Chapter Seven

Aiden was going to kill Archie Mason. He was going to rip him to shreds and burn what was left. He didn't care what it took.

Aiden had searched every inch of the area near Jay's car and hadn't found any clue as to where she was now. With nothing to go on, Aiden had grudgingly left and regrouped with T-bone at the Bunker.

T-bone had fared no better. He had tracked Jay through the cameras as far as he could, but the cameras cut out well before Jay had reached her destination. There'd been no sign of anyone following her.

They had nothing to go on. Nothing.

The helplessness of it was eating Aiden alive. He paced the room furiously, racking his brain for anything they could do while T-bone ran facial rec on Jay, Archie, and any Viceroy they could think of. They got plenty of hits on the lower level thugs, but none of them pinged in the same location. Aiden was hoping at least a few of them might be gathered together, that that would be where they were holding Jay.

He couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm going out there," Aiden announced, fed up with standing around.

"To do what?" T-bone responded, glancing back at him. "You're not going to find her driving around aimlessly."

Aiden nodded to the screen, snarling. "I'm gonna beat it out of one of them. Send me the coordinates. On all of them."

"Don't do this, Aiden. This is what Archie wants. For you to wear yourself out. For you to get yourself hurt."

"I don't care," Aiden ground through his teeth. And inferno roared inside him and he let T-bone see it. Let him see the truth of his statement. "I'll go through every one of them, T-bone. I'll go through every fucking one."

T-bone's tone begged caution. "Aiden, I know how you're feeling, but you have to be smart about this. You have to—"

An alert popped up on screen, cutting T-bone off. He swiveled back to bring it up to full screen.

His rage tempered by curiosity, Aiden glanced to it as well to see a new contract pull up on the screens. It was on him, but there was no reward offered, just an address under the "last known location" section.

Intent on this new finding, Aiden leaned over the desk. "Can you trace who posted it?"

T-bone shook his head. "No. But it's Archie. It's gotta be."

Aiden had to agree. What else could this be, but a way to draw Aiden out?

"Where is that?" Aiden asked, pointing at the address.

Typing fervently, T-bone pressed enter and another map popped up, zooming in repeatedly until it brought up a satellite image of a large building in a vacant lot. He typed some more and building permits and business licenses appeared next to the image. "It's some old factory on the east end of Brandon Docks. Been ten years since anyone worked there."

Urgency tore at Aiden, made his heart pound in his chest. "This is it." He grabbed up the gun he'd previously set on the desk and double checked his gear. "I need backup on this one," he directed at T-bone.

A wild glint lit T-bone's eyes. "I've got just the thing."

The factory was old, and had been nonfunctional for so long that there were no cameras within it, nor dotting the surrounding area. Aiden had to go in blind. He didn't like it, but he was beyond caring.

This was a trap. He knew it was a trap. It didn't matter how prepared he was.

The only thing that mattered was getting Jay out of there.

Archie would want a trade. Why else would he have taken Jay? It would be Jay for Aiden. And then Archie would give Aiden to Niall. As payment for the Viceroys' benefit or to dig himself out of a hole with Niall, Aiden couldn't be sure. Either way, they'd probably take Aiden to Niall chained and sedated the whole way this time.

Aiden had a plan, of course. A way that he could hopefully get Jay and himself out of there alive. And kill Archie along the way.

But if it came down to it, if there was no other way, Aiden would do whatever he had to to save Jay. Even if it meant truly giving himself over to them. For her, he'd do it. He wouldn't let her pay for his mistakes.

He made record time driving to the factory. Now waiting in the shadows across the street, Aiden got his first glimpse of the place. It was derelict, but structurally sound. From the differing heights of the many rooftops, the factory looked like a series of interconnected buildings that made up one large complex, though this wasn't news to Aiden. T-bone had pulled up the blueprints of the place beforehand so Aiden could get an idea of what he was working with. Granted, he had only spared a moment to study them, he was in such a rush to get here.

It was dark for the most part. Around the periphery, the lights were spotty, only a few here and there working. The only other light came from the tallest part of the factory where a faint glow emanated from the inset grimy windows that encircled the upper floor of that massive room.

From his position, Aiden could just make out two men stationed on the front door. He was willing to bet they'd be posted at every entrance. There were five SUVs scattered around the building that he could see. There could very well be more on the other side.

All of this added up in Aiden's mind. The odds were stacked against him. Archie wouldn't pull any punches this time around. It would be a fight to the death to escape.

