Page 57 of Till Death Saves Me

Isettle into position, my rifle an extension of my body as I scan the warehouse through my scope. The night air is crisp, but I barely notice, my focus laser-sharp on the task at hand.

This is our first of three warehouses we're going to hit. We've broken up into small groups, spread out across all the boroughs, so we can take down everything the Red Serpents have simultaneously.

With the help of my four friends — if mumbling mutilated bodies count as such — I got the locations of all the supply warehouses. Now, they'll lose all their product, all their weapons, and if I'm good, their men, too.

But we have to move fast. We need to get through all three locations before they can alert one another. The only thing we really have on our side is that Nikolai is sitting down with their boss right now, making sure he's distracted.

Volkov will learn that his empire has been burned in an hour…And then meet an untimely death himself.

Lev's voice crackles in my earpiece, confirming everyone's ready.

"On my mark," I murmur, watching a guard pass below. Three. Two. One.

The shot rings out, and the guard drops. All hell breaks loose.

Our men swarm the building, Molotov cocktails arcing through the air. Flames erupt, casting eerie shadows. Through my scope, I pick off targets with cold precision. One. Two. Three. Each shot finds its mark.

Lev's down there, a whirlwind of controlled violence. I watch his back, dropping a Red who gets too close. He flashes me a quick thumbs up before disappearing into the smoke.

Time blurs as we work. The warehouse is engulfed, screams and gunfire filling the air. I breathe steady, in and out, as I continue providing cover.

"Clear!" Lev's voice comes through. "Move out!"

We're a well-oiled machine, piling into vehicles and speeding towards our next target. My hands are steady on the wheel, but my mind races. Two more to go. The clock's ticking.

The second warehouse looms ahead, a hulking silhouette against the night sky. No time for finesse now. We hit hard and fast, a storm of bullets and fire raining down on our enemies.

I'm in closer this time, my trusted rifle exchanged for a sleek handgun that feels like an extension of my arm. The acrid smell of smoke fills my lungs as I move through the chaos, my senses on high alert.

A Red charges at me, his knife glinting menacingly in the flickering light. I sidestep with practiced ease, my bullet finding its home between his eyes before he can even blink. His body crumples to the ground, but there's no time to dwell. Keep moving. Keep shooting. It's a mantra that's kept me alive all these years.

The flames are spreading faster here, licking up the walls and casting eerie shadows. We need to wrap this up before we're all barbecued.

I catch Lev's eye across the room, noting the fierce determination in his gaze. He gives me a nod, a silent communication honed by years of working side by side.

Time to go. We've done what we came here to do, and now it's time to disappear into the night, leaving nothing but ashes and bodies in our wake.

We all do a sweep as we make it back to the SUV, shooting anyone that is still moving and leaving the fire to do the rest. We aren't taking prisoners tonight. We're razing everything, even if all New York has to go with it.

As we race towards our final target, adrenaline surges through me. We're cutting it close, but we're almost done. One more, and then I can get back to Virginia. The thought of her, locked away safe, pushes me forward.

As soon as we stop, I leap onto the SUV's roof, my rifle already at my shoulder. The night air whips around me as we screech to a halt in front of the last warehouse. Unlike the others, this one's alive with activity. They're ready for us.

My finger finds the trigger, and I start picking off targets with mechanical precision. One. Two. Three. Bodies drop as our explosives team inches closer to the building.

The air crackles with gunfire and shouts. I tune it all out, focusing solely on the task at hand. My world narrows to what I see through my scope.

A Red pops up from behind a crate. I don't even blink as I squeeze the trigger. He falls, and I'm already moving on to the next target.

"Almost there!" Lev shouts from somewhere below.

I grunt in acknowledgment, too focused to form words. My finger never stops moving, each pull of the trigger another life snuffed out.

Finally, our guys reach the warehouse. I watch through my scope as they plant the charges, my rifle never stopping its deadly rhythm.

The explosion rocks the night, a massive fireball lighting up the sky. A grin splits my face as I watch the warehouse go up in flames. We did it. All three targets down.

Suddenly, white-hot pain explodes in my shoulder. The force of it nearly knocks me off the SUV. I gasp, my vision blurring for a moment as the agony threatens to overwhelm me.

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