The Axelridge Series Book 4 Griff's Red Card
Chapter 16

(Chapter song ‘The Game Has Changed’ by Daft Punk)

IVY

‘I had it handled, Griffin.’ I say with annoyance.

‘AND ALMOST GOT YERSELF BLEEDING KILLED! I TOLD YA STAY PUT!’ Griffin yells.

I push myself off the fence. ‘I tried to tell you, but you just had to dismiss me!’

‘I never! I had a plan!’ He yells back.

‘I had a better one!’ I grit back.

‘OK, guys!’ Jax gets in between us. ‘Griff, you were being a dick.’

‘Hang on!’ He growls.

‘Ivy, that was stupid and not worth the risk.’ Jax eyes me.

My lips shrink and I stare at Griffin.

Marcus shoves himself in between us all. ‘So, kiss and make up.’ He grins.

Griffin shoves them both out of the way. ‘Away with ya, eejits!’

He swims up to me. ‘Look. I had a plan and I didn’t need the interruption.’

‘I get that, Griff, but you didn’t even consider mine and I was right.’ I glare through my mask as we hang onto the fence in the current.

He shakes his head. ‘Alright, love.’ He sighs. ‘Let’s get this rock topside, ya? We can talk later.’

‘Alright.’ I agree.

This is where I have difficulties. Griffin is a nice enough man, but when I have a contribution to make, he never gives it a second thought. This is the stumbling block that makes me think me and him won’t work.

We climb out of the water and Peter takes care of my arm. “You were close to dying down there. Is the need to be right worth it?”

I glance at Griffin who’s standing with the other Alphas around the rock.

“I found the rock though.” I respond.

“True, but you broke the most cardinal rule of diving in dangerous situations.” He tapes up my wound and puts the stuff away.

“What was that?”

“You wandered off alone. To prove yourself right, you almost got yourself killed. Trust me, it’s not worth that.” He smiles as he zips up his medical bag.

“Yeah, it was stupid. I just want to be taken seriously.” I glance up at him and play with my dry suit pushed down to my waist.

He looks over at Griffin. “Then you two need to have talk before one of you does something really stupid.” He warns.

I nod as he throws the strap of the medical bag over his shoulder and walks away. I watch Griffin walk past him and head in my direction.

He motions to my bandage. “How's yer arm?”

I look down and place a hand on it. It hurts, but the though of almost dying scared me more. “It’s ok. It’ll heal.”

He steps close. “What were ya thinking, girl? That was right dangerous. Ya could've waited.”

“I didn’t think you’d listen to me, I guess.” I mumble as I fix my suit.

He lifts my chin to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry. I was an arsehole, but don’t ever endanger yer life because of that. Please. I may be a sullied wanker sometimes, but I’d lose my shite if something happened to ya.”

“Really?” My jaw falls as I feel the care he’s putting out.

“Aye.” He steps I’m between my legs and holds my cheeks. “I'm sorry for brushing ya off. Yeah, yer right. I need to make an effort to trust what ya tell me.”

“I'll try to be more patient.” I smile.

“I think we both need patience.” He smiles back.

“Definitely.”

He leans in and kisses me with a slow, passionate kiss. I lean into it and melt a little more.

Griffin may always need to be right, but getting myself killed just to prove him wrong was the dumbest idea ever. If I’m going to make it with Griffin, I need to figure out how to understand him and act accordingly. I need to keep my own stubbornness in check.

He breaks the kiss and rest his forehead on mine. “Kick me backside for being an eejit, Miss. Never get this beautiful soul of yours hurt, ok?”

“Deal.” I giggle then he kisses me again.

“Hate to break up the love birds, but we should get this rock back in the hole.” Jax joins our side and glances between the two of us.

Griffin smirks. “Well, what ya harassing me for? Get on with ya.” He shoves Jax and Jax cackles. He turns back to me. “Want to save the city?”

“Yeah.” I nod fast and bite my bottom lip.

He grabs my hand and motions his arm out. “Ladies first.”

“Thank you.” I bow and chuckle as we walk off to the landing site of the helicopter.

****

“I'LL POSITION YOU OVER THE LAKE! I'LL KEEP At 200 FEET…JUST IN CASE!” The pilot yells of the loud noise as we fly to the center of the city.

The door is open and the wind is whipping all our hair. From up here, the lake does look beautiful. It’s sad that beauty came at such a high price.

“Ok. When we get in position, we’ll toss the rock back in and hopefully whatever it’s doing will stop!” Finn instructs.

“If it doesn’t?” Griffin asks.

Finn floats his eyes around us all. “I’m out of ideas.”

“CENTER OF AXELRIDGE JUST BELOW!” The pilot announces.

Jax stands up and snaps a safety cable to a hook above the door. He holds the rock out and looks down. “Deploying package…now!”

He lets go and we all move to the door. We watch the rock fall until it can barely be seen. Seconds after, a small splash emerged on the surface. We stare at the spot in silence, waiting for something to happen.

I search the water then turn to the Alphas. “Plan B?”

I had just finished my sentence when the water started to electrify with red lightning. The jagged red lights spread out from where the rock hit and fanned out across the city like electric fingers.

“What the feck?” Griffin says.

Red bolts fire into the sky and we all practically fall into the cabin. The cracks were deafening as they hit the clouds. Black clouds formed with every strike.