Aiden's phone buzzed in his pocket and Aiden pulled it out, glancing at the screen. A message from T-bone popped up: In position. Ten minutes.

Starting a mental countdown, Aiden stowed his phone, crossed the street, and pulled back a broken part of the chain link fence encompassing the lot, striding through the darkness toward the factory. Into the lion's den. He didn't bother with his mask.

Stuffing down his anger, his panic, Aiden forced his heart to steady. He had to focus. Jay needed him at his best.

It was immeasurably tempting to take out the two guards as he made his way toward them. It would have been simple enough. But Aiden couldn't risk making a move yet. He needed to get eyes on Jay before he did. So he walked directly up to them through the gloom, their guns snapping to him as he neared.

"Stop right there!" one of them called out.

Aiden halted, holding his hands up in submission. The second man, with his shotgun trained on Aiden, made a wide circle to Aiden's left, stopping beyond Aiden's peripheral vision.

"Put your guns down. Slowly," the first commanded, motioning toward the ground.

Though he knew this would happen, Aiden nonetheless felt exposed when he unslung his assault rifle from his shoulders and plucked his two pistols from their holster at his chest, moving carefully so as not to incite any unnecessary gunfire from the guard. Once he had placed all three on the ground, the guard told Aiden to kick them over and he complied, hands still held aloft. Greedily, the guard snatched up Aiden's assault rifle and, slinging his own onto his back, turned Aiden's weapon on him with a wicked grin.

Aiden refused to respond to the taunt, maintaining his neutral expression.

There was a jingling sound from behind Aiden to the left and then something clinked next to his feet. Looking down, Aiden found a pair of handcuffs there. He looked over to the man who had thrown them.

"Put those on," the man motioned with his gun. "Where we can see them."

Trying not to show his annoyance, Aiden obeyed and cuffed himself with his hands in front. He'd expected as much, but it was still a nuisance.

"Tighter."

Letting out a silent sigh of exasperation, Aiden clicked the cuffs a couple more times on each hand, the metal now biting into his skin.

The man in front of Aiden cautiously approached. When Aiden made no move against him, he frisked Aiden, taking Aiden's phone from his pocket and stowing it in his own. Aiden hadn't brought anything else. He'd known it would be taken from him anyway.

Once this was done, the guard to the left of Aiden put his phone to his ear. "He's here. We have him. Bringing him now."

Seven minutes, Aiden thought to himself.

Aiden was given a shove and he fought down his reaction, instead allowing himself to be roughly handled through the door. The two guards gripped him tightly behind the arms as they steered him down several murky corridors. The interior was dank and dark, rusting equipment, molding boxes, and random junk cluttering the way. Only a third of the lights were working and those just barely. They dimmed and flickered overhead as Aiden and his escorts passed a few patrolling Viceroys in the outer corridors, threatening stares shadowing Aiden past each one.

The place was a warren, so many of the doors being blocked or jammed that they had to cut a winding path toward the center of the factory. Aiden's prior knowledge wasn't much use here. Still, he marked their progress, forming a mental map of the place and maintaining a general sense of their direction. Pushing through a set of creaky doors, the three of them stepped into a large room, the main factory floor by the looks of it.

This room rose up two stories, a gantry lining either side of the upper floor backed by the grimy windows Aiden had seen outside. Aiden couldn't see the whole room from their position, there was too much heavy machinery in the way, and blocks and chains strung down from the ceiling, adding to the disarray.

Aiden could hear the sounds of people in this room. They weren't talking, but there was the whisper of breath, the scrape of cloth, and the echoing of footsteps on the metal gantry ringing from up above. Not to mention the tension hanging, thick, in the air.

Five minutes.

Pushing Aiden onward, the guards guided him around several machines until they rounded a corner. A contingent of men gathered there, all armed, all honing in on Aiden as he walked forward. Above and to either side were another eight men, their guns leaning over the corroded railing to track Aiden as well.

And there, situated in the center of all this, was Jay, cuffed to a chair in the middle of the room.

Aiden struggled to control himself and, while he managed to rein in his desire to run to her, he couldn't help the need glistening in his eyes or the breath catching in his throat.

"Aiden," Jay breathed out as every eye snapped to him. There was fear festering in Jay's eyes, the left one circled with a purpling bruise, her cheek below it red and swollen. Her wrists were chaffed and bruised under the manacles binding her, but, despite the circumstances, there was defiance in Jay's gaze as well, an indomitable spirit that refused to back down.

