35. Killian
Well, fuck.
A wince pulled at my features as I took in the two fear-stricken faces depending on me to get them out of this alive. Good thing I was positive I could make that happen. Rolling both shoulders, I scanned the room, searching for something to give me a little more time, pausing on a large, heavy dresser.
Perfect makeshift barricade that should hold until I got the two settled somewhere safer than standing frozen in the middle of the damn room.
Fingers gripped around the white-painted wood edges, a grunt escaped as I shoved it hard, the balls of my feet sliding on the soft carpet with every push. Once the heavy piece of furniture’s broad back was pressed against the door and the lock engaged, I whirled with both hands on my hips. Karigan stood sealed against Millie’s side, trembling in fear or maybe anger, based on the firm set of her lips and red cheeks. If it were me, I’d be pissed as fuck. The girl was just told the man who played her guardian for the last few months might have murdered her parents and lied to her about, well, everything.
Hell yeah, I’d be angry.
Pissed enough to kill the bastard with zero remorse.
Though maybe that was a me thing.
Just as suddenly as it pierced the air, the screaming alarm and flashing lights cut off. Relieved, I stretched my jaw, mouth opening and closing to ease the tickling sensation as my hearing slowly adjusted. In the quiet, a pain-filled, incoherent groan snapped my attention to the floor where the two men were slowly coming to. Remembering the handy-dandy zip ties dangling from Mr. Curious’s belt, I stretched over Mr. Serious to snag a handful. One man grunted something unintelligible as the thin plastic dug into the thick flesh around his wrists before I made quick work of securing his ankles, too.
With both restrained, I pulled a borrowed gun free and slammed the butt against one bastard’s head, followed by the other. Pausing a moment, I waited to make sure both were out again before turning on the balls of my feet to face Millie and Karigan.
“Get to the bathroom and into the tub?—”
“Kill, we’re trapped and?—”
My hand wrapped around Millie’s, and I gave it a firm squeeze. “You said you trusted me, right?” Her responding nod was slow, but still a nod. “Great. Then go to the bathroom, both of you, get into the tub, and keep your heads down.” The large clawfoot tub I caught sight of when I cleared that room earlier was the best protection against stray bullets once the fun started. “Don’t come out. Don’t make a sound until I come to get you.”
“Kill—”
A quick tug on her hand had her stumbling against me. My lips slammed to hers, cutting off her words. Despite the danger around us, I held her close, allowing myself the brief distraction. When I pulled back, her slightly swollen lips and hooded eyes told me she needed the quick kiss break, too.
“Go, do what I asked, wife. You said you trusted me. Now it’s time to prove it. What waits on the other side of that door is child’s play.” Standing, my fingers still wrapped around hers, I guided Millie to the bathroom and pointed the gun barrel at the deep tub. “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay, and I’ll more than likely have a shit ton of fun doing it.”
Light pressure against the small of her back had her moving deeper into the bathroom. I waited patiently while actively ignoring the thumping against the bedroom door until both were settled in the tub, their heads dipped beneath the cast-iron lip.
Perfect.
Closing the door behind me as another level of protection, I marched back into the bedroom, where the dresser fought valiantly to keep the door shut under the slamming force from the other side. The gun’s rough grip dug into my palm as I raised it high and fired off a few rounds in rapid succession. Shattering glass filled the room as the window I put five strategic holes through came crashing down. With a proud smirk and nod, I tossed both guns onto the bed and pulled the knife secured around my calf free.
Soul-soothing calm folded me into its embrace the moment my palm wrapped around the hilt. It wasn’t my favorite knife, but it was sharp as hell and would do what I needed to get out of this alive and without putting the two in the bathroom in danger with showering bullets. A sharp crack reverberated around the room as the wooden doorframe snapped. One more push from the other side of the door and the lock broke free from the frame.
A deep inhale to center the excitement pulsing through me, I rotated the blade so it lay carefully against my forearm and raised both hands in the air. The dresser groaned as it slowly dragged along the carpet from the door slowly working open. A battle cry sounded from the hallway, and the dresser toppled over, slamming to the floor.
Gap wide enough to slip through, one security idiot wedged his way inside the room. The moment he saw me, the barrel of the gun in his hand aimed at my chest.
“She’s gone.” I angled my head toward the shattered window. “Hopefully halfway across the property by now and on her way to sweet, sweet freedom.”
“Damnit!” he shouted, while fumbling with the radio on his belt. Gun still aimed at my chest, he eased further into the room before striding to the open window and scanning the dark. “Confirmed breach. Suspect down.” A scoff almost escaped. I was not fucking down. I was waiting for the perfect moment to take him, and what sounded like three to four additional security asshats waiting in the hall, out. “Send backup to sweep the grounds for the female. Secure her, unharmed.” He tossed the radio onto the bed and bent down, pressing two fingers to the throat of one hog-tied asshole, then the other. “Who sent you?”
I pressed my lips shut, knowing I needed to bide my time and give the others a chance to enter the room so it could be an all-participants party. Snorting like an angry bull, the bastard stormed forward, free hand curled into a tight fist that swung toward my face. Spit flew and my teeth rattled with the solid hit across my jaw.
Fucking hell, that hurt. The bastard didn’t hold back.
