Poison Ivy Ch. 10 Pt. 01

His mind drifted as he imagined what it would be like to bring her home after this was all over. There wasn't much in this world he truly cared about besides Ivy, but his contemporary home, with its sharp, straight lines, walls made up entirely of tinted windows, expansive and meticulously designed gardens and greenhouses, and the surrounding, sprawling wildlife that extended for miles in every direction, was a source of pride and comfort, one he was eager to share with her. She'd been through so much shit in such a short amount of time. He wanted to give her a quiet place to recover and heal. He wanted to free her from all this drama. He needed to bring her home.

Torn from his thoughts by a shout and a scuffle down the hall, he stiffened and leaned closer to the kitchen entrance to wait and listen. After a few ominously silent minutes, Trevino stalked through the swinging, salon-style doors and settled himself in the far corner, crossing his arms and lowering his head to look at the floor. He was followed by a much louder and very pissed off Pyle, who leveled a warning glare and threatening growl at Hunter before he held the door open for Annika, pulling out a chair for her and gesturing for her to sit.

She moved to the small table and sat gracefully, holding her back ramrod straight in a way that seemed somehow relaxed, despite her rigid posture. Her eyes were red rimmed with dark circles. Fuck. It killed him to know how badly they'd scared her. He felt like absolute shit.

"Annika. My name is Hunter, and this is Trevino," he said softly, not making any move to close the distance between them, and glancing occasionally at a pissed-off Pyle standing behind her with his arms crossed.

"Nik," she said softly, her voice honey sweet. "Please call me Nik."

Hunter nodded. "All right, Nik. You should know that we're not here to hurt you. Even if we were, it seems like Pyle here has assigned himself as your bodyguard. I think he'd probably kill us before we had a chance to touch you."

A hint of a smile appeared on her rose-petal soft lips in response to the rumbling growl Pyle made behind her. "I know," she said, leveling her aquamarine eyes at him.

"Good." He nodded once. "We just have to ask you a few questions, sweetheart. Is that all right?"

"You want to know about Trevor."

Hunter reeled back, startled. Hickson had buried his old identity after he'd burned his house down with Ivy and her mother still in it, unaware that Ivy was rescued soon after by Aurora's Beta lover. Trevor Tivan was his true name, but very, very few people knew that. He cleared his throat, taking a few moments to regain his composure before he continued.

"Yes, we're here for Trevor. Was he supposed to visit you today?"

She nodded, biting the corner of her lip. "Yes. He called this morning. I usually drop the boys off with my sister when I know he's coming. I don't want them here when..." She trailed off, shifting in her seat. "My sister is out of town today, and my backup babysitter wasn't home. He usually gives me more notice."

"Any idea where he is, sweetheart?" he asked softly.

She shook her head, looking down. "No, but he does this sometimes. He likes to make me wait; he knows it's worse that way." Her eyes widened as she looked up, startled, as if she hadn't meant to say that out loud. Hunter cocked his head.

"Worse, Nik?" he asked gently.

Annika looked up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly. Her eyes jumped around the room as she avoided his questioning gaze. He glanced at Pyle, whose brow was furrowed as he watched her fidget nervously.

Hunter cleared his throat. "It must be nice, having him take care of you and your boys," he said casually, noting the way her eyes finally locked on his. They narrowed in a flash of anger she was quick to suppress. "It's a nice condo," he continued, watching her body grow more rigid with each word he spoke. "Nice neighborhood, beautiful view. I can't imagine you'd be able to afford anything like this without the money he sends you—"

"He can keep his fucking money," she snapped, something wild and nearly feral in her voice. "I never asked for any of this," she said, gesturing to the modern, spacious room. "I'd rather raise my kids broke and alone than being stuck under his thumb, so you can take everything you want and go fuck yourselves if that's what this is about."

He said nothing, just watched her chest rise and fall as she struggled to reign in her anger. Eventually, she regained her relaxed, straight backed posture, and her breaths slowed and evened out. Giving him a knowing look, Trevino took a small step forward. Pyle's hands clenched and unclenched rhythmically behind her as Nik started shaking, knowing her angry outburst had revealed much more than her words had.

"Okay Nik," he soothed, letting a hint of a rumbled purr lace through his words. "I'd like to get you and your boys away from here before he shows up. Pyle can take you somewhere safe. Would that be okay?"

One red-rimmed teal eye looked up at him through a thick curtain of strawberry blonde hair. "He'll just find us again," she said, her sweet voice sounding flat and defeated. So different than the biting tone from a moment ago. "He always does."

Pyle spun on his heel and stormed out, the slap of his palm against the swinging door causing her to jump.

"Not this time," a dark voice said from behind him. Trevino crept forward as Nik's eyes tracked him guardedly. When he reached her chair, he crouched, leveling his gaze at her. "Not this time, and never again," he murmured quietly, reaching out to gently sweep the curtain of hair from her face. Hunter watched, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor, as Nik allowed him to take her hand and pull her to her feet, folding her into his arms.