Fury rising up at Jay's treatment, Aiden's scowl transformed into a smirk when he looked up to the man directly behind Jay and noticed he had two black eyes, his nose crooked and dribbling blood. At least he knew whose blood was by Jay's car now.

Though Aiden desperately wanted to comfort Jay, to tell her everything was going to be all right, he didn't dare speak. Didn't dare give these men anything else to go on. He willed the sentiment into his eyes instead, hoping Jay would understand.

It turned out he didn't have the time to speak anyway.

"You came quickly." From Aiden's right marched in Archie, smugness dripping from him. He sauntered his way over to Jay and settled beside her. "I can see why." He drank Jay in and Aiden wanted to cut his eyes out for that look. Jay avoided Archie's gaze. Archie turned back to Aiden, suddenly all business. "I don't think I need to spell this out for you, Aiden. You know what I want."

"And you already have it," Aiden replied, raising his cuffed hands demonstratively. "So let her go. Now."

There was an intensity in Archie's eyes. "I don't think so. We'll let her go once you reach Niall." He smiled. "Just in case."

Aiden knew it wouldn't have been that easy. Still, "How can I possibly trust you?"

Archie seemed to be ready for that question, his smile growing sinister. "If you prefer, we could take her with you. I'm sure Niall could find a use for her. A redhead like her would go for quite a lot, don't you think?"

He should have expected as much, but it was a shock to hear the threat nonetheless. And his mind couldn't help imagining Jay at that auction, bought and sold like cattle. Aiden's heart stuttered. He'd die before he let that happen.

Rage and horror simmered within him, striking him mute, grinding his jaw.

Judging by the feral glee on Archie's face, he knew he'd won. His voice remained casual. "What'll it be, Aiden?"

Aiden didn't know what to say, wouldn't give Archie the satisfaction of saying it out loud. Aiden lowered his eyes.

"That's what I thought."

At a nod from Archie, several men moved toward Aiden.

No. It was too soon. If they got their hands on Aiden, they'd haul him away and that would be the end of it.

Aiden had to keep Archie talking.

"Why wait until now?" Aiden blurted out. "You've had plenty of opportunity before this."

The men paused.

Archie narrowed his eyes, but answered readily. "Mad because I outsmarted you again?"

Regaining his composure, Aiden straightened, raising his head defiantly. He matched Archie's haughty tone. "Frankly, I'm just shocked to see you alive," he lied coolly. "I thought you were dead."

"You're not the only one who can go undetected in this city."

"Why? Were you hiding?" Aiden asked with an innocent look of curiosity.

Archie's mask of conceit slipped. Just for a second. Clearly Aiden had struck the truth. Then that self-assurance was back.

Looking Aiden up and down, Archie considered his words. Like he was contemplating whether to lie. "I'm sure you can guess how Niall took the news," Archie responded with what seemed like the first candid words he had spoken to Aiden. Probably given only because Aiden's imminent death was assured.

Aiden tilted his head. "I'm sure I can." And now Aiden wondered how much time Archie had needed to recover from the fallout of Aiden's escape. If it had been comparable to his own. Not that he was the least bit sympathetic. Honestly, it would have been better if Niall had killed him. It would have been a lot less trouble for Aiden. For Jay. "Which is why I'm surprised he let you live."

"He saw my uses." Archie's eyes lit up haughtily. "I'm the only one who ever caught you." Another apprising look skated over Aiden, paused on his handcuffs. "I told him I could do it again, given enough time."

Aiden huffed. "But it wasn't enough time, was it? That's why you hid."

Archie shrugged. "Niall's not as patient as I am."

"And how do you think it'll go? When Niall sees you now? You honestly think all will be forgiven?"

"Oh, I think it'll go just fine," Archie smirked. "Whatever price there might be on my head is a fraction of what's on yours." He laughed. "You're a golden ticket, Aiden. You've made yourself a prize he'd pay anything to have." Triumph lit his eyes. "I think Niall is going to welcome me with open arms."

Aiden couldn't argue against that. Niall probably would.

He changed the subject. "You still haven't answered my question."

Archie raised his eyebrows.

"Why now?"

Holding out his hands to either side, Archie replied, "Look where we are. Clearly now was the right time."

Again, Aiden couldn't argue with that. Though he had been hoping for a longer answer. He needed more time.

"What makes you think Niall will give you what you want?" Aiden was really grasping at straws now. "He could take me and kill you too."

