10

Iris Parker

I stared dumbfounded as the black Lambo sped away. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in attempt to calm my nerves.

'They're going to be fine, Iris. They're going to be perfectly fine.' I repeated like a mantra, playing with my hands. Liam, Ezra and Mace were on their way to the people who kidnapped Jace. I stared onto the ceiling as I recalled what happened literally just a few minutes ago.

"We're on our way to Jace." Liam said. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"The people who took Jace are known as Aquile Neres, a really lame mafia group with a really corny name." Mace said mockingly as he said Aquile Neres which earned him a punch from Ezra.

"It is not a lame name. It's simply... old-fashioned." Ezra defended as Mace rolled his eyes in response.

"Wh-what? Have you let the police know?" I asked, which probably was a stupid question because the two stopped arguing and Liam stopped trying to calm them down and they all looked at me incredulously. "Okay, okay, I get it. No police." I said as my eyes shifted nervously into Liam's.

Ezra suddenly grabbed Mace by the arm and led him to the door.

"We'll start the car." Ezra said. Mace gave a disgusted look to his friend and was about to say something when Ezra put his hand into Mace's mouth and dragging him out of the house, leaving Liam and I alone.

"Sorry about them." he started. I smiled, but that quickly disappeared.

"W-will you guys be fine? What if you guys get hurt? I mean-- you guys are practically going up against a gang. Are you guys bringing anyone else with you? Do you want me to co--" I stopped talking when Liam smiled. "What? What are you smiling for?" My heart leaped when he walked toward me, still wearing that irritating smile of his.

"Nothing. We'll be fine. And don't worry. We'll bring Jace back. " As he said those, he fixed the loose strands of my hair into the back of my ear. He leaned in and I swear, my heart has never beaten so loud for so long now. "I promise." he said before pulling away. Dumbfounded, I nodded slowly as he started walking away.

I sighed and let myself sink into the sofa. I prayed silently that they would be safe, that they would bring Jace back safely and that maybe... maybe we can be a normal family, but I found myself shaking that thought away quickly.

No, I have to let go of these kind of thoughts, I shouldn't even think about this possibility because they're never gonna happen. As much as I want it to, life has a cruel way of teaching us all of our lessons.

I decided to go up where Jamie and Jacob were sleeping. However, they weren't sleeping. They were standing on the couch staring out the window, clearly arguing.

"No, Daddy went to get Jace!" Jacob argued.

"No, Daddy's gonna give the man the key!" Jamie fought back. They bantered for quite a while until they noticed me behind them.

"M-mommy!" they screamed in unison.

I smiled and sat in the middle of them, encircling my arms on their shoulders.

"Don't worry too much, okay. Daddy will get Jace and return safely.

Yeah... Definitely...

—————————————

Mason Miller

"Looks like Ezra was right. Those bastards still haven't changed their base. Stupidos." I whispered to the small earpiece. Ezra and Liam were still inside the car waiting for my signal.

In front of the abandoned building were two armed man, chatting in Italian about their last visit to the pub. I sat on the tree branch, watching. There's no doubt about it, they're the ones who have Jace. From here, I could see their tattoos, a fierce looking black eagle, right beside it was a number. The man on the right was number 203 and the other was 148. This number usually signifies that they were the 203rd and 148th person to join the gang. Means they were quite experienced. Currently, Aquile Neres has over 400 members in all of the country.

"Well, we're going in. Mace stay outside on the lookout." Ezra said.

"Hey! No fair! This wasn't according to plan! Why are you two the only ones to do the fighting. I want to be in the action too!" I whispered angrily, if that was possible, over the mouthpiece. I want to be in the rescue force too!

"No, you have to be there to inform us if ever they try to escape or they call for help." Ezra said again ever so heartlessly. I could hear the guns being loaded in the back. "Ready, Liam?" Ezra asked.

"Fine. I'll stay put. I always do this job. Why don't you—"

"Quit yapping will you or they notice you." Ezra said again. Damn, he's really trying to piss me off is he. How come they get to do all the action, well whatever. At least I won't have to worry about my beautiful face getting hurt.

"Let's go, Ezra." I heard Liam said from the back, and judging from his voice, man. Poor eagles.

Liam rarely goes serious when dealing with small gangs like Aquile Neres. And whenever he does get serious, he makes sure to bring them down to ashes. Literally.

A few moments later, I saw the car door opening and Liam got down first. Ezra followed quietly. The two thugs in the front were still chatting happily when Liam ghostly appeared behind them and did the honour of putting them to sleep in this ungodly hour. I mean he did his super fast hand chop and the two immediately fell to the ground.

Ezra merely followed behind him and before continuing, Liam turned around and looked directly at me. For a moment I was stunned that he was able to find me so quickly, but then again, it's Liam we're talking about. He pressed his two fingers on to the earpiece and spoke.

"You can come here and guard the front Mace." he said, sounding like he was giving me an order which annoyed me even more. These two always tell me what to do. Am I their servant? They should be thankful that I'm kind enough to do what they tell me to. Tch.

I jumped down from the tree and ran discretely to the front of the building, making sure that no one saw me.

"You two selfish jerks. You better make sure you get the kid." I said quite annoyed and saw Liam sneak a small amused smile.

"You don't have to tell us that, Macey." he said as he turned away and headed to the building. My blood boiled once more.

