Page 67 of Killer Reign (The Chaos Crew 4)

TWENTY-SIX

Decima

The silenceon the other end of my connection to Blaze blared in my ears. Nothing broke it, no sound reaching me other than the rumble of my own car. My heart thumped faster, my hands tightening on the steering wheel.

I had the urge to jerk the wheel around, pull the tightest U-turn in human history, and race to the storage facility to defend my men. To make sure there was something left of themtodefend. What had happened to Blaze? Was he injured—was Garrison okay?

The frantic thoughts whipped through my mind, but my arms stayed braced in their previous position. Despite the turmoil inside me, one fact stood out clearly.

The guys wouldn’t want me to come rushing to their aid. If I could talk to them right now, even if theywerebleeding out over the storage lockers, they’d tell me that seeing our plan through was the most important thing. That they could handle themselves, and I had to focus on doing my part.

If I ruined everything we’d orchestrated so carefully, we’d never get another chance like this. We might not live long enough to even consider another attempt once the Blood Hunter was through with us.

Blaze and Garrison knew what they were doing. They wouldn’t be taken down easily. Lord knew they must have been worried about me while I was off on my own, without even a partner to call on. And how must Julius and Talon feel as they waited for the rest of us to complete the mission they’d been too injured to take part in beyond the planning stages?

If they could be strong and hold steady, then I could too. I owed it to them.

I gritted my teeth and drove onward.

When I reached my destination, I stopped at the end of the drive and looked up at the Maliks’ country house. We couldn’t have picked any place more fitting for our grand finale, since the Blood Hunter had used it for the finale in his own scheme to have me murder my family. While Blaze and Garrison had been taking down as many guards as they could, they’d also have been surreptitiously leading the Blood Hunter toward one final clue that would convince him his daughter was here.

The white walls looked somehow drearier than before even in the beaming late-afternoon sunlight. The yard’s grass was far more trampled thanks to all the investigators who must have come and gone after my family’s bodies had been discovered.

It’d been a few weeks, and the rainfall since then had washed away any lingering traces of blood. Nothing remained to indicate that this had been a crime scene except a few stray strands of caution tape that’d caught on a fence post near the barn. The property was still and silent. The Blood Hunter and I would have it to ourselves once I’d dispatched however many guards he managed to retain after my men were through with them.

I got out, bringing a rifle Talon had picked out for me and the bait Garrison had left in the passenger seat. Striding up the steps to the creaky porch, I draped Brittany’s school jacket over the railing at the top, arranging it so the tell-tale crest would be clearly visible.

The lock on the front door had been busted. I pushed inside and set Brittany’s backpack at the base of the stairs. Just a couple more jabs to send the Blood Hunter into an even deeper rage.

On the second floor, I slung the rifle over my shoulder and climbed out one of the bedroom windows, leaving it open so I could quickly slip back inside. I hauled myself onto the slate-tiled roof and crawled along until I found a good vantage point over the front yard while staying concealed behind the chimney.

Before he’d been cut off, Blaze had already reported taking down enough of the Blood Hunter’s remaining guards that I should be able to pick the rest off with one clip as long as I was quick enough. The more of them there were, the faster I’d have to be.

No call came to let me know the Blood Hunter was on his way, but I kept my position anyway.Somethinghad clearly happened to part Blaze from his phone, but that didn’t mean anything else was lost. I swallowed down my jittering nerves and ignored the queasiness roiling in my gut.

Finally, a faint thrum reached my ears. A motorcycle zoomed into view along the country road that led to the house, just two cars with it now. I couldn’t tell how many figures lurked behind the reflections gleaming off the windows.

They parked farther back from my car, the Blood Hunter still wary enough to realize someone might be staked out in or around it. As he swung off his bike, the car doors opened—and only two men got out. Whatever had happened with Blaze and Garrison, they’d managed to whittle down his protections to just those two guards.

Even with his helmet on, I could identify the moment the Blood Hunter spotted and recognized his daughter’s jacket. His shoulders stiffened, and he marched forward twice as swiftly as before, a pistol clutched in his hand. His guards jogged to catch up, their heads swiveling in an attempt to maintain the caution their boss had nearly thrown to the wind.

They didn’t see me. They never had a chance. The second they slowed, flanking the Blood Hunter, I pulled the trigger in quick succession. The bullets burst out the back of their skulls.

The Blood Hunter didn’t even flinch as his guards crumpled on either side of him. A second later, he was out of view of my current perch, but I couldn’t have easily taken him down like this anyway, not with his helmet and bulletproof vest. Shooting at his hurrying legs from above would have required sniper skills that would have challenged even me.

I was better at close quarters combat anyway. I’d taken down his remaining back-up. If he’d paused to call in more, they hadn’t reached him yet.

I had to end him before they had the chance to.

His voice bellowed from inside the house. “Where are you, Malik? What have you done with her? I’m going to tear you apart with my bare fucking hands the way I should have to begin with.”

I dropped the rifle on the roof, knowing it’d be more of a hindrance than a help indoors, and dropped back down to the window. I lowered myself to the ledge with the faintest rasp of my feet and eased silently inside.

As I slunk to the bedroom doorway, I took my pistol in one hand and a knife in the other. The bangs and crashes from below told me that the Blood Hunter was still on the first floor, and he was furious enough to take out his frustrations on the furniture.

“You’re not going to get away with this!” he hollered, his breath hissing through his teeth.

If I could sneak up on him and get a good enough opening before he noticed me, I might be able to shoot him in the leg before I went in for the kill. That’d weaken him, slow him down, even if all his vital areas were covered.

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