30. Leona
LEONA
I was going to kill Wynn.
If he wasn’t dead first.
I was already in Obi’s bed, driven there by nightmares, when he called. I almost had a heart attack.
How could he have left without telling any of us?
Even Ciel was surprised and fucking pissed. I’d never seen him loose such a string of angry Spanish while we armed up in the weapons closet.
I was already trying not to let the sting of rejection stain my heart since Wynn walked away from me and Ciel. If he wasn’t ready, then he wasn’t ready.
But this?
What if he was attacked and couldn’t call us? What if something bad had happened?
Wynn had become one of my best friends. It used to be so easy with him. He had always met me head on, letting me feel what I needed to feel, and supporting me through everything we’d been through.
He’d always felt like gentle waves lapping at the seashore. Constant. Beautiful. Relaxing .
Now, I felt like the tide had receded and there was nothing I could do to bring it back. He was drifting farther and farther away from us every day.
“It’s an hour to Trenton,” Cas said while we all piled into the SUV.
Obi revved the engine, tearing out of the private level of the garage.
I exchanged a glance with Ryuji, who looked like he wanted to strangle Wynn even more than I did.
We had a long way to go, and a lot could go wrong between now and then.
The entire drive was quiet, unless Ciel recounted Wynn’s periodic updates. When we were about twenty minutes away, he gusted a frustrated breath while he stared at Wynn’s most recent text.
“Vokshi is on the move.”
Obi’s eyes flicked to the backseat in the rearview. “Wynn is following?”
“Yeah. I’m tracking his motorcycle, too.” Ciel had a laptop in his lap and his tablet on the seat between us. He typed away. “It’s going to take me a second to get into the camera system. My usual login isn’t working.”
“Just tell me where to go.”
Obi’s dashboard screen populated with a little dot representing Wynn’s motorcycle, along with a blue line that connected the two of us.
“There,” Ciel said. “Catch up with him.”
We zipped through the city streets, closing in on him.
“Any idea where Vokshi is going?” I asked.
“Not yet.”
“We’re killing him tonight, no matter what happens,” Ryu said, voice deadly calm. “I’m tired of this fucker existing.”
“Torture first, right?” Cas asked. “Pretty sure your dibs still stand.”
A devilish smile split Ryu’s face. “That’s right. Dibs don’t expire in this household. ”
Ciel frowned down at his laptop. “I think he’s going to an…auto-repair shop?”
My eyebrows knit-together. “Really?”
We were closing in on them, but still at least ten minutes away. He tapped his phone, dialing Wynn now instead of just reading his texts. He put the phone on speaker.
“They’re at an auto-shop?”
“Yes,” came Wynn’s reply. “I’m parked down the street. He left the safe house with five other men and is now inside the shop. I’m not sure if anyone else is inside.”
Auto-repair. Why auto-repair? This was the first time we’d heard of their being associated with the auto business. We’d thought they stuck to pawn shops, nightclubs, and liquor stores.
“Could it be another safe house?” Cas asked. “A front?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Ryu said. “We’re killing him either way.”
“Wynn, wait for us to arrive, and we’ll engage together,” Obi said.
“Copy.”
“ETA 5 minutes,” Ciel added. “We’ll park two blocks away and close in on foot. Everyone good?”
We all answered affirmative. I double checked my weapons and knives. If adrenaline weren’t coursing through my system right now, I’d be passing out from exhaustion. These guys were used to 4 a.m. missions, but I was not. Yet.
Obi parked the van. It only took us another minute or two before we made it to Wynn’s location. He gave us a little hand-raise. I glared, still angry, but Ciel beat me to it. He strode over, smacked a hand on Wynn’s chest, and pulled him close. Their faces were inches apart.
“You fucking lied to me,” he hissed. Wynn’s eyes went wide. “You told me you were going to bed.”
“Ciel—” Wynn whispered.
“Don’t you dare do it again,” Ciel said before shoving him back .
Wynn looked at me in disbelief, and I narrowed my eyes. “We’ll talk at home.”
“Lover’s quarrel,” Ryuji snickered to Cas.
Ciel whirled on him. “ Cállate . Dick.”
“Whoa,” I said, stepping between them. “We need our heads level for this. Everyone put a pin in it, or go back to the SUV and wait. I can handle this myself if you’re going to be idiots.”
They all went silent.
“What are we working with, Wynn?” Obi asked.
Wynn pointed to the auto-shop at the end of the street. We could see a single light on inside. Old and run-down cars filled the entire parking lot.
