Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Holy shit.
Cloak and dagger tactics aren’t our usual approach, but the longer it takes before we’re discovered, the better Faith’s odds are.
No one else moves and no sound comes from the loading dock, so it looks like we’re good. Alpha waves for us to go, and then we’re running. I draw my gun on the way, the grip comforting in my hand. I’ve been through a lot with this thing, both in service and later, and it’s a little like an old friend by now. An old friend who’s going to help me save my woman.
Our woman.
The guards have both been shot in the head. Jesus Christ. And Quickshot always seems so fucking cheery and easygoing. Naive. Never judge a book by its fucking cover. He could give marksmanship classes.
No one else is here.
“Where’s the fucking red carpet?” I make a show of looking around. “You’d think they didn’t even know we were coming.”
Animal laughs, but Alpha glares and puts a finger on his mouth. Right. I’m too fucking used to this game to have nerves, but they’re there anyway. I remember what it was like before firefights when I was deployed, at least to start with, but that’s a long time ago. Having Faith’s life on the line makes all the difference.
The hallway beyond the loading dock leads into a warehouse section of the mall. Must’ve been a department store or something. Now there’s only empty and rusty metal shelves along the walls, cracked flooring and some rotted curtains hanging crookedly from broken rods. The Vipers might leave their bikes by the loading dock, but it’s somewhere else they use for a safe house.
Animal and Badass take left, while me and Alpha take right, stepping carefully and keeping an eye open for trouble. If we can take resistance down quietly, we will, but it’s only a matter of time before we’re noticed. Too many of them and too many of us. Stealth is more Blade’s territory. I hope he’s already fought his way out and taken Faith with him, because the alternatives are looking worse by the second.
There’s only one path for us: making our way deeper into the decaying mall and praying we aren’t too late.
34
FAITH
Oh my God.
“You killed him,” I barely squeeze out before covering my mouth with my hand. It’s either to keep my scream from being too loud, or to make me not throw up, but I don’t know which one yet.
I’ve seen so much death the past few days, but there’s something different about the pool of bright red blood forming around Shovelhead like a grisly halo. Blade’s knife is stained the same color and dripping on the floor.
He gives Shovelhead one more disdainful look, and nods. “I did. And I’d do it again, then spit on his fucking grave. You’ve gone through enough fucking shit. I wasn’t about to let him fucking add to it.”
“Couldn’t you have knocked him unconscious?” Slitting a throat is just so… it’s like butchering. Even knowing what’s behind me gives me chills, never mind actually seeing it. This feels a lot like how I felt when I saw Dad’s video.
“Maybe, but it’s not like with Razor. We didn’t hit him hard because he wasn’t interested in coming after us, it was just a cover. This asshole would’ve put a bullet in the back of our heads if he woke up. Besides, he was out more than a short while, he was probably going to fucking die anyway. It was him or us. This was the only way to know he was out of the picture.” He wipes the knife off on Shovelhead’s clothes. “And the fucker deserved it.”
“Jesus Christ,” I whisper. He’s not wrong, but it’s such a cold way to look at someone’s life.
“We’re going to fucking get out of here, but you have to let me do what I do best. If we fuck this up, these fuckers will kill us. I need you to pull yourself together long enough for us to make it. Can you do that?” His tone’s rough and his eyes are flat. Like the man I’ve made love to has locked himself down. This isn’t normal, and he knows it.
I nod, because what choice do I have? “Blade, what did you do before you joined the Screaming Eagles?”
“This isn’t the fucking time.”
“I need to know, I think.”
He shakes his head. “This. I did this. I ate and breathed death because in this world there are people who aren’t safe to leave on the street and I was more than happy to make that happen for money. Now let’s see if that fucker lied.” He approaches the keypad next to the door and taps in the code. The lock clicks.
“Why?” I whisper as he opens the door and peeks out into the hall. “You were in the Vipers when you were younger. What happened?”