Page 145 of Mystic's Sunrise

Too slow.

I caught his wrist, twisted, and drovemyknife up under his ribs, just below the sternum.

His whole body jerked. He gasped—wet, gurgling.

I pulled the blade out and drove it in again. “This is for all the shit you did to her.”

One more thrust. Deep. Deadly.

Blood bubbled at his lips. His eyes went glassy. The light in them flickered, then… nothing.

Still.

I stayed there a moment, chest heaving, blood dripping from my hands.

He didn’t move.

No breath. No twitch. No fucking heartbeat.

He was dead.

I stood up slowly, wiping my blade on his shirt. The others were already regrouping. Fang was sprawled out in the dirt nearby, Spinner kneeling over him, hands shaking, a knife still buried in Fang’s chest.

Devil came up beside me. “You got him?”

I nodded once. “He’s not getting’ back up.”

“Good.” Devil’s said, giving him a kick. “We clear the rest, then get the hell out. We’ve got a few brothers hurt.”

I looked down one last time at Drago’s body, blood pooling beneath him.

It was over.

But in the back of my mind—somewhere deep—I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d missed something. That somehow, some way…

This wasn’t finished.

The sounds of the fight faded, gunfire replaced by groans and the low rumble of engines being shut down. Some of the surviving Dragon Fire cowards dropped their weapons. A few lay face-down in the dirt. Chain and Thunder were rounding them up, barking orders, kicking guns out of reach.

“Got this one talkin’,” Thunder called, dragging a younger guy forward by the collar. Blood ran down the side of his face, but his eyes were still wild. “Says he’s got somethin’ Mystic needs to hear.”

I stalked toward them, jaw clenched. “Make it fast.”

The guy swallowed hard, glancing at Drago’s body, then back at me. “It’s too late,” he said, voice shaking.

“What did you say?”

He licked his lips, hands trembling. “That’s what Drago meant… when he said you were too late. He had orders. Told us if he got hit, if he didn’t make it back…”

He trailed off, but I stepped in close, grabbing a fistful of his cut. “Say it.”

“He said burn the fucking place down,” the guy gasped. “Said to torch the clubhouse with Zeynep inside. Said she’s his and if he couldn’t have her, no one could.”

Time stopped.

The ground dropped out from under me.

A roaring filled my ears, louder than gunfire, louder than engines. My hands went numb, still fisted in his collar.

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