Page 49 of Chasing Danger

Standing to either side of the back door along with Eva, I quietly counted to three. Then, using all my strength, I kicked in the door. The wood practically splintered under my foot, but it opened and allowed Eva to charge inside.

Gunshots rang out before I could even follow her through the door. Shouldering my way inside, I found the shack to be exactly as Oliver had described. One corner almost looked like an apartment, with a bed, couch, television, and a kitchenette. However, most of the space was dedicated to a jewelry-making workshop. Everything had a chaotic sort of order to it.

Except for one table, which was just chaos without the order. It had been overturned, and various tools and materials lay scattered over the floor.

My brain had about five seconds to catalog everything I was seeing. Several people stood over a bound figure on the floor.

Based on Oliver’s description, the figure was Ashes. They were squirming against their bonds and trying to look around in apanic, but the blindfold over their eyes made everything they did useless. I didn’t recognize their attackers, but I knew a kidnapping when I saw one.

Eva had already engaged the first kidnapper by the time I reached the group. Her bullets had killed at least one person, and another body lay conscious but bleeding on the ground. I managed to get a shot off, putting a bullet in the shoulder of the nearest kidnapper. They stumbled, but it wasn’t a lethal shot.

The kidnappers naturally split down the middle, half focusing on me while the other half confronted Eva. Just from the way they moved I could tell they were seasoned fighters. Probably ex-military who fell on hard times after returning to civilian life.

This wouldn’t be an easy fight. They were likely the same group of people who had attacked Oliver, and it seemed they’d learned their lesson and brought a larger group.

One of the kidnappers kicked a table at me, and I was forced to lower my gun in order to dodge out of the way. The shack was small. There wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver. A gun was limited up close. If I tried firing again, I would just as likely shoot an ally as an enemy. Off to the side, Eva was also having a similar difficulty, but I had to trust her ability to handle herself while I concentrated on dealing with my half of the kidnappers.

Stowing my gun away, I pulled out a pair of long knives instead. I always liked bladed weapons better than guns, they felt more in control than a bullet that could fly off in any direction, and the hilts settled comfortably in my hands.

The next kidnapper I encountered swung at me with a nightstick. Flipping one of my knives so the blade lay along my forearm, I blocked the swing of the nightstick. The clang of metalagainst metal knocked the kidnapper off balance, and I pressed forward. I embedded my other knife in the kidnapper’s neck, slicing right through a main artery.

With a spray of blood, the kidnapper dropped to the floor like the devil himself had snatched their soul right out of their body.

I did a quick count. There were at least three more kidnappers still alive from my half of the group.

My blades flashed. I swept out legs from under people, blocked blows when people tried to hit me, and dodged every time I saw the muzzle of a barrel point my way. Another kidnapper fell, and I couldn’t even consciously remember what had killed him. My body moved on instinct and muscle memory. Very few actual decisions were required.

It was in these moments that I always felt the most free. No thought. No decisions. Just movement.

Something struck the back of my leg and my knee collapsed. Moving with the sudden change of momentum, I tucked into a roll and came up on the other side of the overturned table. This put me closer to Ashes’s prone figure on the floor. At some point, they’d managed to get their blindfold off, and they stared at me with a mix of terror, confusion, and a little bit of recognition.

A shadow flickered in the corner of my vision. One of the kidnappers had tried to sneak up behind me. Reflexes kicked in, and I planted one of my knives in the middle of someone’s chest. The blade struck their breastbone in an awkward way and twisted out of my hand. I knew better than to try and hold on and risk hurting myself. I let it go. The kidnapper collapsed, taking one of my weapons with them.

I could hear Ashes screaming behind the gag covering their mouth.

Rough hands grabbed me from behind and something sharp sliced my shoulder. I whirled around before they could get a proper hold on me and hugged their arm to my chest. Repositioning my feet for better balance, I threw my attacker over my shoulder. They flew through the air, feet tumbling over their head in a perfect arch, and hit the concrete floor with the satisfying crunch of breaking bone.

Unfortunately, my foot tangled in a coil of wire that had fallen to the floor and I tripped. My other knife fell from my hand, and for one terrifying moment, I was weaponless. My attacker saw the moment of vulnerability, and although they clutched their visibly broken arm, they still smiled in victory.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I grabbed the first thing I could find. It turned out to be a soldering iron. The tool had a similar weight and handle to a knife, and I instinctively shoved the pointy end into my attacker’s eye.

Only when I smelled something burning and heard the sizzle of flesh did I realize that the soldering iron was still on.

The kidnapper screamed and clawed at their eyes, desperate to get the iron out. I pushed deeper, all the way up to the hilt, until the flailing body stopped moving.

They finally collapsed and I stumbled back a step, breathing hard.

“What took you so long, Boss?” Eva said from a few feet away.

Looking over at her, I found even more bodies lying on the floor at her feet. She’d dispatched her half of the enemies, and then dealt with a few of mine.

“What? You’re the bodyguard. This kind of stuff is supposed to be your job.”

She grinned at me—or at least gave me a toothy expression that passed for a grin—then stored her own knives safely back in their sheaths.

“You’re slower than normal today. Did your new bedmate work you too hard?”

A muscle twinged in my lower back.

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