Page 63 of Assassin's Game
Remi had his phone in his hand, already dialing, presumably to call Leah if I read the panic in his eyes correctly. Thatunlessrang in my thoughts again. I ran for the door.
Mikaela called my name, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. The growing cloud of imminent disaster in my head wouldn’t let me.
I caught a glimpse of Titus at the computer, his frown ugly as he stared at the screen, his hand dropping to the gun strapped to his thigh. And then I was at the door and outside.
“Levi? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with Abby and the girls?”
My brother’s steel-gray eyes didn’t break their concentration on the door. He brushed past me like I was a fly beneath his notice. That was when I realized his gun was already in his hand.
“Levi! Bro, stop!”
But he didn’t stop. He barreled into the warehouse without a second’s hesitation. Shouts reached me outside, and then the shift from light to dark blinded me as I ran through the door.
Instinct sent me in the direction of Mikaela and Sullivan. I closed my eyes for a few seconds to force them to adjust faster, and then I was at the couch and fighting to make sense of the chaos.
Remi held Levi back, his shoulder against my brother’s, feet planted, sliding backward like he was trying to stop the Incredible Hulk. Monty and Rhys had Sullivan between them, dragging him away. Mikaela was yelling; Titus stood between her and Levi, gun drawn. I jumped in the midst of the turmoil.
Planting myself between Titus and Levi—a fact that earned me a menacing growl from Mikaela’s teammate—I got my hands as close to my brother as I dared without actually grabbing the gun. “Levi, talk to us, bro. What the fuck is going on?”
He didn’t look at me, didn’t look at Remi. He stared down Sullivan with a deadly resolve that had me sweating. “He has to die.”
Maybe Levi had discovered something we hadn’t? “Why? Why does he have to die?”
Levi shoved at Remi, inching closer to the target. “He has to die!”
With a quick feint into Remi, then away, Levi threw Remi off-balance and darted around him. Before I could make a grab for the gun, before any of us could blink, Levi was in front of Sullivan, his gun resting against the man’s forehead.
“Don’t! Please don’t,” Sullivan begged, showing true fear for the first time since we’d kidnapped him.
“Levi,” Mikaela begged, far closer than I wanted her to be, “think about what you’re doing!”
“I haven’t done a fucking thing but think,” Levi snarled in Sullivan’s face. “I thought about this asshole, about my brothers, about you and your fucking team.” He pressed the muzzle hard against Sullivan’s skin, turning it white. “I thought about it all, but there’s only one thing that will make this stop. Make it all go away. You,” he said, leaning close to Sullivan, “dead.” His finger slipped onto the trigger.
My breath jammed in my throat. Rhys and Monty were right there, hands on Sullivan, seconds from pulling him away—but those seconds wouldn’t save him. The bullet in Levi’s gun would shatter the man’s skull before he had moved a millimeter. Nothing could save Sullivan. No one—except Remi and me.
I met Remi’s gaze. Whether he realized it or not, he was still clutching the phone he’d had in his hand when I’d rushed the door. A lifeline. A direct connection to Leah. As we held our breath, the sound of her voice came through faintly. Remi didn’t answer, but didn’t let go. It was the only way he knew she was alive.
“Levi, tell me what happened. Talk to me. Where is Abby?” I asked.
Levi’s focus didn’t so much as flicker. “Abby is safe, and that’s how she’s going to stay.” He shoved the gun against Sullivan’s head, emphasizing every word: “She. Stays. Safe.”
I sensed Mikaela moving behind me, circling around until she could see Levi’s face. I matched each step, staying between them. Levi was my brother; I knew him better than anyone except Remi, but right now… I’d have sworn Levi would never kill an innocent, but if something didn’t break, Sullivan was dead and there was nothing we could do to stop it.
My gut cramped as I realized I didn’t know for certain that Levi wouldn’t take Mikaela’s team out as well. I loved my brother, but Mikaela… No, I wouldn’t risk her.
“Start talking, Levi,” I barked, continuing to shift as Mikaela struggled to get a good look at him.
The tone seemed to break through where pleas had not. “He was at the mansion.”
“He?He who?” I asked. “Who was—”
“X!” Levi’s finger tightened. I bit off the protest pleading to leave my lips.
“He showed up at the mansion?” He’d warned that he might contact us again today, but I assumed he meant e-mail. Showing his face was a risk I hadn’t thought he’d take.
“He didn’t just show up,” Levi bit out. “He was inside. He was in our goddamn house, right there with Abby, with…” His voice broke, and he jammed the gun forward again, drawing a cry from Sullivan. “Right there where he could get to them. He got inside, and I couldn’t stop him.”
The horror on Remi’s face surely matched mine. Everything became clear in that moment. If Levi felt he had to choose between Abby’s safety and Sullivan, it didn’t matter if the man was innocent—he was dead. I tried to speak, got nothing but a dry click, and cleared my throat.
