Page 92 of F*ck Steal Kill

Here in this house, if they were a Savage, then they died. They’d made their decision, and I was good with that reasoning.

“Last chance, where are the hostages?” I pressed the blade into his throat, a line of blood dribbling down in the process.

“They escaped,” he choked, urine permeating the air as it soaked his pants. Rolling my eyes, I asked one more question.

“Viper?”

He shook his head, the blade cutting him deeper in the move, and the hot, sticky liquid ran over my fingers, sending a thrill through me. The smell of copper overtook the stench of urine, alighting the darkness in me.

“Coward,” I hissed, slicing across his throat the rest of the way. Standing, I wiped the blade on my pants and stepped over his body, already forgetting him as I calculated the next move.

“They’ve escaped.” Hope bloomed in my chest, and I prayed it wasn’t misguided. “Stay on alert, and let’s clear out each room. Viper doesn’t get to leave this place alive.”

The three of them nodded, falling into place as we worked together to clear out the rooms along this side of the house. I spotted some of Team Two leading people out of the house through the window, and I mentally sighed in relief that my plan was working. I hadn’t meant to step in and take over full control, and actually liked how Grady and I worked together.

But it was like we both knew only one of us could lead while inside, needing only one set of commands to follow. Otherwise, it could lead to sloppy mistakes and miscalculations, which neither of us was willing to play around with.

We came to the last door, and I had a feeling we were about to find our target. It was the most secure room on this end, making it the perfect hideout. I nodded to Lacey, and she pulled a gadget off of her belt and slid it under the door. Opening her phone, she directed the miniature drone to walk up the wall and give us an aerial view of the space.

The second Viper came into view, I had to stop myself from rushing in. He had Joy on her knees, a gun cocked to her head. A few men were standing before him, but it wasn’t the force I expected. Either we’d killed more than I realized, the men were hiding out somewhere, or they’d run when shit’d hit the fan earlier.

I wasn’t sure which option was preferable.

“Where’s Max?” Quentin mouthed, making me take a second look at the screen. He was right. He wasn’t in there.

“Where would he go?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. If he were still alive, which I would believe until I saw his body, he’d risk his life to gather as much information as possible. “The security room.”

Quentin nodded, shifting to his feet. I knew he was torn between wanting to go after Max or staying for me.

“Go,” I whispered. His shoulders dropped, and he nodded, kissing me on my forehead before he jogged off back to the other side of the house.

“Ready, Boss,” Lacey said, her harness on and the grate to the air vent already off. Moving with Grady, I helped her into the high vent on the wall and tied the end of the rope onto a doorknob. It wasn’t the best solution, but it would be enough to give her a way out if she needed it.

“What’s fucking taking so long? One of you, go,” Viper hissed, pointing to one of his men to head to the door. “You ready to tell me anything useful, bitch?” He slapped her with the gun, and I had to hold myself back from bolting in there before everything was in place.

“Êl síla erin lû e-govaned vîn,” she retorted, not at all scared as he seethed above her, blood dripping down her face.

“What did she say?” Grady whispered, and I had to shake my head to stop laughing. It helped ease some of the bloodlust, knowing that even when captured, Joy was still Joy.

“Sevig thû úan! Dôl gîn lost!”

“What language is that?” Grady whispered.

“Elvish. Joy’s a closeted nerd. She’s obsessed with LOTR.”

Grady grinned, the action lighting his blue eyes, and if we weren’t about to murder some people, I’d take a moment to really kiss him.

As it was, the door opened, and the man sent to check on our whereabouts emerged and stopped dead when he spotted us on either side. Lost in our moment, I’d forgotten about him. Oops.

Before he could sound the alarm, Grady elbowed him in the throat in a move so slick I had to grab the wall to hold myself up as my knees went weak. Because damn, that was hot.

The Savage sputtered, grabbing his throat as he tried to breathe and leaving himself open for my knife. With a few quick stabby-stabs between his ribs, I nicked his lungs, spleen, and kidney as he fell forward.

Unfortunately, the whole thing had alerted the room to our presence, and bullets whizzed out the door, landing in the guy and wall.

“Well, hello, who do we have here?” Viper called, his voice maniacal as he cooed out to us. “Come out, come out. You can watch me kill this stripper,” he barked, his voice changing to menace. Joy’s protest echoed around my brain as I planted my feet, waiting for Lacey to get into position. As it was, we were outnumbered, and their guns would take us out in seconds.

“Nah, I’m good. Not a fan of guns,” I yelled, tapping my knife against the doorframe.

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