“If I had eyes, I’d be shooting.”
Two of the workers we planted seem to have gotten caught in the crossfire, one of them the traitor we had been keeping under surveillance, but I don’t see the final two Shades anywhere.
“Lev, can anyone see them?” I continue to scan the area, not wanting to let my guard down.
“Thermal scanners aren’t picking up any more targets.”
I know I counted right. Where could they have gone? Realization dawns on me, but I don’t know if I’m too late. I move my scope to scan the roof, looking for my unicorn and her protector.
“The other two teams are advancing now. Does anyone have eyes on the target?” Lev asks.
I take a minute to think. Four teams plus them having the advantage.What would be his move?
???
“Around the corner. We will take two teams to send in as the inner circle, while the other two surround the outer area.” Adrik guides me on our first mission with him in charge. He’s fallen into the leader role much faster than expected.
“Do we have a fifth team coming in as a final wave?” I question, and he turns back to me with a cocksure grin.
“The fifth team is already here.”
“You really have thought of everything, my friend.”
“I’ve had a lot of practice. I’ve waited a long time to be at the top, and I don’t plan on fucking it up. Now, are you ready to make some bastards pay?”
“Let’s go, brother.”
???
I swipe my key at the door, knowing I need to get to the roof to protect Laney and Arrow. I look back at the direction everyone approached.
“One heat signature heading your way.” But I don’t need Lev when I can see the shadow of the man I used to call my closest friend striding toward us. Boris and I had been so careful. E was so careful.How did he know we were lying? How did he know what we were planning here?
When he’s close enough, I'm able to make out his smile. The same cocky smile that used to get me excited out on jobs. The same smile he would give his prey right before he shot them in the head.
This was all a fucking trap.
Chapter 56
Arrow and I make our way up the stairs to the roof when he confesses he doesn’t know if he can share me. Of all the things you’renotsupposed to say to someone before a literal war starts outside, I think that should be in the top three.
Instead of finishing the conversation, gunfire erupts outside and we both look at each other, knowing something is off.
“What the heck?” I yell as we run up the stairs as quickly as we can. I move to check out what is happening when Arrow grabs me by the arm and pulls me into a kiss.
“I can’t live without him too,” I tell him, hoping he will understand.
“I know, Kitten. I won’t make you choose. Now, let’s go kill some Shades.”
Is it wrong that the look he gives me in the name of murder gets me just as excited as it turns me on? If it is, then I’m not sure I want to be right. I am a criminal after all.
He nods to me as he heads toward the north-facing shield, and I go to the west. When the view opens up, I see Havoc and Alexi make it into the bunker just as two teams spread wide to take fire. They clearly don’t see that the plane is a prop that's actually a bunker equipped with guns.
They take up their positions on either side of the plane while Arrow and I start firing from above. We each take down a target when Havoc and Alexi come out of the plane. A single figure seems to approach in the distance and I know without a doubt in my mind who he is.
Adrik.
My body freezes in fear, the adrenaline doing nothing to keep my mind from racing when I set my sights on the man who threatened me and my family. The man who made me hurt one of my only friends. The man who thought he could control me and make me his secret weapon.