Page 25 of Vengeful

I'd be ready.

"Jayden, where the fuck are you?"

Shit. That voice was closer than I realised.

I ducked down low and waited. A minute or two later, he walked past, making as much effort to move quietly as the twins had. Sloppy for trained mercenaries.

His back to me, I shot up and wrapped an arm around his neck. I drove my knife into his throat before he could make a sound. His eyes widened with surprise. Blood sprayed over the sleeves of his black T-shirt. He raised his arms to try to fight me off. A futile gesture at best. He was dead a moment later.

His body joined the first on the forest floor.

Now, where was the third asshole?

I quickly moved away from the second body and crouched back down, senses open. I couldn't rule out the possibility I'd made noise without meaning to. If he'd heard them, he'd be waiting for me. Fortunately, I was a patient man. I could wait a while for him to make a mistake. Unfortunately, my worry for Lila was starting to unravel again, out of my bundle of suppressed thoughts.

I pushed it away for a while longer. I needed to concentrate on dealing with the third asshole first.

I ran through both faces again in my mind while I waited. Nothing popped out. No sudden recognition. Nothing but a feeling of familiarity I couldn't put my finger on. Hell, they could have been former students for all I knew. I hadn't been teaching for long enough to forget them though, had I?

No, they were from somewhere else. None of that mattered right now.

Crunch.

I froze still, listening for more.

"Fuck." The word was muffled, the meaning clear. Which body had he found? Not that it mattered all that much. Clearly neither men were killed by a kangaroo or even an angry magpie. More like an angry lion. One who would protect his pretty little sneaky fox, no matter what it took.

I circled around slowly, again wanting to get behind the asshole. If I could take him out quickly and cleanly, I could go after Lila and the twins.

Yeah, they'd all say they could take care of themselves, but I wouldn't live with myself if anything happened to any of them. Having Lila was taken and trafficked on my watch was bad enough. I'd let my guard down just long enough for them to slip in and grab her. When I'd realised what they'd done, I was ready to slice open throats and tear people apart.

When I saw her standing in front of me, dressed in her transparent underwear… I'd never known relief like it. It felt like a shattered world had come back together and been reborn. My world. She was the sun we all orbited, basking in her fire and light.

She was the perfect combination of sweet, sexy and badass. I wasn't even slightly surprised she led the revolt against those who dared to keep her and those other women captive. And fuck me, she looked smoking hot doing it.

Ignoring the sudden ache in my balls, I moved through the bush, following the occasional crunch and snap, and a second, "Fuck," as he found the second body.

I caught sight of movement up ahead. He crouched and knelt beside the body, then stood. He turned around slowly, scanning the bush, looking for me.

I smiled to myself. Gotcha, asshole. He wasn't going to live long enough to regret taking this job. Instead, his bones would be bleaching out in the bush along with his friends. The bugs and other creatures were going to have a feast tonight.

Hand around the hilt of my knife, I almost strode forward. He knew I was coming, I could feel it in the air. That moment when death steps up, making itself known before it takes you.

This was exactly the reason my codename was Death Adder. I was stealthy, deadly and slippery as fuck. I was the last thing a lot of people saw.

"Freeze, asshole." A voice came from behind me. That was followed by the cocking of a gun. "Unless you want your brains spread out all over the Australian bush."

CHAPTER 10

SLADE

I kept my body loose, ready. It wasn't often I was taken by surprise. I was irritated as fuck with myself. How had he crept up on me without me knowing? I was so focused on the man in front of me and all the noise he was making, I missed the silence behind me.

Fuckingidiot, I told myself.

"I'd prefer to keep my brains intact," I said lightly. "Do you always sneak up on people out for a bushwalk?"

His response was half huff, half laugh. "Drop the knife."

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