It took a moment for Archie to answer. He just stared at Aiden, studying him. "You're stalling, Aiden."

That's exactly what he was doing. "That would be pointless and we both know it. I just don't think you've thought this through. Niall takes what he wants and doesn't give a fuck about any of us. Giving me over might not be the best option. For either of us."

Dismissing Aiden's comment, Archie shook his head. "Say whatever you want. It won't change the outcome here."

Aiden could feel the conversation coming to an abrupt end, but it was still too soon.

Just a little bit longer.

"I'm telling you, he—"

"Enough!" Archie shouted, silencing Aiden. He motioned to his men. "Take him. We're done here."

Aiden's two escorts grabbed him by the arms and started hauling him forward, two more men stepping up to help. Aiden dug in his heels, throwing his weight against them. He had to stay in this room.

"What? No!" That was Jay's voice, ringing out above the commotion. "Aiden!"

With great difficulty, they pulled Aiden forward, all of their grunts filling the room.

Jay yanked on her handcuffs, the metal clinking against the chair as she screamed for Aiden.

Archie watched with a satisfied grin.

When they pulled Aiden past Jay, he turned to her, still fighting his captors. He had to make this believable, lest they suspect something. He'd been wanting to do this since he entered anyway. "It's going to be ok, alright? Everything's going to be ok."

Her eyes pleaded with him. Tears slid down her cheeks. She looked past Aiden. "Let him go! Please! Don't do this!" she begged.

There was no response. But it didn't matter anymore. Aiden had bought enough time.

They were dragging Aiden further and further from Jay and he redoubled his efforts toward her, this time for a different reason. He needed her to look at him. There was no time left. Finally, she did and Aiden urgently mouthed, Get down, letting his eyes flick upward.

Realization bloomed on Jay's face just as the landing above them exploded.

Glass and debris rained down on them as T-bone's drone hovered into view out of the upper window. Twin gatling guns hung beneath its armored chassis, a grenade launcher nestled in between them. It deployed a salvo of smoke grenades into the room, quickly following that with a barrage of bullets mowing down those on the gantry.

The world devolved into chaos and Aiden took full advantage of it, the attention diverted from him for the time being.

With smoke filling the room and guns aimed at the strafing drone overhead, Aiden snatched the gun closest to him which happened to be his own rifle in the hands of the man who had taken it from him. Too stunned to prevent Aiden from stealing it back, the man could do nothing as Aiden swung the gun up over the man's one arm and looped around to his back. Aiden pulled the gun down to his shoulder, cinching the man up to him, the strap tight around his neck. The strap attached to the gun strangled the man and he brought his hands up to it, struggling against Aiden as Aiden shot one of the men who had been dragging him from the room. The other two were currently on the floor, dazed from the explosion.

Ignoring them for the moment, Aiden swiveled, searching for Jay. A man hovered over her, keeping her in place. He spotted Aiden as well, but Aiden shot him between the eyes before he could do anything. Aiden locked eyes with Jay as a bullet came whizzing past him, his body ducking away from it instinctively.

He was out in the open. Too much so.

The only thing Aiden could do was heave the man on his back around as a hail of bullets pelted his way, the man jittering with their impact. While that man unwillingly protected Aiden from the assault, Aiden shot the two dazed Viceroys who were beginning to rise, their guns pointing at Aiden. When there was a break in the fire behind him, Aiden twisted and shot under his arm at the two men attacking him, the smoke closing in around them as they fell.

The smoke was so thick now that Aiden couldn't see more than a couple feet in front of him. He waited, holding up the dead weight of the man behind him until he was confident no one was shooting at him anymore. He was counting on the Viceroys being unwilling to shoot into the smoke for fear of hitting each other. With their numbers, they were more likely to do that than hit him. Although that didn't keep them from firing upward. Gunfire echoed through the room, the cacophony deafening in the open space. Orange flashes in the smoke gave the only clue as to anyone's position.

Before anyone decided to take their chances and start firing at Aiden again or come looking for him, he slung the strap of the gun from the now-limp body's neck. Coughing a bit, Aiden hastily retrieved his phone from the body and made for where he had last seen Jay.

When he got there, she was nowhere to be found and Aiden spun, desperately searching for her in the thick smoke. He hoped to God no one else had gotten to her. He wanted to call out for her, but he couldn't risk drawing attention. There were too many Viceroys to take head-on. That's why he and T-bone had concocted the plan to have his drone break in, draw fire, and provide cover. It was the only shot they had at getting both Aiden and Jay out of there alive.

