I feel the same way.
We get back in the car because it’s faster than walking, and I get us to that building in record time, parking a little ways off so we can scope the place out.
Julian’s had enough time to set something up if he wanted to, so we have to play this carefully, even though I know we all just want to run in and start shooting.
There’s a guard posted outside the building, and it hits me that this must be a spot that Julian knows well. It’s not random that he chose this place. This is probably the spot Lorenzo used for his trafficking business. That’s why Julian brought Priest here. Because there are already guards around this place.
Knox is already moving before any of us can come up with a plan. He moves more quietly than I would’ve thought possible for someone his size, slipping up behind the guard before the man has time to turn around and see him.
The guard has about two seconds to struggle before Knox snaps his neck and leaves him in a heap on the ground.
We move up to his body, and Ash rummages around until he comes up with a key card.
“Good work,” Gage murmurs. He takes the card from Ash and slips it into the lock on the door. The sensor light on it flashes green, and the door clicks open.
We slip inside, trying to be quiet and not give ourselves away just yet.
It’s a big fucking place. There are corridors crisscrossing through it, and lots of random rooms and alcoves and dead ends.
We can’t move as fast as I’d want to like this, since we don’t want to tip anyone off that we’re here, and it’s frustrating.
Every time we open a door and find nothing but boxes or bags and tarps behind it, it’s like a knife in my damn heart.
But as we move toward the back of the building, the sound of Julian’s voice becomes audible. He’s talking to someone. Monologuing, really, which means he’s probably tormenting Priest. The thought of it makes my heart leap right back up into my throat, and I grit my teeth as we keep moving forward.
After another moment, Knox peers around a corner up ahead of us and holds up a hand to stop us.
“Guards,” he murmurs in a low voice when we gather around him. “At least five of them, lined up in the hallway with a door at the end. That has to be where Julian is holding Priest.”
We’re outnumbered, so we’ll need to be quiet about it as we take out the guards. We coordinate our attack with a few whispered words and silent gestures, working out a strategy to take as many of them down in quick succession as possible. If we can get them all before any of them can sound the alarm, we might still be able to take Julian by surprise.
Knox will go first, and he plasters himself to the wall next to the corner he peered around, readying his weapon and steeling himself. He’s usually the type to go in guns blazing, no hesitation, so I know he’s nervous about this. It’s his cousin’s life on the line, the only one of his “brothers” with whom he shares actual DNA, and I’m sure he’d give anything to switch places with Priest—to be the one Julian took, if it meant Priest was still free and unharmed.
We’ll get him out. We can do this.
Gage takes his place right next to Knox, and Ash and I ready ourselves behind him, weapons drawn.
My gaze shifts to Knox, and his eyes glitter in the dim light as he holds up a hand, counting down with his fingers.
Three.
Two.
One.
Moving as a unit, we stream around the corner. Knox takes out the first guard, while Gage goes for the second. Ash and I race past them, heading for the third and fourth guards. Our attack is so sudden and unexpected that we manage to take out all four before they can raise the alarm, but the fifth man ducks out of the way as Knox drops the body of the first and moves to attack him.
The remaining guard grabs his gun and starts shooting in our direction, and we jump back, trying to scramble for cover.
“Fuck!” Knox curses.
More of Julian’s guards come rushing out of the room, armed and ready to fight, and it turns into chaos. The guards yell to each other, taking shots at us where they can. They rush down the hall, trying to overtake us in the same way we just tried to do to their buddies.
Knox roars his fury now that being quiet is a pipe dream, and he lashes out, knocking the guards back and taking a couple on with his bare hands, not really seeming to give a shit that they’re firing on him.
“Knox!” Gage calls out, ducking into one of the empty rooms as a storm of bullets rings out. “Get the fuck back here before you get shot!”
It’s hard to see in the chaos if Knox gets hurt, but when he ends up next to me, he seems alright. He’s breathing hard, and there’s fire in his eyes. These fuckers are standing between us and finishing this. Between us and rescuing Priest.
We can’t let that happen.
Bullets fly as we return fire, taking out what guards we can. They shoot back, and there are so many of them that we can’t move forward. They have us pinned down in a little corner, and it’s all we can do to defend ourselves.
The whole time I’m shooting, trying to make some progress, I can’t help the creeping feeling of terror that settles in my gut like acid.
What if Julian has heard the commotion and is killing Priest right now?
Logically, I know he probably isn’t. He wouldn’t resort to that unless he had to, since Priest is the only leverage he has against us. If he kills him, he’ll have nothing to bargain with.
So I keep pressing forward, holding on to that thought and letting it drive me.
Priest is still alive, and I have to get to him.
When Gage takes out one of Julian’s guards, sending him careening into a wall with a hole in his head, I see an opening. Without thinking, without hesitating for even a fraction of a second, I take it.
“Cover me!” I call to Gage as I dart forward, slipping down the hallway toward the room where Priest is being kept.
Gage curses, but he does what I asked. He, Ash, and Knox take on the remaining guards, holding them off while I slip into the room. I glance around quickly to get my bearings, and my heart seizes when I see the place where Priest is chained to the wall.
Julian lunges for Priest, and I draw my gun again and shoot at him, desperate to keep him away from the blond man.
I manage to clip Julian’s shoulder, and I lunge forward to finish the job, aiming for his head. Before I can get a shot off, Julian runs at me. Pure hate and disdain contort his features, and I try to duck back out of the way, but he nails me before I can get too far, bringing me down to the ground.
The wind is almost knocked out of me as we land on the hard concrete floor. My gun goes flying, and when I try to scrabble for it, Julian pins me down.
“Get the fuck off me!” I shout, grappling with him.
“I’m going to fucking kill you, you fucking bitch,” he growls. “You can finally be with your precious sister in hell.”