Page 34 of Toxic Vengeance

“Sure.” He’d start with the long gun, then move to close quarters-style shooting with his pistol after.

Lying prone on his belly with his cheek pressed to the stock of the rifle, the butt of it tight to his shoulder, a sense of calm overtook him. Everything else faded away as he stared through the scope at the target in the distance and adjusted the focus.

Finger on the trigger, he cleared his mind of everything but the center of the target, letting muscle memory and training take over. Exhaling, he waited until all the air had left his lungs, then fired. A metallic ping sounded a second later.

“Hit, right center,” the range master said, then grinned at him. “Man, I love watching you work.”

Glenn ignored him, focused on the target. He’d missed the center by several inches, when he needed to be hitting dead center on the first shot every time. He adjusted his scope again, readied for the next shot.

He didn’t care what the Architect thought or said. If the remaining Valkyries were working together, it was only a matter of time before they uncovered the truth. His gut said that time was now. He had to stop them, keep sending hitters out every time he had a lock on one of them, and be ready for anything.

Glenn was done waiting, so he’d taken control. It was a race against time now, a case of kill or be killed. He wasnotgoing to be brought down by the same operatives he had helped create.

****

Eden pulled the hood of her coat down lower over her forehead as she climbed the steep, narrow stairs up Advocate’s Close in Edinburgh’s Old Town. She paused at the top, taking in the sound of the people walking past and the rain hitting the stone pavers beyond the archway.

The imposing structure of St. Giles’ Cathedral stood directly across from her, looming over the street. She stepped out onto High Street and turned right toward the castle, making her way up the incline toward the next location she had to check.

The old city center was still busy for a rainy fall evening. Groups of tourists hugged the front walls of shops on the sidewalk as she passed them, trying to stay dry. A lone piper stood near the top of Castle Hill, the mournful skirl of his pipes drifting through the air as the incredible silhouette of torch-lit Edinburgh Castle rose above the gloom behind him.

She scanned the street constantly, alert for any sign of a threat or someone following her as she made her way to the flat she needed to check out. The unit was half a block up on the third floor of a tall stone building built in the mid-seventeen-hundreds.

Ducking into the alcove, she took the spiral stone staircase to the fifth story, her blade strapped to her calf beneath her jeans and her pistol securely tucked into its holster in the back of her waistband.

According to Amber this flat had no security camera outside it. Eden checked anyway to verify that before approaching the bright cobalt blue door and peering through the window beside it. The Roman blind was drawn but there was enough room in the small gap at the bottom for her to see inside. The window looked directly into a small living room and kitchen, lit by the lantern hanging overhead in the entryway.

Inside, the place was immaculate, no shoes or other items in the foyer to the left, no dishes in the sink or anything on the counter. It was a rental unit in a prime location, and booked constantly. The cleaners had come in after the most recent guests had checked out that morning, but as far as she could tell, no one else had arrived yet, least of all Penny. A Valkyrie would never have left a gap at the bottom of the blind for someone to see inside.

Eden stepped back to glance around, having already decided this place was a dud. She doubted Penny would stay here. It was too close to the Royal Mile, too many people around who might see her.

She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Trinity and Zack.

Location delta clear. Heading back now.

At the bottom of the stairs she stepped back out into the cold rain and made her way across the wide street, the sound of the pipes following her. Edinburgh had atmosphere in spades but she didn’t have time to stop and appreciate it.

They had to find Penny before she got to her target and put herself at serious risk of getting killed. Her cover was likely blown. Popovich had his own private security detail, and so did a lot of other men he was here to meet with. The likelihood of Penny walking away after killing him was almost zero.

On the other side of the Royal Mile, Eden turned down Victoria Street, passing the brightly-colored shops and restaurants on her way down to Grassmarket at the bottom of the hill. She passed more cafés and restaurants, then took King’s Stable’s Road past St. Cuthbert’s, crossed Princes Street and finally made her way up Charlotte Street.

Her jeans were soaked from the lower thigh down as she let herself into the flat their team had rented for the night. She pulled off her wet coat as Trinity emerged from one of the bedrooms, phone in hand. “I struck out too. Zack just texted that he’s on his way back now. Hope he had better luck than we did.”

Eden didn’t like that he’d been sent out on his own tonight. Amber was monitoring his phone and movements, but he could buy a burner or have face-to-face meetings with someone and they would never know. Zack was invested in finding out who had sent John to kill her and Chris, then had him killed, not necessarily anything else. “Yeah, let’s hope.”

Time was ticking, and their best hope of finding Penny was probably locating her target and then lying in wait for her to show up. Much as she didn’t like it, with his connections and social skills, Zack had the best chance of determining Popovich’s whereabouts.

Another mistake was in thinking that with the initial tension broken between them, things would get easier. She’d been wrong. It was increasingly difficult to be around him with every minute they spent in each other’s company. He was so much like he was when they’d been together. Heseemedsincere about his commitment to the team, but she was still skeptical about his motives.

“Any of the locations you checked seem likely for her to rent?” Trinity asked.

“No, none.” According to the most recent intel Amber and Zack had analyzed, Penny had been in hiding for months and had a long list of enemies, including the war criminal Popovich. He was due at a meeting in Edinburgh in the morning, so logic dictated he was probably in the city already.

If they were going to save Penny, it had to be tonight.

Two rapid knocks on the door signaled Zack had arrived. Eden steeled herself but the moment he stepped inside and their eyes met, it was suddenly hard to breathe.

Since seeing him in London she’d been trying not to think about them together, and failing miserably. Everything reminded her of him, and the memories were so damn vivid. His smile, the deep sound of his laugh. The way he’d looked at her, like she was the most beautiful, incredible woman in the world. Histouch. Lighting up her whole body with only the graze of his fingertips. The feel of him on top of her.Insideher.

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