Page 96 of Savage Desires

Even though the compound is on a private road on a secluded property, we’ll have to be fast because it’s daytime. The last thing we need is for some helpful bystander to witness something and call the police. We’ll be going for speed over finesse this time.

We gather a mile away from Yuri’s compound. T.J. opens the back of his SUV, revealing dozens of firearms and enough ammo for a small army. He opens the back door, pulls out a sniper rifle case, and hands it to Shawn.

“Thanks, man.”

“No worries. It’s top-of-the-line military-grade and fully calibrated,” T.J. says.

“Give me ten to get into position before you come in,” Shawn says. He jogs to one of the SUVs and takes off down the road towards the compound. He will be our eyes on the outside and provide cover if needed.

I hold Willow in my arms while we wait. I want to ask her how she’s holding up after everything she’s done tonight but now isn’t the time. I’m worried that once we get a quiet moment, everything will hit her at once, and she’ll have a breakdown. I shouldn’t have let her torture Oleg, but after hearing him call her a whore and what he did to her kept me from intervening. She told me she wanted revenge against the men who hurt her, and I don’t want to keep her from getting it.

Hera hefts a backpack onto her back, then climbs on her motorcycle and takes off without a word. I’m not sure I even want to know what she’s up to.

“Is that going to be a problem?” I ask T.J.

“Nah, she’s just going to knock on the door,” he says with a smirk.

“In other words, she’s going to blow shit up.”

“Just the gate… for now,” T.J. adds.

“Any idea what Hera’s crazy ass is doing?” Shawn asks through the comms.

“Blowing the front gate so we don’t have to ram it with the cars,” T.J. replies.

“Fuck, okay. I count five men at the front of the compound. Two at the gate…” I hear two gunshots from a high-caliber gun. “Make that three out front. That chick is going to get herself killed.”

“Not likely,” Hera chirps. “One minute…”

“One guy left out front. He saw his buddy go down and took off inside,” Shawn mutters.

We’re all in the cars and racing towards the gate in seconds. The gate explodes moments before the first SUV barrels through without slowing at all. We screech to a stop in front of the house and quickly jump out, trusting that Shawn has our backs.

There’s a barrage of gunfire as we get close to the door. Zeke crouch-walks to the side of the door and tosses a flash-bang inside the house. We rush into the house while the shooters are disoriented. It takes no time to take out the three men who were firing at us. Once that is taken care of, we break off into teams of two to clear the house. I keep Willow with me because I can’t stand the idea of her safety being put in anyone else’s hands. She’s mine to protect.

There are only two doors down the hallway we go down. The first room we check is an empty library, which means the other door is likely Yuri’s private office. Willow stands to one side of the door, and I stand on the other. I have a moment of déjà vu from when we were in this same position at Mecca. Hopefully, the outcome will be favorable this time too.

As soon as the door swings open, they start firing at us. I get low and peek around the doorframe. Two guards, Yuri, Damon, and Larissa are holed up inside. I hold up five fingers for Willow, and she nods. She aims around the corner of the door and fires blindly into the room, providing cover so I can enter.

They’ve all scattered and are ducking for cover now that we’re returning fire. One of the guards pops up and shoots towards the door. I quickly fire, and he falls dead. One down, four to go. I see Willow rush into the room from the corner of my eye. She heads straight for where Larissa is hiding. I focus on the other guard since Yuri and Damon seem happy letting everyone else do their dirty work while they cower behind furniture.

“Kisten!” Damon shouts.

I turn, and my heart stutters to a stop. Damon has my Beauty in his arms, the barrel of his gun pressed to her temple. Now it really is déjà vu, only Willow is in danger this time. The guard takes advantage of my moment of distraction and attacks. He knocks my gun from my hand and throws a punch that I easily deflect. The fight feels like it takes forever but is likely over in seconds. Time is standing still while the woman I love more than life has a gun aimed at her head.

I manage to push him back enough to give me time to pull my second gun from the small of my back. With one squeeze of the trigger, it’s over. I swing the gun around until it’s aimed at Damon’s forehead. Willow’s eyes are wide with worry but not an ounce of fear.

“You shoot me, I shoot her,” Damon says. “Drop your gun, Daniels.”

Willow mouths, “No.”

“Drop the gun,” Yuri says, finally deciding to come out from hiding now that the threats are seemingly under control.

He’s holding a revolver, pointing it in the general vicinity of my chest. I move my aim to Yuri as I wouldn’t risk shooting Damon with Willow in his arms anyway. Willow didn’t hesitate to shoot the man holding Georgie, but I can’t take the chance with her life. I couldn’t live with myself if I caused her to be hurt.

I don’t take my eyes off Willow. She flicks her eyes down, then back up to mine. I look down and see her wiggle her fingers, then there’s a knife in her hand. I know exactly what she wants to do. My beautiful, brave warrior. She has a gun at her head, and she refuses to give up. She’s going to fight until she can’t fight anymore.

She taps her finger on her thigh. Once… Twice… on the third, she moves, and I fire at Yuri. He falls dead with a bullet in his head. Willow smoothly ducks out of Damon’s hold, bringing the knife up in an arc and buries it in his neck. He drops the gun, his hands reaching for the knife. He falls to his knees, gasping for breath.

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