Chapter 28 – Ava Jade #2
The bone-chilling pop of gunfire ricocheted through me, the sound coming only a split second before the Ace’s shriek of agony. My blade speared through the meat of his palm. His gun thudded uselessly on the ground.
The shot went wide, and I sighed loudly, my breath leaving me in a painful gush when I found Corvus alive.
Guns raised all around.
Grey and Rook were fast enough to grab what looked like fully automatic rifles from the bucket of an old bobcat. Corvus and Diesel had their guns drawn, too. Safeties clicked off. Hammers were drawn back. Fingers rested on or next to triggers.
I waited for the bloodbath with bated breath, but it didn’t come. The standoff held until Lenny broke it. They must’ve known that one more bullet would spell all of their deaths.
“Shut the fuck up, Carl!” he snarled, shouting at the hunched form of the black-haired man clutching his hand to his chest and whining obnoxiously loud.
He was lucky I didn’t aim for his thick skull.
If I’d had the time to, I would’ve. As it was, the best option I could think of was to make him drop the gun or at least alter the trajectory of his shot.
Lenny side-stepped, keeping his sights trained on Diesel as he kicked Carl’s gun far out of his reach.
“Idiot,” he hissed and then chanced a look into the trees.
I ducked down, crouching in tight to the tree again, trying to shrink into the shadows, cursing myself for not beginning the quiet retreat straight away. For being too damn curious.
“What the fuck was that?” Lenny demanded. “Who do you have out there?”
Diesel’s face betrayed nothing as his lightning-quick eyes flitted toward the trees and away again.
Corvus held his gun high, but his face visibly paled and his chest heaved.
Rook smirked, and my spine tingled when I realized he had a grenade clenched in his left hand while the rifle was butted to his shoulder and held with his right.
Grey was a study in mute power. His sights fixed on the injured Ace and nowhere else. Murder in his eyes.
“It’s not ours,” Diesel admitted, though I was willing to bet he hated owning to it. An honest man, I’d give him that. I wondered if he thought the next blade might be meant for him.
“Not yours?” Lenny hissed. “Then who the fuck?—”
“Get out of here,” Diesel barked right back. “We’ll handle it.”
I froze, drawing out another blade as I tried to soundlessly back away from the gun-toting gangsters in the yard before me.
Lenny squinted at Diesel, confused, but the Ace’s leader backed up, gesturing to his men to get their fallen man and move out. I wouldn’t question it either if someone gave me a get out of jail free card.
“Not him,” Diesel said in a cold monotone, his gun still trained on Lenny’s head as his eyes flicked to the injured Ace. “He tried to kill my son. The reason for which I’m sure you will fucking explain to me at a later date. But for now, I’ll accept his life as payment for his mistake .”
Lenny’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Boss?” Another Ace pressed, torn between helping his buddy Carl and leaving like he was told to.
I lost sight of them as I crept backward, remaining crouched as I began my slow retreat.
They are coming for you, my darkness whispered, unspooling to her full power in my gut. Any minute now. If you don’t get away, your heroic display there will have been for nothing. It’ll be them or you. Blades versus bullets.
Time to find out if all that running was worth it.
I may not be faster, but I would bet my left kidney I could run longer. Go farther.
Then what, idiot? That’s your blade in that asshole’s hand.
The Crows will recognize it. They’ll know it was you, even if you do get away.
Stupid didn’t even begin to cover what I’d just done.
“Leave him,” I heard Lenny order, and a cry of protest came from Carl before a gunshot rang out in the night, marking the start of my sprint.
I jumped to my feet and ran like hell. Flying over dirt and rock and tree roots. Honing in on those other senses. The ones that only flourished under extreme pressure. Relying on reflex and the strength of my body alone.
The feel of the blade clenched in my fist gave me the extra dose of fortitude I needed to keep pushing when the sounds of them giving chase reached my ears.
My legs pushed me impossibly fast until I was soaring through the darkened trees like an arrow shot from a bow.
The dirt and tree roots gave way to rockier terrain and the ground underfoot turned upward, the earth and grass giving way to a rockface slick with moss.
I had no idea where I was going or where this path would lead me, but I didn’t like the look of the long incline ahead.
The trees were more sparse here, and thinner. There would be nowhere to hide if...
A shot blasted apart a thin tree to my right, the splinters of it exploding into my path. If I hadn’t been running with quick, jerky movement in a zigzag, it would’ve hit me, I had no doubt. My heart shriveled in my chest, imaging one of the Crows on the other end of the bullet.
Corvus shouted to stop, but another shot was fired, this one narrowly missing me. The bullet tucked itself into the stone at my right with a crack!
