," I said, clenching my jaw as the memories came back, "I had to think quickly on my feet before they relocated. It took some weeks for them to get prepared to leave and that was enough time for us to have someone join them. Ever since then, we have had eyes on the inside. We don't have that anymore."
"I fear that..." Pete's voice died in his throat, face pinched, "I fear that they've found out that we've been watching them this entire time. With that being said, they could strike any day now. We have to move quickly."
"So, does that mean I get to put my gun to use?" Veronica leaned into the table, a smirk on her lips.
Niall scoffed, giving her a look, "You are too eager to use your gun."
"Is that not why I'm here?" She argued back with Niall, "You wanted me because I'm good with a gun. The best, actually. I'm tired of waiting around and talking about it. Let's do something about it."
"I..." Rina cut in, shyly, keeping her voice low, "I have a group of people, they are...willing to help," Everyone placed eyes on her as she spoke, "It's the least I could do since we, um...started this mess. We all go down to the shooting range a lot, most of them are good with their shots. Others are good with hand combat."
"And they are racers," Gracie cut in, backing Rina up, "So we have getaway drivers if we need them. If shit goes...south."
Ajax sat at the head of the table, nodding along to the gestures and ongoing plan. Clasping his hands together, he gave everyone a glance.
"We'll take as many people as we can get, thank you, Rina," Ajax turned his sight back to Anna, "I need you to send me their location today, if you can. The quicker we get a plan together, the more likely we are able to strike before they do it first."
"And if they strike first?" Niall asked.
"Then we kill on sight," I said coldly, ignoring the frightened gaze that Anna held on me, "No questions asked."
"Kill now, ask questions later," Pete nodded in agreement.
"Great," Ajax sighed, using his hands to push himself up from the table, "Glad to know that we can all work as a team now."
"Just because Anna has the location doesn't mean that she will be involved in this," I rose with Ajax, holding his gaze, "I refuse."
Ajax clicked his tongue, "If it comes down to it, she will be involved. Whether you like it or not," He jerked his chin to Anna, "She is the one she wants. If we need to use her as bait, or whatever the fuck we need, we will. If it means ending this once and for all."
"No–,"
"Okay," Anna interjected, rising to her feet as she placed a hand onto my arm to quiet me, "I'll do it. I'll do anything if it means that I can soften the blow. Get this over with."
"Anna, no, I refuse–," I went to argue, but she looked at me with those fucking doe eyes and I...
"Harry," She squeezed my hand tightly, kissing it lightly as she stared into my gaze, "If you go..."
"No..." I whispered under my breath, feeling my nerves prick, "I can't allow..."
The thought made my stomach twist, and my head hot. Having Anna anywhere near the cult made me nervous. Knowing what they had done to her before, what they could possibly do, or planned to do. If it was up to Angela she would've just killed us all to get us off their backs. But she spared us because we had what she wanted, and we no longer are willing to supply them.
"If they hurt you..." My voice dropped a few registers, growling quietly.
"They won't," Anna said quietly, then turned to the people at the table, "They took so many people from us," Her voice was stronger now, more confident, "And I want them to pay for what they did. They all deserve this...whatever their fate is."
"I feel like this is when everyone stands up and says they would join in the fight, but," Gracie cut in, swallowing with a crooked smile, "I'm, like, a behind the scenes kind of girl...y'know..."
Niall howled out into laughter, making everyone else giggle at Gracie for her remark. I chuckled quietly, shaking my head.
"Thank you, Gracie, but I think you can stay back for this." I offered with a smirk.
Niall took a deep breath to stop his howling, brushing his eye with his knuckle.
"Fuck it, I'm in," Niall sighed, "Whatever gets this shit over with."
"Me too," Rina smiled, "Whatever you need."
"Can I be the techy girl?" Gracie asked, giving a look around to everyone, "Like, I stay at the warehouse and do some FBI shit instead?"
Pete chuckled, tapping his finger against his chin, "I believe we can figure something out for you."
"Great," Gracie breathed, "I don't handle blood well."
We sat at the table for a little longer, going over specific plans. Niall had brought up that he believed that they would strike the warehouse first. It was plausible. They would go after what they wanted from us first, and made sure that if they couldn't have any of it, then none of us could. He made a good point, which was why Ajax made some calls to bring some of his guys from London down.
After some time, and some deep discussions, we parted ways. The group said their goodbyes, while Anna and I hung back to let the rest clear out first. Veronica leaned against the table with a sly smile and her eyes boring into Anna's face. She tried to ignore it, shifting uncomfortably on her feet until Ajax softly scolded Veronica to stop staring.
"That's enough," He placed his large hand onto Veronica's back and nodded his head in a further direction, "Do you mind? I need a moment with these two."
Veronica smacked her gum, "Sure," She drew out a bit too long, pushing herself from the table and exiting the space.
"You've caused quite the stir," Ajax held a cold gaze towards Anna, "I can't say that I didn't see it coming."
Ajax circled the table, then leaned his back against it as he let out a soft sigh. The strands of hair curved around the frame of his face, making a shadow around it. He flicked his gaze towards me, offering a wolf-like smile.
"But I've already warned Harry, haven't I?" He spoke towards me.
I only nodded faintly, shifting on my feet, not daring to look at Anna who was now looking at me.
"It doesn't matter anymore, what's done is done," Anna said, eyes floating to meet his, "We can't undo it."
Ajax chuckled quietly, "It's nice to see you two...not fighting, for once."
"As much as you'd like to see that," I spoke up, narrowing my eyes as I wrapped my arm around her waist, "We've worked it out on our end."
"Right," Ajax breathed, pushing himself from the table as his hand brushed over his long, string locks, "Well, we will need someone to look into our missing person. Anna is the only person that knows the location, for now of course."
"You're not suggesting–,"
"Of course not," Ajax picked his nails in boredom, "Unless, you would like to play a part in saving our little spy?" He said towards Anna.
Anna switched her gaze between the two of us, "I wouldn't know who to look for, I mean, I could if I knew..."
"No," I shook my head, waving a hand, "I'll do it instead."
Ajax's eyes lit up, it became evident what he was trying to do and it made my skin burn. While he was a good friend, sure, but he was also a shit stirrer.
"Did Harry not tell you?" Ajax smirked wide and proud, straightening his posture, "Who is in the village?"
"Ajax–," I tried to interject.
"N-no...?" Anna stuttered out, furrowing her brows as she took a step towards Ajax, "Who? Who is it?"
"Ajax, stop trying to stir shit up." I hissed through my teeth.
Ajax chuckled, tilting his head, "That little friend of yours, what's his name?"
Anna stilled, eyes wide and fluttered. My stomach dropped, skin washing pale as I turned to Anna who's eyes glossed over in fear.
"You didn't." She barely whispered, fluttering the tears from her eyes.
"He wanted to," I tried to rationalize, trying to get her to understand, "He volunteered. We didn't make him do anything, Anna, listen to me–,"
When I reached out to touch her, she only pulled her arm from my grip and gave me a dark stare. I cut a cold glare at Ajax who was eating up the shit he stirred, and he sighed happily as he looked between the two of us.
"I'm sure that Zayn will be happy to see you again, very soon, Anna."