Page 101 of Always A Villain
“Last chance,” I bite out, stepping closer. “Where. Is. She?”
DeLuca’s gaze flicks to the fresh corpse, then back to me, unimpressed. “That was her new husband.” He says it like a fucking joke, like he’s baiting me. “Guess I’ll have to find her another.” With a shrug, he steps over the body.
Husband.
I see red. Savagery the only response.
“The great Reaper…” DeLuca taunts. “Reduced to a lovesick?—”
I pull the trigger.
He hits the floor, eyes wide, mouth frozen mid-sentence.
Motherfucking bastard.
In the corner of my eye, movement. A gun. I dive, but the bullet slams into my side, tearing through muscle. A fresh burn ignites deep, but I fire back, my shot landing. The bastard stumbles, clutching his stomach as Kane lunges, teeth sinking into his throat. A scream. A wet, tearing sound. Then nothing.
Blood slicks my fingers. My wound pulses, leaking warmth down my side. Doesn’t matter. I’m already moving.
Kane takes off, nose locked onto her scent. I push past the agony and follow.
Then—
“AXEL!”
Her voice.
A scream,faint but there.
My chest locks up, muscles tight with urgency. Kane’s snarls turn rabid, his pace frantic.
Behind me, heavy footsteps—DeLuca’s reinforcements. They spill into the hallway, guns raised.
I don’t slow.
Bullets crack past me, slamming into the walls, shredding the marble. I duck behind cover, gun aimed. A guard drops. Then another. The scent of blood thickens, pooling in the heat of gunpowder and smoke.
I move. Keep pushing.
My gun clicks empty. Fuck.
“KANE!”
He lunges before the nearest guard can react, taking him down in a mass of thrashing limbs and screams. I reload, come up firing.
More bodies. More blood.
“Arsen, I need backup!” My breath is fire in my chest, my side screaming with every step.
“We’re pinned down!” Arsen grits out, gunfire crackling in the background.
“Un-fucking-pin yourselves.” I drop another guard, his body twitching as I shove past.
“I’m sending Griff,” he shouts back, voice drowned out by gunfire.
I round the corner into a sea of guards, each one just waiting to die. Rounds fire, bodies drop. My hands move, steady, even as my vision blurs, my body grinding to keep up.
“On your six,” Griff’s voice cuts in, and I glance back tosee him coming up, gun blazing.