But now that that plan was put into motion, Aiden regretted the unpredictability of it. He prayed Jay hadn't been hit by any debris or stray bullets. It was the one thing they couldn't have controlled. He looked down. There was no blood, thank goodness. Although, now that he was looking closely, he could see faint scrape marks on the concrete.

Aiden didn't bother studying them. He needed to keep moving regardless and set off in their direction.

Out of the smoke loomed a large piece of machinery and Aiden darted around it, gun at the ready just in case. But there was Jay, her chair caught up in some chains piled on the floor. She fought to break free of her handcuffs, her body covered in dirt and minor cuts, though, thankfully, nothing more.

"Jay! Are you ok?" Aiden rushed to her and kneeled, his heart leaping at finding her. He produced a handcuff key he had stashed in his boot and made to free her. The guards had either been too afraid to search him more thoroughly or too stupid not to.

"Aiden!" Jay shouted in return. Only she wasn't looking at him when she said it, she was looking over his shoulder. And it wasn't a greeting, but a warning.

Reading her face, Aiden spun swiftly and rose, his still-cuffed hands meeting a pistol emerging from the smoke, an enraged Viceroy right behind it. Aiden turned in time to grab the gun, wrestling with the man to keep it pointed away from Jay. The gun fired twice in their scuffle, the bullets ricocheting off the metal around them. Bashing the man's hands into the machine, Aiden was able to wrest the gun away from him. In one smooth motion, Aiden tipped the gun forward out of the man's hands with his right hand, grabbed the gun upside-down with his left, stepped back, and fired three rounds into the man's chest with his pinky. Blood splattered up onto the machinery and soaked down the man's jacket as he slumped to the floor.

Feeling the situation devolving, Aiden immediately returned to Jay. The sound of gunfire was lessening which either meant the Viceroys were thinning or the smoke was too thick for anyone to keep shooting. Including T-bone. He couldn't risk possibly hitting Aiden or Jay either. But without the distraction, the Viceroys would come looking for Aiden and Jay. And those three shots would have drawn attention.

Aiden wasn't going to wait around for them to arrive. "Are you all right?" he repeated more quietly now as he released Jay. "Are you hurt?"

She rubbed her wrists and rose, Aiden releasing his own cuffs as she did. "I'm fine."

Rising with her, Aiden wanted nothing more than to hold her, envelop her in his arms and act like nothing could hurt them. But they had no time for emotion. No time for pleasantries. He thrust the pistol he had just taken at her and, once she took it, brought his assault rifle up to the ready.

"Stay on me," he commanded. She nodded in response and Aiden headed off around the side of the room.

It occurred to Aiden that he didn't know where Archie was, what he had been doing during the assault. Part of him wanted to find him, to end this, but it was too risky right now. Getting Jay out was his only priority.

There was still scattered shooting back the way Aiden had come in so he steered them in the other direction, figuring there had to be a second way out. He took the first door he came to, checking that the coast was clear before they stepped through. Now that they were out of the main room, the pervasive sounds of gunfire echoed strangely around them, like the sounds couldn't make up their mind as to whether they came from inside or out.

Slinking through the back corridors, Aiden led Jay toward what he hoped was an exit, shouting now overtaking the gunfire around them. He could feel the trap closing in on them, knew they had less than a minute to get clear of the building.

Aiden did his best to be careful around every corner, but at the speed they needed to go, he couldn't waste much time on caution. They made it through one door, then squeezed through a hole in the wall when the path was blocked further on. In Aiden's mental map of the place, he knew they were nearing the front door. He hadn't been trying to lead them that way, but they'd had little choice. There was shouting and footsteps from somewhere behind them and that spurred them on. It was only a few more turns to the exit.

Knowing they had to get out now or be boxed in, Aiden whipped around the next corner, gun held ready. Unfortunately, a Viceroy on the other side was doing the exact same thing. Just as shocked as Aiden was, the Viceroy fired impulsively, the point-blank shotgun blast to the chest knocking Aiden from his feet and the gun from his hands. The brunt of it caught on Aiden's bulletproof vest, but the spread peppered his outside arm with shrapnel. Regardless, it had felt to Aiden like he'd been hit by a truck. He writhed on the floor, fighting to bring air back into his deflated lungs, to fumble for his gun.

