Veils of Rivalry Chapter 80

Blaise's POV

I’m losing control.

I can sense that my fragile hold over the panic festering inside me is slowly withering away. Cole has been missing and injured for two days. The more I think about it, the more irrational I become.

I’m speeding down a country lane leading to the abandoned warehouse. The odds that he took them there are slim, but a nagging sensation in the pit of my stomach and a sense of urgency have me pressing down harder on the accelerator.

I check the speedometer as I tighten my grip on the steering wheel. What if he’s not there? What if I’m too late?

My phone vibrates in my lap. It’s Dad.

“Sorry, can’t talk right now,” I mutter, declining the call. The rain has stopped, but dark, ominous clouds still paint the sky a deep shade of blue as thunder rumbles in the distance.

When Dad rings again, I curse under my breath. I don’t want to talk to him right now. I don’t want to fucking talk to anyone.

“What?” I bark, phone pressed to my ear.

Dad is quiet for a moment. Under normal circumstances, I would never speak to my dad like this, but I’m not myself. His unfeeling, collected, stone-faced son is nowhere to be found as the car flies down a country road in the aftermath of a summer downpour. Water sprays from the wheels as I drive through yet another large puddle. If I’m not careful, I could waterplane, but the thought of the car spinning out of control and crashing into a tree seems like a welcome idea if I’m forced to exist in a world without Cole.

I’ve been a goner from the moment he chased me through the forest and wreaked havoc on my entire fucking world. Back then, while hiding his identity behind a mask, he shook me up from the inside like a snow globe until he stirred up all these complex, fucked-up emotions. Emotions that I don’t know what the fuck to do with. And he did it with such effortless ease; I had no say in the matter. So no, Cole doesn’t get to leave this fucking world without me. I refuse to let his dad take him away from me. I fucking refuse.

I will find him.

I have to find him…

I taste salt, and it’s then I realize I’m crying again. I’ve never cried a fucking tear in my life until Cole.

“Fuck,” I breathe in a shaky tone and wipe my cheeks with the back of my hand.

“Where are you?” Dad asks, his tone softer than I’ve ever heard it.

“Why did you always hate Cole?” I ask, ignoring his question. “You never gave him a chance.”

Dad is silent for a moment before he blows out a soft breath, and I picture him pinching the space between his brows. “It’s not that I hate⁠—”

“Then what, Dad?” I interrupt.

“He has too much of his useless father in him,” he responds as if that’s a reasonable excuse. It’s not. Cole is nothing like his dad, and he’d soon see it, too, if he gave him a damn chance.

“I worried he would have a negative impact on you.”

If he only knew how Cole turned my world upside down. “That’s bullshit, and you know it.” The clouds light up as lightning streaks across the sky in the distance. “You didn’t like that you couldn’t control him like everything else in your life.”

“Blaise—” he starts, but I cut him off.

“No, you listen to me for once. I’m sick of you behaving like a tyrant. When we get them back, you owe them an apology.”

“Just…” Another deep exhale. He changes the subject. “Where are you?”

I’m about to reply, when a text message from Cole’s burner pops up on the screen, almost causing me to drive off the road.

“Fuck!” I blurt and grip the steering wheel as I ease up on the accelerator. My heart races. I’m surprised my life didn’t flash before my eyes just then. I hang up on my dad with trembling fingers before pulling up the message. I swallow, bouncing my attention between the wet road and the screen.

Unknown: allersfac45minleavinghury

Shit…

If my heart was racing before, it’s thundering now like the clouds overhead.

My body trembles all over as I drop the phone and grip the steering wheel with both hands. “Calm down, Blaise. Calm the fuck down! He’s alive. He’s still alive,” I chant, failing to get my raging emotions under control. If Cole can’t type properly, then that means… No. Don’t think like that. Something inside me hardens, and I slam my foot down on the accelerator with renewed determination. Time is running out, but I know where he is. My gut instinct was right all along. His crazy father chose to take his family to the one place he thought no one would look, and he didn’t think anyone would find the link tying him to this place.

“I’m coming, Cole. Hang in there, just a little bit longer.”

The countryside blurs on each side of the road, and trees and farmhouses pass by in my periphery.

Where is his dad taking them? What if I arrive too late? What then?

“Shut up!” I white-knuckle the steering wheel as though I can get a semblance of control of my fear and crippling anxiety. It’s a useless battle and one I can’t win, but at least there’s a shimmer of hope—Cole is alive, and I have a location.

Now I need to call the cops and let them know where they are.

Picking up the phone, I swipe the screen and start to type in the emergency number, but I’m trembling so much with adrenaline that the cell slips from my fingers and lands in the footwell.

“Fuck…” My heart sinks to my stomach. “Don’t do anything reckless,” Tiago’s voice whispers in my ear. If he were here now, he’d tell me in his calm, steady voice to pull over by the roadside, retrieve the phone, and call the police. What he wouldn’t tell me is to ignore it and continue driving. But that’s what I do.

I don’t have precious minutes to spare. Cole is waiting for me.

My jaw tightens as I picture him sending that text. When I get there, I’ll skin his dad alive for even thinking he could take him from me. No one touches what’s mine⁠—

My thoughts grind to a halt when I approach the turn-off to the warehouse—a dirt road barely visible behind a cluster of trees. A car approaches the junction before pulling out on the main road.

Cole…

Cole is in that fucking car. I can’t see into the vehicle from here, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s his dad’s getaway car. Who else would visit the warehouse? No one. That road isn’t used, as evidenced by the tall weeds and wildflowers.

“Fuck it…” The blood in my veins boils. Cole’s dad messed with the wrong person.

I don’t even think as I chase their car. No matter what it takes, I won’t let him get away. Not a damn chance. It will be a cold day in hell before I allow anyone to take Cole away from me.

Gaining on them, I lock eyes with Cole’s dad through the driver’s window. We’re side by side, flying down the road at breakneck speed.

Time slows, and the sounds around me grow muted until all I’m aware of is my heart’s steady beat.

Cole’s dad sweats profusely, his eyes blown wide with panic. He’s not thinking straight. Neither am I.

In a swift move, I spin the wheel and ram my car into the side of his. We collide in an ear-splitting crunch of metal. “Stop the car, you motherfucker,” I roar as I fall back, only to do it again. Tires squeal on the road. Malcolm tries desperately to overtake me, but he loses control as we approach a sharp bend in the road, and I watch in slow motion as their vehicle hurtles toward a cluster of trees.

It all happens so fast. One moment we’re side by side, then the next, their car slams into a tree and erupts in flames.

I’ve never been more terrified than when I hit the brakes. The car comes to a sudden stop, and I sit for a moment and stare at the inferno in front of me while their car’s horn blares. My mind roars, struggling to make sense of the situation. Flames engulf the hood, and dark smoke rises into the air. A part of me expects Cole to exit the car and order me to run before he chases after me in his mask—to be his usual bossy self. But no one leaves the car.

Reaching for the handle, I push open the door and climb out with my heart in my throat. The strong scent of burning metal and plastic pricks my nose as I stare at the tall, wild flames. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

Cole…