"I told you, don't call me that!" I threw back, but they were already inside.

Ezra Walker

Liam's smirk disappeared as we entered the building. His eyes had a dangerous glint which I've only seen once.

Liam was never serious when it came to dealing with small underlings like Aquile Neres. After all, it wasn't worth the time and effort to deal with these guys. Groups like these are usually controlled by a larger gang or mafia. They cannot survive on their own. It was better to deal with whoever was ordering them to do the dirty work and teach them a lesson; to never mess with the Parkers.

The walls of the building was scribbled with black eagles, a sign that the building belonged to them. Looking at them, my mind flew to my younger years when I had joined this group to rebel against my parents.

I started as a regular member, but quickly rose to a high rank and eventually, held an important position at the mafia group that was controlling Aquile Neres. Those were all a long time ago, but I still remember how they operate which is why Liam and I were heading to the basement where they usually held their hostages captive.

As we were walking down the stairs, our steps were as quiet as a leaf falling on the ground. We stopped briefly when we heard men speaking.

"Man, I can't take this atmosphere. So intense." one said.

"Tell me 'bout it. But the boss must be getting desperate if he resorts to kidnapping--" before he could finish his sentence, he dropped to the ground. Soon, his colleague collapsed. My eyes searched for Liam and sure enough, he had already taken them down swiftly.

I sighed. These guys were going to learn a lesson they will never forget. Liam wasn't going to hold back.

The two men were guarding a steel door which Liam quickly opened, making a screeching sound which made me cringe. I followed quickly behind him, and each time we saw someone, it took only a moment for them to drop dead on the floor.

"Hey, leave some action for me." I complained as I checked the pulse of one of the men that fell down. Liam said nothing. He was too fixated on saving his son.

We continued until we reached the furthest room of the basement. Unfortunately, this time, there were about five people guarding the door, talking amongst themselves. Liam and I stayed low and hidden from them. I looked over to Liam and nodded. He was there, Jace was surely there.

We waited for a while, listening to their conversation.

"Is the kid fed?"

Bingo.

"Nah, he doesn't wanna touch the food."

"Maybe he wants McDonalds instead."

"So what happened to him?"

"When the boss didn't receive anything this morning, he made Alvez beat the kid up."

I quickly glanced over to Liam whose eyes went ablaze and face turned dark. Well, there goes the plan of keeping them alive.

Liam got up from where he was hiding and quickly attacked the five men. All of their eyes widened at the surprise and raised their weapons at him. Some started shooting their hand guns, but Liam was able to dodge them. I stepped out of the darkness to help Liam, knocking some of the opponents' guns out of their possessions.

Some of the men whimpered in fear and were about to screamed for help, when Liam kicked at their throats to keep them from screaming.

"Leave them alive, Ezra. These scums don't deserve a quick death." Liam said darkly which surprised me since he wasn't the type to torture people. He always thought that it was a waste of time.

Without delay, he opened the door.

Some men from inside probably heard what was happening from outside and as soon as the door opened, bullets started raining down. Unfortunately for them, Liam and I were hidden from both sides of the door and when the bullets subsided, we quickly entered by attacking the men in front of the door.

The room was dimly lit, thus hindering us from completely seeing our surroundings. Out of nowhere, men attacked, but they were weak and quickly brought down. My eyes scanned the room for a child, but the light was too dim for me to be able to see someone. It must have been the same case for Liam since he didn't move from his spot, but simply looking around him.

As I took out a small flashlight from my pocket, someone emerged from the darkness with a gun pointed to a... child.

I quickly noted the child's appearance which was almost a replica of Liam, save for the child's golden hair. However, it was his eyes that assured me that he inherited it from his father. A light shade of green, reminding me of the refreshing nature. If I met him in any other circumstances, I'm sure his eyes would have amazed me more, but the fear that was stricken on face was unforgettable.

The side of his lip was stained with purple, a sign that he had been beat up. His face had a few bruises where dry blood was clearly seen. Over his body were more patches of purple and bruises. His clothes were dirty, and he was missing a shoe, his white sock now a muddy colour.

"Sick bastards, beating and torturing a kid." I whispered.

The man that held him hostage looked just as scared.

"D-don't come closer! I-if you come any closer, I-I-I'll finish him off!" he screamed. Jace's face reddened and tears started rolling down. I only noticed then that his eyes were puffy and tired. Poor kid must have cried a lot.

Liam was silent as he slowly walked towards the two of them.

"I said d-don't come closer!" the man said again, this time, sounding even more scared. He pointed the gun closer to Jace's head which made Liam stop on his track for a short moment before speeding to the middle-aged man, firstly knocking his gun off his hand, taking it from him and pointing it to him.

"Let the kid go or I'll shoot." he said so coldly, it sent shivers down my spine. The man must have sensed the bloodlust in his voice and aura and quickly let go of Jace.

The kid dropped to the ground as he started sobbing. Liam seemed to be snapped from his bloodlust trance and looked down. He looked at Jace with such gentleness and frailness, as if afraid that one wrong look will break him.

Liam threw the gun and kneeled down, picking Jace onto his arms and carrying him. I could see the mixture of hurt and pity in Liam's eyes. He momentarily glanced at me and I quickly understood what he was trying to say. I smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they all regret what they did."