The inclining stone sloped down sharply to my left and when I thought I had enough cover, I dared the fall, jumping down to skid on my heels all the way back down to level ground. My ankle twinged with pain, but I didn’t let it stop me, pushing forward.
With the tree cover, they wouldn’t be able to see me from above, but more importantly, they wouldn’t be able to get a clean shot on me. I growled inwardly as the pain in my ankle grew, forcing me to slow despite the adrenaline still pushing me onward.
I wouldn’t be able to go much farther.
Fuck my life.
Rocks slid and tumbled as they made their way down the incline after me.
I would be shot like a fish in a barrel if I didn’t hide or run, and since the latter seemed to be out for the moment, I crouched low and made for the deepened shadows of a fallen tree.
It was held up by the rock face, and I folded myself into its dead, scratching branches, sandwiching myself in between stone and insect infected wood.
Cobwebs tickled my neck and face, but I didn’t let myself think of all the things that might be crawling in between layers of my clothes right now.
It wasn’t important. Not even a little. I drew my last two blades, promising them I’d retrieve their brother from the dead guy in the yard if I made it out of this alive.
There were four Saints in these trees, and they all had guns.
If I had all four of my blades and the ability to throw them, I might’ve stood half a chance, but now, with only two, my only chance would be to stay hidden. To not be found.
I held my breath as their footfalls grew louder, until I could hear their heavy breaths.
Please, I sent a plea to whatever gods could hear me. Please keep going.
“Diesel,” Corvus said, and I shuddered, closing my eyes against an assault of mixed emotions.
His father hushed him violently and all sound ceased. They were listening for me. I gave them nothing to hear.
“You hear that?” Diesel asked after a moment.
“I don’t hear anything,” Grey replied.
“Exactly,” Diesel said in a husky whisper. “They stopped running. Whoever it is, they’re hiding somewhere.”
“Dies, come on,” Corvus said, his voice taking on a tone I didn’t recognize. What was up with him tonight? “They’re gone. Let’s just?—”
“Spread out,” Diesel barked, cutting Corvus off. “Rook and Grey, that way. Corv, you’re with me. We’ll find this son of a bitch.”
They spread out, and I evened out my breathing, not moving a muscle as I caught sight of two silhouettes approaching. Grey and Rook.
Rook broke off from Grey and headed further away to the right, bent low with a mischievous grin on his face, his gun raised.
This was all just a massive game of hide and seek to him.
Unlike the others, he didn’t seem bothered by the fact that the person they were hunting had blades, and maybe even a gun. Or maybe he’d already put it together.
The thought struck a nerve. Rook knew I was here.
What would he do if he found me?
But it wasn’t him I had to worry about as he moved further and further away, it was Grey, who was carving a path almost straight for me.
“Clear!” Corvus shouted from somewhere far off in the distance.
“Clear!” came Diesel’s brusque voice, closer than I’d have liked.
“Clear!” Rook.
Grey stooped low, tipping his head to the side as he examined the hollow between the tree and the stone. I held my blade high, but my hand trembled as he crept closer.
Don ’ t make me kill you...
He darted forward, yanking a branch out of the way, handgun raised.
I could have thrown. I could have stopped him. I didn’t.
I stood there in full view, blade at the ready if he looked like he might fire.
He didn’t.
Grey’s lips parted in silent horror as he took me in, his gun lowering.
“Grey!” Diesel snarled from somewhere far too close.
Grey blinked, stepping back and releasing the branch. His eyes didn’t leave mine as he hollered back. “Clear!”
Then he was gone.
I sighed, my breath tripping from my lips, broken as I let the relief cascade over me. My breaths loud in my own ears, but they’d already moved on. I didn’t think I could hear them anymore.
Never let your guard down, that was rule number one that Dad taught me when he took me on our first job. When he bought me my blades after a good win at the private casino. Rule number fucking one, and for just a second, I forgot.
I didn’t even see him coming. His hand curled around my forearm and dragged me from my hiding place, tossing me to the ground as though I weighed no more than a sack of potatoes.
My shoulder and the side of my face knocked into the hard dirt, and I scrambled to get to my feet in the dark, shaken but regaining my balance quickly.
I lifted my blade, ready to throw it straight into the heart of Diesel St. Crow before he could lift his weapon to take aim.
“Sparrow, don’t!”
Corvus’ shout shattered my resolve, but I held there, blade at the edge of my fingers, ready to throw as I heard their footsteps running toward us. In a second, I’d be surrounded.
In a second, it would be too late to do anything.
I’d lost my chance.
Diesel’s blisteringly cold stare bored into me like a spike of ice as he trained his gun on my face, but I showed him no fear. I always knew I’d meet my end by the bite of a bullet or the slice of a blade. I’d just hoped it would come later. Much later.
“You know this girl?”