Luka
Two armed men were standing in the warehouse doorway with their guns aimed straight at us.
"Hah! Look who finally showed up. Welcome, boys," one of them said.
His voice was calm and cold. I'd bet he was the one calling the shots around here.
"Funny. He was right." The man smirked. "But I figured it'd take you a few days to find this place. Thought we'd have plenty of time to get bored waiting for you. Turns out you're a lot quicker than I gave you credit for. So now I'm curious. How'd you pull it off?"
He narrowed his eyes at Edward and Michael.
"Hm. Eh, whatever. Doesn't matter. You're here, which means we can wrap this up sooner and get back to more important things."
"They... T-they were expecting us?" James muttered behind me.
He was right.
Was this a trap?
But why?
"Alright, we've got a lot to do. Since you showed up early, I'd rather not waste any more time. So," their leader said, his voice turning sharp, "let my guys go. Now."
Kazuo growled, tightening his grip on the man he still had pinned.
Edward didn't move either.
"Oh, so you're gonna make this difficult." The man sighed. "Listen, I've got plenty of plans now that you're here. I'd rather not put them on hold. So do me a favor."
Neither Edward nor Kazuo budged.
The man let out another sigh and suddenly aimed his gun at me.
Bang!
Splinters exploded from the crate beside me. A fresh bullet hole smoked in the wood.
"Luka!" Edward and Kazuo shouted simultaneously.
Edward jumped off the bloodied bastard and stepped toward me.
Bang!
Another shot cracked through the warehouse. The bullet ricocheted off the concrete floor right in front of his feet.
"Not so fast, young master. Though I do appreciate you letting my friend go." He nodded toward another man. "Go get him."
The man kept his gun trained on Edward and Michael as he hurried over, grabbed his unconscious buddy, and dragged him back.
"Now you, wolf. Let him go. Unless you want your friend's brains all over the floor."
Kazuo bared his massive fangs with another growl, but after a long second, he unclenched his hand.
The man he'd been holding didn't hesitate for even a second. He scrambled free and bolted straight back to his group.
The whole time, Edward never took his eyes off me.
His face had gone pale.
"Are you alright?" he asked, looking me over from head to toe for any sign of an injury.
He seemed even more scared for me than I was for myself.
I'd never seen him like this before.
"Yeah." I nodded.
Behind me, James pressed himself against my back even more, trembling from head to toe. This whole situation had scared the hell out of him.
I still couldn't understand why he'd come here in the first place. It was way too dangerous.
We barely knew each other. Not nearly well enough for him to risk his life to save mine.
"Don't worry, young master. I'm a good shot, so..." he began.
Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!
The buzzing of a phone cut him off.
The vibration was so loud that it echoed through the entire warehouse.
"Oh! Terribly sorry. Think that's mine," Michael said as he started digging through his pockets. "Didn't mean to interrupt. I'm sure it's just my mum calling."
"For fuck's sake," the leader snapped.
He nodded at one of his men.
"Shut that thing up."
Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!
The man hurried over to Michael.
"Give me the phone."
"You look too scary with that gun," Michael said, raising his hands. "My hands are shaking. Why don't you get it yourself?" he purred, subtly cocking a hip to give the man easier access to the pocket.
"Jesus fucking Christ," the man muttered as he shoved a hand into Michael's pocket.
"Hehe. That tickled." Michael giggled.
I stared at him in complete disbelief. How the hell was this guy acting so... cheerful? Even now?
Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!
The buzzing sounded even louder once the phone was out of Michael's pocket.
"For fuck's sake! Make it stop!" the leader growled.
The man looked at the phone for a second, then hurled it at the wall right beside us.
Judging by the sound, it shattered into pieces. There was no way it still worked.
"Haa... Finally," the leader said with a sigh. "Now collect everybody else's phones. I don't want us getting interrupted again."
The man went around taking everyone's phones.
When he reached Kazuo, Kazuo let out such a vicious growl that, judging by the expression on that guy's face, he nearly pissed himself. He probably thought Kazuo was about to bite his head off.
Even so, he still managed to take it.
"Good," the leader said. "Now, where were we?"
He looked us over.
"Didn't expect this many of you. I have no clue why you two even bothered showing up." He glanced at Michael, then at James, who was hiding behind me. "Not that it changes much. But it'll take a little longer than I'd planned."
His gaze shifted to Edward, and so did his gun.
"Young master. Don't just stand there. Get over here."
He gave a small nod toward the space in front of him.
"You and I have quite a bit to discuss." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Don't forget what it'll cost if you decide to be stubborn."
Edward glanced at me, then slowly walked toward the man.
"Would you look at that. The heir to a great empire. Such a good boy. So well-behaved."
A smug grin spread across his face.
"Now..." His voice turned cold. "On your knees."