Her shoulders shook silently as Trevino stroked her hair, whispering words Hunter couldn't hear. She nodded against his chest. After a few moments, she pulled away, sniffling, and Trevino led her back out of the kitchen with a supporting hand curled around her shoulder.

Hunter stared after them, stunned. Stalking back in a moment later, his face as coldly impassive and expressionless as ever, Trevino walked calmly back to his spot in the corner. "What the fuck just happened?" he asked, spinning to glare at the dark, brooding Alpha. Trevino shrugged, pulling a knife from his pocket to dig the dirt from under his fingernails.

A few minutes passed, neither of them speaking. The silence was interrupted by Fowler barging in, his boots echoing loudly in the too-quiet kitchen. He looked from Hunter to Trevino, glaring. "Anyone want to tell me why Pyle just sped out of here like a bat out of hell with the girl and the kiddos?"

Hunter shrugged. "Nope."

Trevino shook his head, never looking up from his knife.

Fowler considered that for a moment, his head cocked to the side. "All right, then. There any beer in the fridge?"

.........................................

Checking out the windows one last time, Kendric pushed open what was left of the door he and Reggie had smashed through and started moving toward the fence. The gate at the far edge led to a road by the side of the house, and Ivy could see a deep blue van, doors open and engine still running. Reaching the driver's seat, he ducked down, moving toward the back of the vehicle with his gun drawn before checking the visible area beyond as dusk slowly drained into night. After a tense moment, he turned back to them and motioned them forward.

Ivy watched Kendric from her spot behind Cody, a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that had nothing to do with her morning, afternoon and evening sickness.

Something she couldn't put into words made the skin at the back of her neck prickle with needles of awareness. She'd experienced this feeling before in Chid forest, right before a routine patrol outside base gates went to shit.

As Cody took one step onto the small wooden stairway leading to the yard, that prickle grew to a full-bodied certainty that something was horribly wrong, and without questioning her gut, she grabbed Cody and pulled him inside, tumbling to the floor beneath him as they both fell back.

"Ivy, what the—"

The dull ping of bullets hitting the side of the car interrupted whatever Cody had been about to say, and they scrambled away from the open door, pulling Aella down with them as she curled her body around Eva.

"FUCK!" Reggie roared, and from the shattered doorway, all she could see was one of Kendric's arms jutting out from beneath the vehicle, under a growing dark puddle. Reggie spun, ushering them into the safety of the hallway between the front door and the kitchen. More shots rang out as Ivy pulled the gun from her jeans and checked the magazine before clicking it back into place, pulling the hammer back to chamber a round.

"You know how to shoot, kid?" Reggie asked Cody, who had turned so pale, Ivy wasn't entirely confident he wouldn't pass out before ever getting the chance to find out. Cody nodded nervously, reaching out to take the 9mm Reggie passed to him as the Alpha pulled the rifle slung over his shoulder back around to check the locks. Aella looked between them, her eyes wide with fear. Ivy wanted to tell her something, anything to comfort her, but she couldn't lie. There were an undetermined number of men outside looking for them, shooting at them. One of their unknown protectors was already down, and they had no way of getting away from the house safely. She knew their odds weren't very good.

Her thoughts immediately flashed to Hunter, picturing his stupidly handsome face and his crazy intense storm-cloud eyes, thinking of all they'd been through during their short time together. Her heartrate slowed as she centered herself.

I'm gonna try my hardest, big guy. But just in case... I fucking love you. And I'm sorry.

Panicked alarm thrummed from his side of the bond, but Ivy blocked it out, pushing everything but the here and now to the back of her mind. Moving to the windows at the front of the house, she crouched low with Reggie as he pushed one open a sliver and peeked out. Following his lead, she repeated the action with the next window down, directing Cody to do the same with the third. Aella remained huddled in the hallway, Eva hanging from her chest in a cute galaxy-print body sling Trevino had found for her.

Reggie positioned the barrel of his rifle at the tiny opening through the window, and taking quick glances in between bursts of rapid shots, he took aim and fired at whatever it was he saw outside. Ivy paused, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, before she spun and shot up, keeping as much of her body behind the wall as possible as she peered out and joined the fray.

She could see about a half-dozen heavily armed men in Kevlar vests, letters from some non-military agency stamped on the front in large white print. A few stood behind two black armored vehicles, while the rest were scattered around the front yard. She squeezed out shot after ineffective shot that two or three of the men absorbed harmlessly with their vests. It was getting increasingly difficult to see her targets in the growing darkness. A few others ricochet off the SUVs, and the men began to move forward, entirely unconcerned with the onslaught they were taking.

"Fuck," she cursed. This was bad. This was really, really bad.

