K A N E

My first thought when I saw the man standing in our way was 'oh'. Apparently the Club was still in the area, contrary to what I'd just told Riley.

The three of us watched each other, standing frozen for a few moments. My eyes dropped to the man's belt where a gun in a holster was hanging.

"We need to get out of here," Riley said, barely moving her lips. "Run for your life."

She took a few steps back before turning and breaking into a full sprint in the opposite direction, away from the man. I followed closely after her, not wanting a bullet in my chest.

Riley ran ahead of me, still clutching the papers under one arm. I hoped that they wouldn't blow away or get lost in our escape.

She reached the other open side of the building before I did, but only barely. We stood under the metal beam that had once held the roof up for a split second before the same man blocked our way again. Apparently, he'd gone around the ruins and hadn't had to deal with the blockage that we'd had to.

Riley and I stopped in our tracks as the man pulled the handgun from his holster and aimed it at the two of us.

"What do you want?" Riley asked, sounding as if she wasn't afraid. But the panicked look in her eyes still remained.

"I want the both of you on the ground with your hands above your heads where I can see them."

Riley's inky black eyes found mine for a moment before she sank down to plant her knees on the ground. My gaze stayed trained on the gun aimed for her head. I knew that she wouldn't utilize her power until she was no longer in danger of being shot for it.

The stout man turned to look at me with his grisly, half-shaven face. "You too, or I'll blow your girlfriend's brains out."

Despite the situation we were currently in, I caught a smile growing on Riley's lips as she stared at the ground. I pushed the thought out of my brain and focused my attention on the gun now aimed at me.

Knowing that he'd most likely make good of his threat, I slowly got down on my knees as well. The rocky debris-covered ground dug into my legs but I didn't waver before the gangster. What would he do next?

He held his hand out before Riley. I noticed that he had a finger missing, like it had been cut off his body long ago. "The papers," he said impatiently.

The gun was taken off of me when he focused his attention on her. Was this my chance?

Sweeping out my hand, I grabbed ahold of a jagged chunk of rock. With all my strength, I lobbed it into the man's direction.

The concrete caught him in the chest. I'd thrown it with such force that he was thrown backwards and landed on his back ten feet away.

Riley and I both scrambled to our feet before he rose again. The gang member raised the gun shakily in the air as he struggled to stand. The trigger was pulled and I grabbed Riley's arm to yank her out of the bullet's path.

With the sound of the deafening gunshot still ringing in my ears, I lunged to the right, out of the line of fire. I let my hand drag low to scoop up a handful of gravel and threw the tiny stones into the man's face. With a protective arm in front of his face, he ducked down as he tried to avoid getting the rocks in his eyes.

Riley took advantage of the man's temporary blindness by rapidly growing roots out of the ground to pin his body to the dirt floor.

We stood together over the thrashing gang member. He was able to spit out a few pointless threats toward me before I hit him over the head, rendering him unconscious.

"Let's get out of here," Riley said, staring down at the motionless gangster, "Before any of the others find us here."

I couldn't have agreed more. We made our way to the car with the papers still intact with no other problems. Though the whole way back, I was eyeing the rooftops above us and the dark branches off the alleyway, hoping that no one was watching me back.

When we were in the car and driving away from the Club's lair, I let myself take a slow breath out. We were safe. Or as safe as we could be.

I heard Riley shuffling through the papers and glanced over. "I hope those were worth almost getting killed over."

"I think they are," she answered seriously, her eyes glued to the stolen files. "They mostly hold a lot of information about transactions between Hundsen and other gangs, I think."

I frowned. "What's Jake planning to do with that?"

"I don't know. But he's clearly taking this war with Hundsen to a whole new level." Her voice sounded grave and unlike her usual bold self.

"You think we should be worried?"

She shrugged. "I have a feeling that Hundsen is a problem that Jake will deal with on his own. Imperium is what we need to be focusing on." She motioned between the two of us.

I shook my head, scoffing. "Judging by both Delphinium and Hunt's reactions, Imperium is more than just a problem. It's life or death." Both people were so strong despite everything we'd gone through. That's why it had shaken me to see the two of them so rattled by the discovery of Imperium.

Riley let out a long sigh. "Life or death," she repeated solemnly.

"Speaking of life or death," she added a few moments after, sounding much more upbeat than before, "I think it's sweet that you didn't let me get shot."

I felt my face warm at her incessant flirting. "I figured the rest of the team wouldn't be too happy if I'd let you die."

"Yeah," she said teasingly, tilting her head down to gaze at me through lowered eyelashes, "But maybe I don't care about what the rest of the team thinks."

I suddenly felt vulnerable under her stare. Looking away, I replied, "You know, a simple 'thank you' would suffice. Not...all this." I made a noncommittal hand gesture in the air.

"All what?" The grin on Riley's red-painted lips was feline.

I huffed out a breath and looked at her smug face. "I get your point without all the blatant suggestive remarks."

She laughed at that. "You have no sense of humor."

I gave her a frustrated glare. "I have a great sense of humor."

She laughed again and then the car was quiet for a moment. Then, she said seriously, "Thank you, Kane."

I felt a rare smile appear on my lips. I had no idea why.

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

Jake wasn't at the compound when Riley and I arrived. It was well into the night before he walked into the front door and saw the two of us waiting for him.

"How nice. You waited up for me," was his sarcastic greeting.

"Yeah, only for a few hours," Riley sassed, though I noticed how she said it under her breath. It appeared that Jake's intimidation worked on even her.

"You have the files?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't." She handed them over.

Jake turned the papers over in his hands. "Is there a particular reason they're covered in dirt?"

"It wasn't exactly easy getting them here," I said, keeping a level gaze on the dark boy.

"You didn't tell us that the place wasn't abandoned, Evans," Riley said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"You didn't ask."

She took a few pacing steps. "You knew we wouldn't go if we knew there would still be Club members roaming the site."

"And yet, you seem to have survived. How fortunate for you."

Riley's onyx eyes narrowed. "Where were you all this time?"

"My business is mine, not yours."

"That sounds like you're hiding something."

"He's always hiding something," I said in a low voice, exasperated.

"At least tell us what you're doing with these files. You owe us that."

"I owe you nothing."

"We did this job for you, risking our lives for these papers. You can't just treat us as pawns on your chessboard of schemes."

"And yet you still did the job for nothing in return."

"I'd say that makes you a pawn," Arlo chimed in from across the room where he was absentmindedly watching the news on the TV. Riley gave him such a withering look that he turned back to the TV with wide eyes and didn't speak again.

"You know why I did the job." She spoke through gritted teeth.

Jake looked smug. "Yes, I do."

I narrowed my eyes at Riley. There was something else going on here; she was hiding something.

"You deserve what's coming to you, Evans."

There was a smile playing on the edges of his lips when he remarked, "If only that were true."