The Viceroy advanced, bearing down on Aiden, triumph on his face. But he hadn't been counting on Jay being there. When he stepped clear of the corner, Jay, gun ready, shot him twice, one bullet piercing through his chest and the other puncturing his throat as the recoil raised her gun. Disbelief clouding his eyes, the man clutched at his gurgling neck and collapsed.

Finally able to pull in a breath, Aiden rolled himself to his knees and stood with Jay's help, his shoulders hunching at the pain radiating through his chest.

"Thanks," he said breathlessly.

Jay stared at the man on the floor, stunned.

That was the first man she had shot, had killed. And T-bone had been right. She hadn't hesitated. Placing a comforting hand on Jay's elbow, Aiden pulled her gently forward. "You did good, Jay. You did what you had to. But we have to keep moving. We don't have much time."

Her eyes found his and he nodded encouragingly. She meekly responded in kind.

Aiden could hear men in front of them now. They'd have to fight their way out. "There are going to be more. Are you ready?"

She nodded again, overwhelmed, but coming back to herself.

Giving her one last bolstering look, Aiden turned and expeditiously made his way down the corridor.

He rounded the corner, finger ready on the trigger. And for good reason. There were three men on the other side. Aiden took down two before he had to pull back into cover. When he sensed an opening, he swung back out and shot the third, motioning Jay onward the second the last man went down.

One more turn and Aiden could smell the crisp air that signaled the exit. Just as they reached the door, more men came running around the corner from the opposite side. Aiden pushed Jay out the door first and held back, firing at the approaching men to keep them at bay, emptying his clip as he did so. As soon as he ran out of bullets, Aiden flung himself through the door, grabbed Jay by the hand, and started sprinting.

He wouldn't reach his own car at this rate. There was too much open ground to cover. Shoving Jay in front of him, Aiden pointed her toward the nearest Viceroy SUV and they raced for it.

The doors burst open behind them, the Viceroys ready to mow them down from the doorway.

They were sitting ducks.

Two bullets slammed into Aiden's back, forcing a grunt from him. They were luckily stopped by his vest, but one struck lower and grazed his thigh. Aiden hardly even noticed. He had to keep going. There was no other alternative.

"Go around!" Aiden yelled ahead to Jay. The passenger side was facing them and he didn't want her to try getting in on this side.

Then, zooming around the building, came the drone, its flight wobbly from the damage it had taken. Only one of its guns fired, the other hanging limp, but it cut a path directly for the doors, unloading what bullets it had left. Pulling back inside for cover, the Viceroys redirected their fire toward the drone, sending sparks pinging off of it. Unable to take any more abuse, the drone faltered, dropping out of the sky and crashing near the front doors, exploding into a ball of flame on impact.

Ahead of Aiden, Jay flinched and stumbled at the explosion. Aiden, catching up, hauled her to her feet and together they ducked around the SUV. He pulled open the driver-side door and had Jay crawl across, telling her to keep her head down as bullets started hounding the car. The Viceroys had regrouped and were streaming from the doors, some closing in while others scattered toward the other SUVs. In fact, one SUV was already careening around the far side of the building, heading straight for Aiden and Jay.

Yanking his phone from his pocket, Aiden hacked into the SUV and set the engine roaring to life. He pulled the shifter and punched the accelerator, tires squealing as he sped from the lot, busting through the gates at the entrance.

The one SUV followed behind them, three more surging to life further back. Who knew how many more would join them?

Taking this opportunity, Aiden checked on Jay. "Were you hit? Are you all right?" he asked, eyes flittering between her, the road, and the mirrors.

"No. No, I'm ok." She seemed shaken, but present. She kept turning in her seat to check on their pursuers. The first SUV was gaining on them.

Though he was relieved that Jay was ok, Aiden knew this wasn't over yet. "Put your seatbelt on," he ordered Jay, clicking his into place at the same time. "This is going to get ugly."

She obeyed as Aiden took a turn at high speed, the four SUVs barreling behind him in turn. He took every turn he could, snaking west, some of the SUVs catching up to him and some of them falling behind. It was late so there weren't many cars around, giving Aiden more room to maneuver and keeping collateral damage to a minimum, something that Aiden had been more cognizant of these last few years. He had all but given up hacking lights for that reason, not that it would have been much help now anyway.

Instead, he headed for the first industrial lot he came across, hacking the gate open, then hacking it closed behind him. One SUV, the first one out of the factory, was right on him and made it through with him. The next one simply crashed through and sent the gates spinning. The third slowed down to avoid the gates, but the fourth trampled over the top of them. The back end of the gate popped up as the front end of the car drove over it and it caught on the rear axle. The SUV skidded out of control, the front wheels locked in place over the gate.