She squeezed off the last round in her gun, and took a step away from the window, slamming her back into the wall as she released the magazine and fumbled to reload with the box of ammo Reggie slid to her across the floor. Clicking the magazine back into place, she inched her shoulder back to the window and took two more shots, cursing as they pinged harmlessly off the ballistic shields a few of the men had apparently pulled out of their asses.

"We need a new plan, Reggie!" she shouted over the sounds of gunshots, wincing as a barrage of bullets hit the front door, creating a nice little grouping by the handle. At least it seemed like they weren't shooting indiscriminately; rather, they were targeting weak spots, taking out the porch lights and exterior electrical panel, plunging them into even deeper darkness. Reggie paused to pull out his phone, his thumbs flying across the screen before he tucked it into his back pocket.

"This isn't working!" Cody yelled from his spot deeper in the room on the other side of the door. Thank you, captain fucking obvious.

That wasn't fair. For such a sweetie pie, Cody was doing a decent job of holding his own. At least, he hadn't passed out yet. Which was something.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" A deep voice commanded. Ivy shivered as a flash of rage rushed through her blood. She knew that voice.

"Iiiiivy," someone else said in a sing-song voice, drawing her name out. "I think you're going to want to watch this," the voice drawled lazily. She squeezed her eyes shut, cursing, before turning slowly to look outside.

A vaguely familiar tall, skinny man with thick-rimmed glasses and a bad comb-over stood in the only illuminated spot, between the two vehicles facing each other with their headlights on. He held a gun pressed to the back of someone half-obscured by shadows. A handful of red dots grouped together at the center of the unknown man's chest, and his hands were bound and held up to his torso, as if he was praying. Ivy squinted, trying to make out who it was.

"Are you watching, sweet pea?" the man asked, an ugly sneer spreading across his face. He knew damn well she was. He reached forward, grabbed a handful of the man's shirt, and pulled him into the light.

She froze as Kendric appeared. Shit. She'd assumed he was already dead, and they'd had no way to check on him. Reggie cursed as he peeked out past the curtain. It was hard to see where he'd been shot with all the black he was wearing, but judging by his pallor and the way he swayed on his feet, he'd definitely taken a round or two. His face was in pretty bad shape too, with a misshapen nose and blood spatter.

"Come out, come out!" the skinny asshole sang. "I want you to have a front row seat for this!"

Ivy spun back around, her chest heaving with fury, fear and indecision. "God fucking damnit," she growled, flexing her hand around the grip of the 9mm in her hand. She took a step toward the door. Reggie grabbed her arm and pulled her down, scowling at her. "Didn't lose my partner just to watch you give yourself up," he growled quietly, his honey-color eyes boring into hers. She tried to pull away from his grip, struggling with him as the string bean outside babbled from the front lawn. "You haven't lost him yet," she whisper-hissed at him. "Let me—"

She stopped struggling and froze when she heard a gun cock.

"Last chance, sweet pea," Stringbean warned. Her struggles started anew, and she scratched at Reggie's arms as he held her tight against the wall.

"No? Okay then. Sorry, buddy. It's been fun. Well... For me."

A gunshot echoed down the dark, silent street. Ivy jumped, Aella screamed, and Eva started wailing. Taking advantage of Reggie's momentary distraction to wrench herself away, Ivy shot to her feet, watching as Kendric's lifeless body fell to the pavement in front of Stringbean. She squeezed her eyes shut, hanging her head. "Fuck," she whispered.

"No one else has to die today, sweet pea," the prick said, unconcerned with the fact that he'd just murdered an innocent man.

Ivy shoved her gun into Reggie's hands. "He's mine, understand?" He lunged for her, but she dodged his arm and yanked open the door. Taking three huge strides forward, she held her hands above her head, palms out.

The silence that followed was deafening. When her father stepped out from behind one of the vehicles, his shoes clicking across the pavement was louder than a fog horn. Slowly, leisurely, Vice President Hickson walked across the lawn and up the stone path toward her. She rotated with him as he walked to her side, slowly turning her hands around as she curled all but her two middle fingers into her palms.

His eyes narrowed, and she could have sworn they flashed demon red for just a second before he brought his arm up and back handed her. The force of the blow was enough to send her sprawling on the ground at his feet. Her eyes watered as she struggled to sit up, the taste of warm, coppery blood flooding her mouth. Hickson reached down and hauled her back to her feet by her hair, ignoring the way she clawed at his forearm.

He leaned down, his face snarling and cruel. "Do you have any fucking idea," he hissed, drops of his spittle flying from his mouth as he seethed, "how much trouble you've caused me, you little bitch?!" Her feet kicked uselessly as he raised her inches from the ground by his grip in her hair. Breathing fast, the pain in her scalp nearly all-consuming as she struggled, she focused on gathering up all the coppery warmth in her mouth. With a satisfying squelch, she spat, coating the side of his face with bloody saliva.

The last thing she saw was his clenched fist, racing toward her.

To be continued in part 2...