Page 136 of Descent

“Never!” I growl, shaking my head against the fleeting effects of her manipulation.

Panic washes across her face, she claws and kicks, trying to get away from me. I almost have her when she says something that stops me in my tracks.

“The baby was real! Your Eva. She’salive.” Ananke screams over the roar of the blowback.

My heart stops.

I freeze, my mouth hanging open for a second. A split second she uses to dig out the gun stashed in her garter, fling her hand up and?—

“Circe!” Artemis tackles me.

We hit the ground in a heap, tumbling. “No!”

“Did she hit you?”

“No, Arty, I had her and she said—let me up?—”

But the helicopter lifts off, weaving and rising fast. Through the whipping mess of my hair, I see her huddled in the opendoor, covered in blood but gripping the bar tightly as she ascends. Her eyes never deviate from me.

“The chopper! We need to get to the—” I start, my arms dropping to my sides as the noise fades and Ananke drifts away.

It had to be a lie. A ploy to startle me…

“Oh yeah? Yew sound jist like the Termeenator.” A gangly, filthy man steps up beside me.

“Gumbo?”

“Ayup. Whodja think blew the whole place to holy hell?”

A huff of laughter lifts my shoulders. My gaze trails after the last spot I saw Ananke.

“She got away.”

“I reckon she did. S’why I tagged her.”

“You what?”

“Circe!” Artemis’s frantic cry steals my attention. Rushing up the hill toward us, I spot familiar faces, Ero, men who must be his brothers. Behind and around them, broad-shouldered men in leather coats and the few remaining Yakuza fire off shots behind them, aiming for our vantage.

“Ero!” I shout, relief washing away my woe.

Until I see the tide rushing up the hill at their backs.

Most wear Ananke’s symbol on their arms, a swatch of gold over their suits. All of them are armed to the teeth, no longer with guns, but anything they could get their hands on. But it’s their eyes that raise my hackles.

Dead, vacant.

They’re all brainwashed. And she ordered them to kill us all.

With wild abandon, I throw myself into Ero’s arms as he arrives, kissing him viciously. We pull away smiling, turning back to face the enemy. His hand laces into mine.

“Cirs, these are my brothers. Aless, Ciro, Adriano.” Ero nods his head at each one.

“Intros, really?” Ciro barks. “Timing bro.”

Our allies tighten up in file, retreating toward the ravine. It’s the only defensible way out of the valley. Scooping up a stray rifle, I pop off a few shots, slowing the lead Pantheon soldiers. Ero reloads, cocks his gun.

“Come on, we have to get the fuck out of here!” Aless shouts, waving others on ahead of him.

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