Aiden quickly lost sight of them.

He pulled the same move with the exit, but to no avail. Now he headed north, picking up speed as he headed for a bridge, their line of cars stretching back behind him, fanning out. A few of the passengers started shooting at Aiden, his rear window blowing out from the shower of bullets. They had to stop as they reached the one lane bridge lest they shoot their compatriots instead. Once across, Aiden veered right. The second SUV botched the turn and fell further back, though the other two filed in behind Aiden.

Aiden was about to head through an intersection when a white muscle car came charging in from his left. Acting on instinct, Aiden pulled the handbrake and swung out his back end, drifting the car to the left and avoiding the collision. As the car slid past, Aiden realized it was a cop.

"Shit," he cursed, pulling his SUV out of the drift and continuing up the road, the cop spinning around to follow.

His forced maneuver had allowed the two closer SUVs to pull up alongside Aiden and he rolled down his window, holding his hand out to Jay. "Pistol!" he shouted without taking his eyes off the car next to him. She hurriedly placed the gun in his hand and he shot at the tires of the SUV on his side before they thought to do the same. He fired a few rounds and found his target, the front right tire blowing with a loud pop. The car swerved, narrowly missing Aiden's back end as it careened out of control and smashed into a lamp post, sparks showering down on it. The violent swerving disrupted the cars behind Aiden as well, their scattered shooting coming to a halt as they themselves had to swerve to avoid being hit.

Lowering Jay's window to repeat the process, Aiden told her to get down, but Jay surprised him by taking the gun from him and shooting out of the window herself. The SUV backed off, clearly not wanting a repeat of what had just happened.

They dropped back and rammed Aiden instead, shattering the glass on Jay's side. She screeched at the impact, her body slamming into the door, the gun flying from her hand out the window.

The SUV started to spin and instead of fighting it, Aiden used it, letting the car swing around and shifting into reverse to continue on backwards. For a brief moment, Aiden was face to face with the other car and was able to see the driver.

It was Archie, a savage light in his eyes.

Not letting himself be fazed, Aiden focused on the task at hand and pushed himself up to see over the back seats, his hand steadying himself on the back of Jay's headrest.

"I lost the gun! I'm sorry," Jay yelled, panicking.

"It's fine," Aiden answered readily. He knew it only had a few bullets left anyway. We've got worse things to worry about, he added in his head, glancing back forward at Archie. He was the one who had been first to follow Aiden, hadn't missed a beat since. Aiden could tell he was going to be hard-pressed to shake him.

At the next intersection, Aiden hit the brakes, slinging the front end back around, pulling a modified J-turn. He let the car go past 180 degrees and turned right off the intersection. With the speed he had lost, both SUVs and the cop were right on him, another cop having joined the pursuit. Though, there was something wrong and it took a second for Aiden to realize what it was.

There were no sirens, no lights. And the cops weren't even attempting to go after the Viceroys.

Great.

Archie must have called in some favors.

Just as Aiden had that thought, two more black SUVs came storming in from in front of Aiden, heading straight for him, passengers leaning out of their windows and firing on him. He ducked down an alley to avoid them. Archie and the other SUV following Aiden filed in behind him while the cops peeled off to go around. Aiden saw the other SUVs zoom past in his rear-view mirror.

Aiden had to slow down considerably in the alley, narrow as it was. He smashed through a stack of pallets and trash to one side, obliterating the pile. The jolt threw his car into the brick wall opposite, the hit juddering through Aiden and Jay. Bouncing from side to side, Aiden was finally able to rein in the car by the end of the alley only to have a cop car pull right in front of him.

Putting his foot to the floor, Aiden sent his SUV crashing into the smaller cop car and muscled it out of the way, the bumper crumpling and the hood denting with the force. He'd just made it back to open road when the three other cars came rushing in from either side, the two SUVs popping out of the alley as well.

He couldn't keep this up. There were too many of them. He had to do something.

Now.

Getting his bearings, Aiden led them northwest, milking every last ounce of speed he could from the failing SUV. Had he been in his own car, he could have easily outpaced them. As it was, he barely held on to the lead. It didn't help that the engine wasn't performing to its fullest, leaking who knew how many fluids at this point. On top of that, the car was pulling to the left from the damage it had taken.

