Page 114 of Lethal Alliance

But the truth is that after watching him open that metal flower, I’m not sure what Alexei does or doesn’t know.

Not that it matters.

One word from me, and the one-eyed bastard is a dead man. I’m poised to give the order.

Iwantto give the fucking order.

Then, to my utter shock, Alexei Petrovsky gives me a twisted smile and drops the key into my open palm. “It’s yours,” he says calmly.

Vilnus Orlov looks between us suspiciously. “If you two are finished your pissing contest, then you can open that fucking thing,” he snarls.

In your fucking dreams, Orlov.

I smile at him. “Go,” I say quietly.

It all happens so fast Vilnus doesn’t even get a hand near his gun.

Flash bangs fill the room with smoke. The walls on either side of us burst open, and Mak’s men fill the small space, taking every one of Vilnus’s guards with silenced pistols before they’ve so much as pulled a trigger. I have Orlov headlocked and on the ground before his guards hit the floor. My two remaining guards have taken Petrovsky. To my surprise, he doesn’t struggle at all, just goes to the ground with that same twisted, cold smile, submitting without any fight as they zip tie his hands behind him.

I pocket both of the keys and quickly strap on the weapons Mak’s men throw me. I can hear the shouts of the fight on the floor above as more of Bravo Team pours out of the upper tunnels.

“Get those two to the dock,” I snarl at the small army surrounding Petrovsky and Orlov. “And get them there alive.” I’m already running down the corridor toward the room where the girls are held, two dozen men hard on my heels, when a pack of men round the corner, guns already blazing.

I take two hits that hurt like a motherfucker despite my body armor. I shoot without pausing, taking out both of the shooters. The others behind them go down just as fast under measured, precise firing from Mak’s men. I move straight through the pack, punching two stragglers as I go, intent on only one thing: getting to the girls.

They keep coming, and we keep taking them down, Mak’s men covering me as I run straight through every oncomer, punching those who haven’t already been hit before I reach them.

I round the final corner just as Bravo Team comes from the opposite direction. In between us is a pile of bodies and Dimitry standing in front of the open door, flanked by one of the Alpha Team men. He has blood streaming down his face, and his suit is ripped to fuck, but he’s grinning like the mad bastard he is.

“About time,” he greets me, punching a final Orlov resistor to the ground.

He must have taken at least a dozen of them with his bare hands, and under gunfire, before we reached him.

I grip his shoulder, and he stands aside.

Ofelia and Masha are curled into the floor, their heads down. The final Alpha Team member is sprawled across them, literally covering their bodies with his own, his large hands over their two heads. Blood leaks from several holes in his body. He stands as I approach, and grins when I throw him a pistol.

“Fun times,” he says. Ignoring the blood coming from his leg, he crouches down beside Ofelia and pats her shoulder, then raises Masha up gently. “You’re okay, sweetheart,” he says, smiling at her. “You’re going to be safe now, okay? We’ve got you.”

“Hurry.” Mak’s voice crackles through the earpiece. “There’s a fucking army coming at the compound.”

I crouch down, horribly aware both of the blood and death surrounding us and of the need for haste. “Ofelia,” I say quietly, trying to reassure the rigid figure huddled into the wall. “We have to hurry, darling.”

She nods, her face white and tense. Masha turns around. “You have blood on you,” she says in a small voice.

“Yes, I do. But I’m fine, Masha, and so are you. We need to go now, okay? We’re going on a boat.”

I pick her up and hold my hand out to Ofelia, but she pauses. “Where is Alexei?”

I frown. “Don’t worry about Alexei, darling. He can’t hurt you anymore, I promise.”

“You didn’t—Is he dead?” There’s something odd about the way she says it, almost an accusatory note in her voice.

“Not yet,” I say grimly. “I need him to answer some questions. We have to go, now.”

She nods, but her eyes are darting this way and that, as if she’s still looking for her torturer. They settle instead on the Alpha Team member, a man called Luke, if I remember correctly. He smiles at her reassuringly. “I’m right behind you, sweetheart.”

She nods, gulping, and starts to move. I shoot Luke a grateful look. Despite the blood leaking from several points on his body, he’s smiling as calmly as if he were taking a Sunday walk.

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