“GET US OUT OF HERE!” Finn orders.

“I’M TRYING! THE INSTRUMENTS ARE GOING HAYWIRE!” The pilot yells back.

“GRIFFIN!”

The helicopter is tossed in the turbulence as the red lightning strikes out around us.

“HOLD ON!” The pilot yells as he fights with the controls.

“Finn!” Jax points out the door.

All of us fill with terror as a large column of red water rises onto the air and isn’t stopping.

“FLY THIS DAMN THING!”

Like a twister made of water, it spins and growls as it gets closer to the underside of the helicopter. The lightning hits the chopper from below and it rocks with every strike. So much so, we’re bounced around the cabin.

“MARCUS!”

I reach out for him as he’s tossed to the door.

“SHIT!!” He hollers as he falls out.

“MARC!!” We all yell and rush the door.

He’s hanging onto the landing foot with one hand. The water is like a monster rising to consume him from underneath.

“DON’T YOU FUCKING LET ME DIE!” He yells up as he tries to reach for Jaxs hand.

“REACH!!” Jax extends his hand and grabs Marcus' wrist.

The water rises and the helicopter banks right. The blades are struck and they start to sputter. The wall of water surrounds us and it’s like being in a thunderstorm from hell.

“GRIFFIN!”

He grabs onto me as the helicopters shakes and turns in a spiral down.

“IVY!!”

The lightning came from all angles and hit the chopper. It felt like it was kicked up and we left the floor. We screamed as we were tossed around like dolls.

“IVVYYYY!!”

“GRIFFIN! NOOOO!”

The helicopter is tossed on an angle and lose my grip on Griffin. He falls out the door and his screams burn in my ears.

“GRIFFIN!!”

The waters explodes up, swallowing the undercarriage and cabin fills with water. The alarms sound and the helicopter falls.

“MAYDAY!MAYDAY! WE'RE GOING DOWN!”

The tailspin had us all hanging on for dear life then the impact. We all hit the roof and the helicopter smashes against the waves. Fire and debris surround us as we all are submerged and tossed in the violence.

I can’t see anything as I’m thrown from cabin into the water. I try to fight the spin, but my body is thrown around like a spin cycle.

The water rises to its peak then falls like a controlled demolition. We’re pushed down as thousands of gallons of water crash down on our heads.

The lake becomes a whirlpool and we’re just along for the ride now.

I try to swim with the current and feel myself rise. I breach the surface, gasping for air, but it’s no better. The sky is dark, red lightning flashes everywhere and world is spinning in a blur.

“FUCKKKK!!”

“HELLLLPPPPP!!”

“GRIIIIFFFFF!!”

We all call out as we fight the suction force. The whirlpool tries to drag us to the middle, but what I didn’t realize what why until it was over.

As I spin, I feel arms grab me. In a panic I reach out.

“I GOT YA, LASS!”

“GRIFF!” I hang onto him for dear life.

I want to close my eyes, but this is all so unbelievable I can’t help but try to take in what’s going on. I do try to count as many heads as I can. Although we can’t reach them, it looks like everyone is spinning along with us.

We fight the current and it was almost like someone put the plug back. The water started to slow and the clouds started to fade. The lightning becomes less and my eyes widen as I watch the last of the flood water from the city be pulled into this lake in the center of it. I try to keep my head above the surface as the whirlpools suction gets easier to fight.

Floating debris hits ground and stops. Cars stop rolling and settle on the street. Trees fall, but don’t move.

The sky opens up and you can see the sun. The water laps and rises over the edge and then starts to settle down.

“JAX! MARCUS! FINN!” Griffin yells.

“GRIFFIN!”

They’re a distance away across the hole which now looks like a ordinary, small lake. It’s waters are blue and start to calm.

I push the water out of my hair and face. “What happened?”

“I think we did it, love. We bleeding did it!”

“YEAH!!”

“FUCKING RIGHT WE DID!!”

“JAX'S BUYING!”

“SHUT UP, DICK!”

The Alphas all shout out celebrations as I laugh. Griffin turns his eyes to me, grabs my head and slams his lips on mine. He kisses me deep and I throw my arms around his neck as we tread water.

“GRIFF! QUIT SUCKING FACE AND GET OUT OF THE POOL!” Marcus yells and we both break into a fit of laugher.

“Aye. I think there’s more important things to be doing.” He smiles and mumbles on my lips.

“I think you’re right.” I smile back.

“I know I am. Ya know what I know?” He pulls his lips back.

“What?” I look at him curiously.

“That I’m gonna beat ya to shore.” He chuckles.

“That I know you’re wrong about." I smirk and shove him back, diving into the water and swimming back to shore.

“THAT WAS DIRTY!” He laughs.

The six of us swim to the banks and climb out. All of us are soaking wet and a complete mess as we stand at the edge of the blue water.

“Lake Hydra.” Finn smiles.

“It's ours?” Marcus asks.

“Apparently, Axelridge is now part of the world of weird.” He folds his arms as the sun makes the small waves across the pool sparkle.

The blue sky makes the water look even more blue as gulls cry out and fly over head. The six towers surround the stadium sized hole and it’s almost like a monument. It has to be at least 800 feet across.

The question is, now that the secrets out, what are we going to do with it?