It took everything Aiden had to keep them on the road, Archie and his men bashing and jostling Aiden the entire time, taking shots at him whenever they got the chance. Aiden had to duck down more alleys and backroads to keep them off of him.

He just had to make it a little further.

Turning one last corner, a bridge came into sight and Aiden gave a final push for it, knowing this was his only chance. His pursuers gained on him, Archie pulling up on Aiden's right, another SUV further back on his left.

"Hold on!" Aiden warned Jay as he sped onto the bridge and hacked it at the same time.

They started canting upward. Aiden crossed the middle just as the gap started widening, his back tires catching for a second on the lip and popping his back end up over it. As close as Archie was, his vehicle did the same thing.

The others didn't fare as well.

The SUV on Aiden's left launched over the gap and crunched into the edge of the other side, quickly dropping out of sight. One of the cop cars had tried to slam on the brakes and turn back, but its back end slid out over the edge and the car tipped backward, splashing into the river below.

Aiden lost sight of the others as the bridge raised to its full height.

Bobbling down the far side, Aiden pulled clear of the bridge and triggered a blackout to keep them trapped on the other side. They could go to the next bridge, but that would take them miles out of their way and Aiden planned to be long gone by the time they'd make it back around.

Which left Archie.

Like Aiden, he was fighting to regain control over his SUV, his situation slightly worse since he had been further back on the bridge. Pulling ahead, Aiden swiped across on his phone and jammed Archie's comms so there was no keeping his minions apprised of what was happening. No calling for backup.

This was between the two of them now.

Aiden cut through the darkness, heading back east, aiming for the bridge to the city. He'd have an easier time losing Archie there.

It wasn't long before Archie was back on Aiden, only a few lengths behind him.

"He's gaining on us!" Jay announced, looking out the back window.

"I know," Aiden answered, keeping an eye on Archie in the mirror. There wasn't much he could do about it at this point. There weren't many places to go off of this road and Aiden wanted to get as far away from the others as quickly as possible.

Archie gained steadily on them, catching up in a few miles. Once he did, he didn't hold back.

He sped into them from behind, jolting Aiden forward. While Aiden fought to keep control, Archie pulled up on Aiden's left and rammed the back end of the SUV. With the car swerving and already wanting to pull left, Aiden had no choice but to go with the hit and veer left to avoid flipping over.

He ended up on a dirt road running underneath the L-train tracks, Archie trailing him. There were two large concrete blocks at the entrance and Aiden narrowly avoided them, dust kicking up as he drifted around them. Archie was able to cut a wider path and zipped by without trouble. Their cars met again directly underneath the tracks, the metal pillars whizzing by around them, a steep, rocky hill running along the tracks boxing in Aiden to the left. It was a shoving match back and forth, both struggling to maintain control on the uneven ground.

They were neck and neck.

Aiden glanced over to Archie. He was snarling, fury reddening his face. He pulled a shotgun from the passenger seat and pointed it through the window.

Aiden's eyes went wide and he put a hand over the back of Jay's head, shoved her down, shouting, "Get down!" at the same time. Aiden ducked as well, inadvertently swerving his SUV into Archie's with the motion. The blast missed them both and Archie's SUV was forced away from them. He had to give up trying to shoot in order to recover.

Sitting back up, fear lanced through Aiden as his headlights revealed another set of concrete blocks dead ahead. Aiden honestly hadn't been expecting them in the middle of the path.

"Oh, shit!" He slammed on the brakes, yanking the wheel to the right. Luckily, he had a bit of room since Archie had been forced away. Otherwise, Aiden would have crashed head-on into the blocks. As it was, he bowled into Archie, pushing him off the path entirely. Archie's SUV hurtled off to the right, the only sign of him his headlights bouncing down the hill toward the river.

Aiden didn't fare any better. He was so close to getting around, but his back end caught on the block and flung them around. There was no saving it from there. The SUV careened left and Aiden wrenched it back the other way to avoid crashing into the rock wall. It overcorrected and skidded out, the two inside wheels pulling up off the ground. Aiden could feel it reaching its tipping point, but it never got a chance to flip. The left side of the SUV smashed into one of the metal pillars before it could.

The sound of metal crunching and glass breaking rang in Aiden's ears.

Then his head smashed into the side of the door and the world cut out around him.

Thanks for reading! Can Aiden make it out of this one? Only two chapters left to find out what happens. Leave a comment below if you haven't already! Chapter Eight will be up next Saturday, 5/20!