Page 90 of Pretty Monsters

"It looks like two teams, which is about six people. Sin and I are the only ones who work as a pair."

Grabbing Raven's ponytail, I bring her face to mine and kiss her firmly. My rules were all to prevent the kind of terror I'm feeling right now. "You stay with me," I demand.

She gives me a quick jerk of her head. "I promise."

Ford passes out kevlar vests. I strap mine on and help Raven with hers. "What exactly did you think would happen at this shelter you're starting?"

"I grew up with an abusive drunk who I'm pretty sure tried to murder my mother. I expect there's very little an abuser won't do to his victims," he answers.

"They're pulling out front," Lucien whispers.

We all move into position. Lucien moves to the shadows in one corner while Ted and Ford take the others. Raven and I move to the upper level. We can hide behind a half wall, while seeing the entire floor. Given her choice in weapons, it makes the most sense, and also helps me keep her as far from the action as possible.

Never in any of the missions I've gone on have I been as terrified as I am now. Losing my life seemed inevitable, and I was fine with it. It wasn't like my life held anything worth living for. Until now, and I'm finding my will to live is directly tied to the woman taking position next to me.

Lucien and I would have entered the building as stealthily as possible. These idiots certainly didn't study our attack methods. They kick in the door on one side and crash through the window on the opposite side.

Ted and Lucien take out two of Damien's soldiers instantly. The remaining four try to take cover and return fire. A shot rings out from the direction Ford is positioned.

One of the guys flips over a table, having figured out the location where the shots came from, and starts to fire in the general location. Lucien returns fire and moves to a spot with better cover. Ford is pinned in the corner, and he’s vulnerable. His gun is clicking and is obviously jammed. Ted's gun skitters across the floor, followed by the fleshy thuds of fists hitting a body.

One of the stairs creak, and I prepare to face the third soldier. Meanwhile, Lucien continues to draw fire to buy time for Ford to grab a different weapon. In short, everything is fucked. Yeah, we've got more firepower and will be able to eventually prevail, but the likelihood someone is going to be at a minimum seriously injured has jumped exponentially.

Forcing myself to focus, I stalk forward toward the person climbing the stairs. I take out the large hunting knife, so I don't alert them to my presence by the sound of the gun loading a bullet. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the soldier behind the metal table train his weapon on Ford.

Raven pops up, having notched an arrow, and hits him in the middle of his back. Gurgling sounds come from his mouth, but he's still alive.

The move distracts the one Ted is fighting, and the unmistakable sound of a neck snapping ends that fight. Unfortunately, the only surviving threat is moving steadily toward us.

At least, I thought it was the last remaining threat until windows explode on either side of the upper level and two more soldiers zip line into the building from adjacent warehouses. More men pour into the lower level, and our chances of anyone surviving this fight decrease to nearly zero.

Lucien roars, and I force myself to stay where I am. I've never not had his back before, but I can't leave Raven. There are three gunmen on this level with us.

"I've got the girl," one of them shouts, wrapping his arms around her and trying to pull her toward the stairs.

She manages to stomp on his instep, use her body weight to flip him, and with a kick sends him over the wall to the cement floor below. His head makes a sickening crack on impact, and the spreading pool of blood confirms he's no longer a threat.

Several shots ring out on the lower level, but I can't lose focus to see if anyone of our guys have been injured. We've lost the element of surprise, so I re-sheath the knife and draw one of the guns holstered to my body. Faster than they can react, I've shot both the man who came through the window and the one climbing the stairs.

Looking over the wall, I see bodies sprawled all over. A few took direct hits to the face, and since everyone is wearing dark clothing it's hard to tell whose side took the hit.

"Sin, I see more people on the roof of the warehouse across the alley," Raven warns. Sure enough, there's at least another team preparing to use the zipline to come into the building.

I whistle a tune Lucien and I use to alert each other and check in. He responds with the coordinating tune. "Heads up," I shout before I hear sounds of more men entering the lower level.

"Time to blow some shit up," Raven mumbles. She takes out a rag, wraps it around the end of one of her arrows, then douses it with lighter fluid.

She quickly ignites the end, notches it, and aims at something I can't see. A large boom shakes the building. The room floods with an orange glow, and I see the building is engulfed in flames.

"Who puts a propane generator on a roof?" she mumbles.

The line that allowed the other guy to zipline in snaps with a high-pitched ping.

She repeats the process of loading an arrow. "Let's see if that propane tank is filled, yeah?" she asks me. I nod.

"It's not on the roof, but this one is much larger." Her aim is dead on again, and another explosion rattles the building. This time more glass shatters.

"We've got to get moving," Lucien shouts. "The fire is too big, and this place is a giant tinderbox. Plus, I think we've probably drawn at least the attention of the fire department by now."

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