Page 73 of Blood Lust

He crouches before us, brushing hair out of our face. “So beautiful. Let’s make a portrait for Oz, shall we?”

I watch in horror as he pulls a blade from his boot and I cringe as he touches it to our cheek. Hot searing pain accompanies the gash as he drags the sharp metal down our face. Blood pours out of the wound, and we hiss in pain. “You know, Wren. It’s almost dawn, and I’m still not begging.”

“There’s still time,” we snarl.

Brow furrowing, lips curling with scorn, he cuts down the center of our shirt, exposing our chest to the air. Taking the blade, he starts at the top of our breasts and presses the blade into our skin, following the natural curve into the center. Not getting the reaction he wants, the frustration is evident on his face. He presses on, reaching my stomach and pushing hard. Screaming in pain, we feel how deep the damage goes. An evil grin crosses his lips, and we want to wipe it from his stupid face.

We think about all the ways we want to kill him. All the ways we want to shred him. Using the aid of a deep breath, we allow laughter to escape our mouth.

Emerson doesn’t like that and the smile immediately disappears.

It doesn’t matter. His focus has to shift, Oz is here, and we all turn our attention to the door.

KnowingthatWrenisalive gives me all the motivation I need. I won’t let Emerson hurt her. I will make her safe or die trying.

Basement.

I didn’t see a basement on the blueprints. It’s not surprising to me that Emerson has had this planned for a while and added one off the books. If he weren’t such a sadistic prick, I could admire his work ethic.

With my M4 Carbine in hand, I prepare to go in with the group starting at ground level in the rear of the building. Everyone has a mic and earpiece so we can communicate anything meaningful. If it isn’t explicitly necessary, we were to be silent. Our goal is to incapacitate, extract, and then we will burn everything to the fucking ground.

We are positioned at the back entrance, waiting for the roof team to give the go-ahead. They have quietly dispatched two lookouts that weren’t particularly good at their assignment.

“Top clear,” Charlee calls on comms. “All teams are go for breach.”

Hand already on the handle to the door, I twist it quietly until I meet the resistance of a lock. It is nothing to force the lock to break as I keep turning. The crunch of the mechanics failing is louder than I would like. I pull the door open, and Rolando enters first, keeping his back to the door.

He sidesteps to make room for the rest of us. “Clear.” He says to us, not on the mic. I come in next, Chandra and Zach are right behind us. We are in a back hall, an old employee break room to one side and offices and closets to the other. Splitting into groups of two, we move to clear the back.

Turning right to check an office, I come face to face with a rather large man. He seems vaguely familiar. No doubt one of the more infamous criminals Emerson turned. He slaps the barrel of my rifle, trying to make sure it won’t tear into his face.

I pull my pistol from my side and fire five rounds into his skull.

I hear rapid fire in the next room as Rolando takes out another guard.

For being his security, they were doing a shit job of protecting Emerson’s assets.

The other half of our group sounds like they found a few others.

Easier than expected, the back hall is now clear.

Sounds of gunfire come from the front. The four of us converge on the door leading to the main section of the warehouse, confident that they will be distracted by our other team. Rolando mans the door this time. I step into the room and see men tucked behind the old machines of the factory for cover. But they aren't paying attention to their backs. I sidle to my left and begin firing.

A man to my right picks up on what is happening and repositions to return fire at us.

Ducking down and rolling, I put a large cement pillar between me and his bullets. Rolando made it out and is tucked by a machine to my right. Chandra and Zack are pinned at the door.

Fuck.

I peer around the corner fire, pulling back in time to save myself from getting a nice gaping head wound. While the attention is on me, Rolando takes his turn to fire. I hear the sound of several bullets colliding with flesh, but none of them are the money shot to drop him.

Zach fires from the door, forcing the gunman back around his machine.

The sound of breaking glass from behind him, and a pool of blood begins to seep from behind it.

One of our sharpshooters got him.

Wren reveals her escape in the middle of the gunfight and is trying to get upstairs to us. I can hear Charlee descend, killing stragglers. Emerson has yet to make an appearance.

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