Page 106 of The Collector
"I didn't do anything, I was just holding the screen", Stoker said, dropping the case. Raven stepped forward first, instinct overriding hesitation. The descent was steep, the air shifting with each step, to a more antiseptic one as if the tomb had given way to something clinical. Controlled.
A hallway stretched ahead, impossibly straight, flanked by smooth concrete walls that bore no markings.. At the far end, a metal door loomed—tall, seamless, and utterly out of place. It wasn't rusted or old like the upper level.
This is taking too long. I need to find Mynx.
Stoker was the first to speak. "This isn't part of the mausoleum. They built it later. Hidden beneath the original design."
Fear crept around Ravens' heart like a vise. "The question is by whom? Be prepared for anything and everything, people. I can't and won't risk Mynx's life if we miss something." Raven pulled his gun from its holster and continued down the hall.
San shifted beside him as he pulled his backup piece from his leg holster, now aiming both guns at the door. "My guess is we're about to find out because the sound of that rock panel sliding back in the floor is enough to wake the dead. Whoever is behind that door had to have heard it open."
Stoker stepped up to the retina scanner, inspecting it with a practiced eye. The panel blinked green. "My brother has to be involved," he said, voice almost a whisper. "This thing just deactivated with my eye."
"Get ready, I want this bastard dead yesterday, I want Mynx out of this hellhole. Stoker, I need you to stay back. As much as I trust you with my life, you still need to recover." Raven steeled himself as he spoke. They had to hit him fast and hard; they wouldn't have long to overtake him.
"Raven, let me take the lead. I'll handle him." San's voice was steady, but there was a finality to it. "The Kings need you. Mynx needs you. Protecting you—and your father—that's always been my job."
Raven hesitated, then gave a curt nod. If San handled the brother, he could reach Mynx faster.
Jeremy stepped to the door, hand on the handle, waiting for Raven's signal. They drew their guns. Safeties clicked off. Every barrel locked on the threshold. Raven nodded once.
San moved first, sweeping left with his weapon raised. Jeremy was breaching the doorway when a blur of motion lunged from the shadows of the room in the direction of San. Raven barelyhad time to take in the situation before he heard the sound of a body hitting the wall. He stared in horror at the center of the room, stripped bare, Mynx and Cyndi hung precariously from chains. Their bodies were limp. Bowed.Please be alive, please be alive.
The reverberation of San's gun firing pulled him back to the fight.
Stoker's brother looked up at Raven as he withdrew the blade from San's lower back, his blood trailing on the floor like a signature as he rose. He watched Raven calmly, waiting for a chance to strike.
Raven cocked his gun, fury tightening his grip, as much as he'd like to postpone the man's death, quick and easy suited him.
The twins' eyes gleamed with contempt as they eyed the gun. "So, I was right about you, and so was your father. You really are a coward. So much of one that you're afraid to take me out like a real man—with your hands."
Raven didn't let him distract him. The gun in his hand was steady, but his pulse roared in his ears. San was gasping on the floor, blood pooling fast, his fingers twitching toward the wound like he could hold it closed with sheer will.
"Come on, Raven. You want her back? You want to be the hero? Then drop the gun and show me what kind of man you really are."
Raven's jaw clenched. He could feel the others behind him—Jeremy tense, Stoker whispering something sharp and tactical, but Raven didn't care. All he saw was the glint of the blade, the blood on the floor, and the threat to Mynx. This needed to end now.
The twin lunged for him. Raven moved just in time to be clear of his reach behind a column. His gun skittered across the room.
For a brief moment, his eyes caught Mynx's. The pain and fear in her eyes almost dropped him to his knees. But he couldn'thelp her until he killed this psychopathic freak. He pulled his backup gun from the holster.
"You think this is about pride?" Raven said, voice low, dangerous. "You think I care how it looks?" Raven tried to get him to talk again. Hoped he'd start another rant and be distracted so he could make his move.
What the fuck did he know about how his father felt about him? Fuck him. He was trying to get in his head.
"I think you care more than you admit. But more than that, I think you're afraid. Afraid that it's my name, Mynx will be screaming in the night now and not yours. Afraid that you'll die here and she'll be left to face me on her own. But mostly Raven, I think you're afraid that what your father thought about you is true."
Raven moved. He wasn't giving the twin the chance to reach for him again.It was now or never.
Raven popped around the column quickly, slamming the butt of his gun into the twins' jaw with a crack that echoed off the concrete walls. The man staggered, blood blooming from his mouth, but he laughed through it, twisted, and drove his shoulder into Raven's ribs.
They hit the ground hard. The gun skittered across the floor.
Raven rolled, fast, catching the twin's wrist as the knife in his hand came down. The blade kissed his cheek—just enough to draw blood—before Raven twisted the arm, forcing it back. Raven heard the pop when he pushed the man's shoulder out of place. But the sick fuck just grunted, then headbutted him with a sharp and sudden blow.
Raven reeled, vision swimming. The twin straddled him, with his knife primed to stab him in the chest. Raven struggled to maintain enough momentum to overtake him and bring it down.
"You're too slow, Raven. Too careful."
