Chapter 38
ALONZO
I’m covered in sweat, blood, and I don’t even want to think of what else. My breath comes in pants, and beside me, Hades is doing the same, but his body is vibrating with excitement and exertion.
I’ve lost track of the men I’ve killed, but I hear the voices in my ear, strong and sure, as the others handle the assault. The only voice I haven’t heard? Rori’s. Dread fills my gut.
“Has anyone heard from Rori?” I bark into the coms, moving swiftly down the hall toward the stairs again, dodging the bodies littering the floor.
“Do I sound like I’ve been trying to keep fucking track of her?” Oleg snaps, even as more shots echo through the coms. “That was your fucking job. Fucker!” he hisses, and then I hear a low snarl on the other end, followed by screams.
The panic in my gut churns and I move faster. Where is she?
“Rori, I need your status, right now.” Nothing. “Rori!” I snap again. Fear fills my guts.
Where is she?
“Someone tell him where the fuck she is so he stops yelling in my fucking ear!” Oleg yells. “Zakhar, Ilya, you got eyes on Timur?”
“Not yet. I haven’t seen the fucker,” Zakhar gripes.
The fear turns to panic. “Ilya?” I demand.
“We’ve got a problem,” he says, his words icy.
“What kind of problem?” Oleg demands.
“The kind of problem that’s been plaguing me for years.”
“What? Stop speaking in fucking riddles, asshole, and spit it the hell out,” I yell into the line, uncaring who hears me. A bullet barely misses me as we round a corner, and I curse, already firing and taking the shooter down. Serves me right for allowing myself to get distracted.
“She’s on the second floor, near her room,” Ilya answers, completely ignoring my question. “Bodies all over the hallway. She’s got a gun to her back and her father in front of her with one. We need to move.”
“I’m closest,” I state, running faster for the stairs. I have to get there.
“Do not kill the woman holding her hostage,” Ilya orders. “She’s mine.”
Wait, what woman? There’s a woman holding Rori hostage?
A chill skitters down my spine. Tatiana. It has to be her. And I don’t have time to waste.
“Hades, let’s go,” I burst out.
We’re coming, Aurora. Just hold on. We’re coming.