Page 111 of Santiago's Conquest (Four Dark Horsemen 1)

What does good entail?”

Santiago

Location unknown, United States

Santiago, 15 years old

Heavy footsteps echo in the hallway, and Callum orders, “Quickly, guys, put on handcuffs before they come in.” Artem and I hide the weapons a second before Roccko shows up.

“What the fuck happened here?” We stay silent when he checks Jonathan and curses. “Old fucker finally died. Good riddance.” We exchange looks with each other but still stay silent.

He then shifts his attention to us and scans us from head to toe. “Follow me. There is a fire in Edward’s part of the wing.” He motions with his hand, and we do as he commands.

We might be dogs to them, but we are the most beloved dogs of his boss, so he should protect us really well. Which plays to our advantage, because among the chaos, we might find a chance to slip away, especially with our cuffs out of the way.

Roccko speaks into the mic on his jacket. “All guards by the gate, come inside. Edward is trapped in his wing.”

Someone on the radio replies, “On it.”

I do a double take when Roccko does something unexpected.

He gives me the keys, ordering, “The car is right by the gate. It’s open right now, because the guy brought the gunpowder supply. You need to run as fast as you can. Do you understand me?” Our jaws drop open, shocked to our core.

The meanest motherfucker of them all decided to help us?

“Now you,” he addresses Artem, “take this.” He gives him a big-ass knife and then gives Callum the gun. So I’m the only one left without a weapon despite my skills. What a fucking joke! We shouldn’t have dropped our other ones. “And you, I know your hands are uncuffed, so you can loosen them.”

We drop the chains while lurking behind the wall as chaos erupts around us. “I’ll lead you to the main door, and then you will shoot at me.”

“What?” Callum exclaims, clearly too scared to kill anyone.

Roccko ignores his words. “Afterward, you will run to the gate, which will be empty. You will have a maximum of two minutes before they all catch up. It’s the only chance I can give you,” he says to Jonathan’s dead body. “After slipping the pill into this asshole’s drink, that is.”

“Why?” Artem asks the question that’s probably on all our minds, and Roccko gives us a sad smile.

“I can no longer work undercover for that shit, and they don’t want to jeopardize their chances.”

Oh, so he’s an agent?

Father couldn’t even find me with an agent working undercover and who saw me on a daily basis so he could have recognized my face from a missing kids database?

Fuck, why does it hurt?

The footsteps thumping on the floor indicate we have no more time for explanations or my wallowing in self-pity, and he motions for us to go after him. We move rapidly through the hall, where all the guards are running in different directions. The smell of smoke is strong from the fire erupting in the other wings.

Roccko barks, “Now.”

Callum’s hands are shaking so hard he can’t pull the trigger, so with a muttered curse, I stand next to him, wrapping my hands above Callum’s to steady him. We participate in this together, so if he ever has nightmares about it in the future, he can soothe them with the knowledge he hasn’t done it alone, and we both fire at Roccko’s chest.

He groans loudly and then rasps, “Go, go, go.”

The guards are already shouting, “Roccko has been shot!”

Despite all the mistreatment and malnourishment, we run with all our might to the gate, my bare feet burning on the concrete while the harsh sunlight blinds us, since we’ve been inside the basement for so long.

We run like thousands of dogs are chasing us, because this is our only shot at survival. We can focus on the pain and labored breathing later.

We spot the car, and I shout, “I’ll get behind the wheel!”

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