Page 122 of Wicked Devotion
We agreed on this after we figured out that the 203 can’t have too many men here. There are barely any vehicles parked on the compound, and Cady got her hand on a dataset containing some more phone numbers of known members. Apart from one higher-ranking guy and now Randy, none of the important assholes had been anywhere near the factory in the last few days. This must be a private project for Randy, and despite thinking about it for hours, I don’t know if this is for better or for worse.
Max and I check our weapons while Charlie is still going over some things with Sam and Rockwell, and soon, we start our walk toward the old factory. I stop in my tracks when Rockwell holds his hand up, gesturing over to two guys patrolling the area.
Guarding the compoundreallywell, I realize when I run right into the smelly cloud of smoke that follows them. Not even two minutes later, Sam and I dump their corpses behind a pile of junk.
We activate our earpieces before we split up, and as Max and I sneak over to the emergency exit, I put my hand on the back of his neck, squeezing softly. The door must have rusted from its hinges decades ago, a flickering light barely illuminating the long hallway in front of us as we get ready.
“Everyone in position? Rockwell asks.
“Yes, sir,” I answer for both of us after Max nods.
“Going in,” Sam says, and a second later, we hear a quiet thud. “One down.”
We will find our girls. We have fought off bigger threats, soldiers more skilled and equipped than those rats. Hell, I’ve gotten myself out of more precarious situations with nothing but a knife and a whole lot of anger, and despite that, I’ve never been this nervous.
Max steps in front of me, squeezing my hand one last time before he picks up his gun.
“You’ve got my six?”
“Always, sunshine.”
Entering the dark hallway behind him, it seems as if we accidentally picked the quiet wing. While we get frequent updates from the other guys, we don’t encounter a single soul, a deadly silence hanging thick in the air.
And then Sam starts yelling.
Screaming and crashing comes from behind one of the doors deeper down the hallway and Max and I take off in a sprint, just as panic breaks out inside the factory. The four guys that come running our way don’t make it far. I step over them, continuing to run toward the area the sounds had come from, but then I hear something that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
It’s Lily, screaming for help, until her voice is cut off. A dull thud resounds from inside the room that’s hidden behind a door with a blacked-out window, and as Max puts his hand on the handle, I yank him back.
“No. Change of plans. You go out the back, check for a window.”
“Fuck, no. I’m going in,” he snarls, trying to free himself.
“Max, you need to trust me. I know you want to get in there, but we’re only risking her life when we do it like this. I need you as my backup. Please.”
“If anything happens to her–”
“Nothing is going to happen,” I say, and Max narrows his eyes at me before taking off down the hall back towards the exit.
Crying comes from inside the room. It stops when I rattle on the doorknob, and that’s when I decide not to wait for Max to tell me he has found the window. Slamming my fist through the glass pane, I keep my gaze fixed on those ambereyes I was so scared of never seeing again while I kick the door in.
“Nu-uh,” Randy tuts as I take a step toward him and Lily.
His gun is pressed against Lily’s temple, the other hand conveniently playing around with a knife too close to her throat. Hate surges through my body, but despite that, I lower my gun to the ground, raising my arms in defeat when I stand back up.
“We all know how this is going to end. Guess I won’t be able to redeem my ticket out of here,” Randy says, sniffing Lily’s hair before he lets out a disgusting groan.
I think I’m going to start with his tongue. Work my way down, maybe flay some parts.
“It’s a shame I didn’t get to spend more time with you, princess. I bet you’d have been a great fuck.”
He presses his body against Lily, who shivers in his grip, but her eyes never leave mine.
“Now?” Max asks over the earpiece.
“Now,” I snarl, and the window at the back of the room breaks.
Randy turns around in a panic, but I’m so focused on the blood slowly soaking Lily’s shirt that I barely notice Max entering the room. Lily lifts her hands, turning white as she wipes over her chest, looking down at the blood coating her fingers.