“The lot is fenced in, with only one entrance and exit. There’s a front door to the building itself, and exits from all the bays. Only one is open. My suggestion is to enter through the bays, cut the lights, and take them out. I’m guessing there are more of them inside.”
Obi nodded. “Agreed. Follow my signal.”
We followed Obi from shadow to shadow until we reached the auto-shop fence. Bodies moved around inside, many more than the six Wynn thought. What were they doing in there?
“Enter through the first bay,” Obi said. “I’ll go first with Ryuji. Ciel and Wynn next. Leona and Caspian last. Ciel, I want you to look for the lights. If you can’t cut them, ignore it. Prioritize eliminating them.”
We all nodded, ready to get this fucking over with. My hands tightened on my guns, ready for fucking vengeance.
Orik Vokshi had haunted my dreams. That would be over after tonight.
Darkness. Cold. Screams. Hands on my skin.
I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing the memories away. My teeth bit my cheek, and the metallic taste of copper focused my vision in the present.
I followed behind Ciel and Wynn, our steps silent as the six of us entered the property.
We snuck around the building, keeping as close to the darkness as possible, and headed straight for the open bay.
Inside, a few cars were jacked high like they were being worked on.
Two or three people shouted at each other inside the shop, their voices anxious and afraid.
Did they know we were coming?
Obi paused us at the entrance, letting us confirm we were ready, before he opened the shop door. Rather than busting it open and going in guns blazing, he pushed a gap open and slipped inside like a ghost. Ryuji was right behind him, followed by Ciel and Wynn.
When Cas and I entered, there were already two bodies laying dead on the floor, their eyes open in surprised gasps with red lines across their throats.
Pop, pop, pop.
Shouts.
My head whipped to the side to see Ryuji shooting, and then ducking behind a counter as someone returned fire.
From my angle, I could see the guy shooting at him, and I flung a knife, just like Ryuji had taught me.
The blade sank into the man’s throat, and I followed it with two bullets that slammed into his chest. He crumbled to the ground.
Beside me, Cas engaged with his own assailant. It only took a second before the man lay dead.
Just then, the lights cut out, and darkness covered us. My eyes took a few seconds to adjust. Obi and Wynn were fighting someone deeper inside the shop. I stepped forward, shooting two more rounds at the man stumbling around in confusion.
More shouts. The sounds of men scrambling. Gunshots. Pain. Then quiet.
Cas’s hand on my shoulder held me back from rushing forward. We waited with held breaths.
“I’ve got Vokshi,” Obi’s voice called from the front room—the waiting room of the shop. The rest of us descended on his location, passing by the bodies of at least twelve men, weapons in hand. Once again, I got the impression that they were waiting for an ambush.
“Here,” Obi said, holding a struggling Vokshi. The Albanian had blood running down the side of his face and a swollen eye. Obi and Cas tied Vokshi’s arms behind his back. He spat angry words at us the entire time, thrashing around until he spotted me.
His eyes cleared, and an ugly smile spread across his face. “You. I saw your?—”
I pressed my knife to his throat, the blade nicking the skin. He quieted. My heart thundered in my chest. “Do not speak.”
Fear clawed its way up my windpipe. Cold hands. Cold metal. Cold. Cold. Cold. My eyes squeezed shut.
“I looked them up after we met at the marina,” Vokshi sneered. “I saw them. So beautiful. Such per?—”
I pistol-whipped him, and he slumped to the side.
My hands shook. My breaths were quick and shallow.
“What…” Cas asked, letting the question hang.
“Nothing.” I let out a heavy breath and wiped my sleeve across my forehead. We had him. The trembling in my hands subsided. “Is everyone okay?—”
My words cut off as I spotted a man creeping behind Ryuji, knife in hand and fury on his face.
I shouted a warning before jumping on the Albanian and jamming my knife into his throat. I used my body’s momentum to spin him around, slamming him to the ground, where he gurgled, choking on his own blood. I yanked the blade free and drug it the rest of the way across his neck.
When I stood, I could feel his blood dripping down my face.
“Fuck me,” Ryu said from behind me. I turned to make sure he was okay, only to find him staring at me, eyes darkened by lust.
The look grounded me, and I smiled .
“Okay, then.” Cas leaned over the counter, glancing around at all the bodies between us. “Glad that’s over.”
As soon as he said it, lights glared through the front windows. I flinched at the brightness, one hand covering my eyes only to see four cars drive straight through the fence.