Page 78 of Dagger

I paused and craned my neck.

“Don’t fuckin’ miss,” he snarled.

My thoughts turned to Sunny and Kady, remembering their scared, pale faces. Memories of Elise leaping over to shield them flashed through my mind, and a steely sense of determination tightened my gut.

“No more pussyfootin’ around and waiting for them to bring shit to us, Atlas,” I bit out, squaring my shoulders. “If it’s a war the Sinners want, then that’s exactly what they’re gonna get.”

Chapter Fourteen

Elise

“This way.”

I walked down the stairs and saw Layla waiting for me.

“These shoot-outs are becoming a regular occurrence,” she murmured, a wry smile playing around her lips.

Rushing down the last of the steps, I winced at the pain in my hip. “Dagger mentioned you were a good shot,” I said, passing her one of the handguns John gave me.

Layla’s huge, grey eyes lit up, and she took the gun from me with a small grin. “Oh, it’s a Glock 19. My favorite.” She slid out the magazine like she was Bonnie Parker and pulled the top backward to check the bullets before clicking the weapon back together again. “Locked and loaded, baby.” Her eyes fell on the other gun I was holding. “Whatever you do, don’t give that to Cara. She’s the worst shot in the world. She’ll shoot someone’s ass off.”

“You know your way around a gun, then?” I asked dryly as we walked toward a thick metal door with a keypad positioned to the side.

She smiled, punching a sequence of numbers into the pad. “Bowie says I have a way with them.” A loud click sounded, and Layla pushed the heavy door open with her shoulder. “Come on.”

The sound of kids crying and the low hum of nervous chatter greeted me the instant I stepped into the dimly lit room.

Glancing around to get my bearings, I saw the Cell was filled with women and kids. Sunny and Kady played over at the far side of the massive room with Kai and a few children I didn’t know. Adele and Freya were speaking to a group of ol’ ladies while keeping an eye on the children.

Adele’s stare caught mine and she shot me a smile, which I returned with a friendly nod.

“There she is,” Kennedy exclaimed.

“Are you okay?” Sophie demanded, rushing toward us, holding Belle. “Where were you?”

“John needed to talk to me,” I explained. “He gave me a couple of guns and some ammo for protection.”

“Excellent,” Cara declared.

Layla shot her a glare. “You’re not having one.”

Cara rolled her eyes. “Fucking killjoy.” Her head whipped left as a loud crash came from the corner of the room. A pile of chairs, which had been stacked on top of each other, clattered to the floor, causing a racket.

One of the other ol’ ladies swooped in and picked up a grinning toddler.

“Wilder,” Cara bit out, tone exasperated. “How did you get over there?” She rushed over and took her son from the woman with an apologetic smile.

“That kid’s the spirit child of Houdini,” Kennedy declared. “He’ll either grow up to be an escape artist or a stuntman, mark my words.”

“I’m just happy the twins and Willow are with Iris and Sera,” Layla murmured thoughtfully. “Do you think they’re safe?”

“I’ll call her,” Kennedy announced, fishing in her jeans pocket for her cell phone. As she pulled it free, it began to ring loudly.She stabbed at it and clicked it onto the loudspeaker before saying a tentative, “Hello?”

Atlas’s booming voice filled the air. “Yo, Ned. Tell Soph the boys are takin’ Tex down to the med wing soon.”

“I can hear you, big man,” my daughter replied. “I’ll head down there now. Is everything okay?”

“Wait until Reno comes for ya,” Atlas ordered. “He’ll keep watch at the door while you work. We’re gettin’ the upper hand. Prez and Arrow are on the roof, and one of ‘em just sniped some asshole dead. The other pricks are startin’ to look nervous.” He paused for a second as a voice in the background said something to him. “Two down now. Won’t be long.”

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