Mouth open, I stretched out my jaw to ease the steady throb and glared at the asshat. When he cocked his fist back a second time, ready to hit me again, I braced for the punch, but he faltered at the commotion of the others pouring into the room.
“Two of you, check the closet,” he barked over his shoulder, not looking away from me. “The other two, clear the bathroom. I’ll finish this asshole off, and then we’ll join the grounds search.”
Well, fuck. Thought I had more time to play, but it seemed this one was actually good at his job. Time to get the party started. Flipping the blade around, giving it a few twists to stretch out my wrist, I shot the bastard a wicked smile. Confusion quickly turned to anger as he shifted to reposition the gun from the floor back toward me.
Exactly what I hoped he would do.
Time to fall back on all that fucked-up CIA training.
Chaos erupted around the room. Their shouts of alarm vibrated through the air, but it was all too late. For them, anyway.
I lashed a hand out, wrapping my fingers around the bastard’s wrist. A quick half twist had the gun barrel pointed toward his buddies instead of my gut. Using the bastard’s own finger, I pulled the trigger, quickly firing off four shots, each hitting exactly where I intended. With the boom of the gunshots still pulsing in the room, I stepped behind the security guy’s back and slid the razor-sharp edge of the knife along his throat.
And then it was done. For now, at least. If anyone saw me, they’d have no idea I just took the lives of five men. The haze of the moment, filled with the thrill of the life-or-death situation, always kept my heart rate slow and breathing even despite the chaos.
The man dying at my feet writhed on the floor. I stared down at him with zero remorse, zero… anything. Glorious blank numbness filled my veins during times like these, whether from all the training I went through or just normal self-preservation.
Though that numbness never lasted long, and too soon, I knew heavy guilt would fill my chest, weighing me down until it felt like I was drowning on dry land.
Later. Right now, I had precious cargo to escort out of the mansion and across the property.
Carefully stepping over the growing puddle of blood at my feet and over another body with a perfect hole between his brows, I swung open the bathroom door. Peeking my head in, I scanned the room, relieved to find the two stayed hunkered down in the tub like I asked.
“All right, ladies, let’s blow this joint.” I couldn’t help but smile when Millie’s pink head popped above the rim, dark eyes locking on me and widening to the size of saucers.
“Is that blood?” Uh-oh. That high pitch sounded a little hysterical, and when did she become so pale?
The smile turned into a confused frown as I checked my dress shirt. A few crimson spots dotted my white dress shirt, but it wasn’t like I was soaked in the stuff. Not like the puddles they would both have to walk over on their way out. I cringed, thinking about the massacre at my back. Shit, maybe I should’ve moved the bodies. No time for that now.
“All good?—”
“All good,” she screeched as she clambered out of the tub, which was difficult in the pencil skirt and her short legs. A trembling finger pointed to my right hand. “There is blood dripping on the floor.”
I held up the drenched knife and flicked it to the side, splattering the wall. “There, better?”
Millie swayed on her feet, face now completely void of color. Karigan was there before I was, already out of the safety of the tub, and had an arm wrapped around Millie. My head tilted as I studied the girl, whose eyes seemed clearer than earlier in the day, with features set in determination.
“I think it’s the blood,” Karigan said, noticing my confusion.
“But not you?” Suspicion slowly crept in, making me stand a little straighter as I assessed the girl holding my Millie. What if she was too far gone or wanted to be here, and I’d let the enemy close to my ultimate vulnerability?
Slowly, I raised the knife and pointed the bloody tip at her face, a snarl curling my lip. Instead of crying or screaming, Karigan just rolled her eyes in that dramatic way only teenagers could manage. “Guy. I’m from Texas.” I held her stare, waiting for an explanation of why that bit of information was important. “I grew up hunting at a managed game preserve with my dad before we moved here. Blood, guns, cleaning the kill to eat later… I’m used to it. Her? Not so much.”
With a hesitant nod, I adjusted my grip on the knife and turned for the door. “We need to get the fuck out of here. Now. No way they won’t send more security to investigate the gunshots.”
With a firm nod, she guided the dazed and wobbling Millie to the door.
“Close your eyes, babycakes. You don’t want to see this.” Arm wrapped around her narrow waist, I hauled her against my body, her face immediately tucked against my throat. A sharp inhale at my back as we weaved through the bodies had me whirling the knife around, ready to sink into anyone who dared get close. Karigan’s eyes were wide, a hand covering her gaping mouth.
I winced. “Oh, yeah. Um, sorry?”
“Sorry?” she whispered, face slightly green. “These bastards kept me locked in here. They knew what he was doing and didn’t help me. They let him in here every night, not giving two shits if he would just stay in that damn chair or act on his fucked-up fantasies.”
A slew of curses filled my thoughts. We so didn’t have time for this therapy session. “Wish it were that simple, kiddo. These men were manipulated, too, though not innocent by any means. Hence why I don’t feel bad that I’m the one who pulled the trigger and took their lives.”
At least for right now.
Later, I’d wallow in the guilt. Though this time, unlike any other, I’d have my personal therapist at my side, so maybe I wouldn’t sink so deep.
“Come on. We need to get out of here.” My plan centered on us getting out of the house of horrors and far enough away from the cell jammer to message Hunter for backup. “You good?”
Karigan arched a dark brow and leveled me with an annoyed look. “No, but do I have a choice if I want out of here?”
“That’s the spirit.” With Millie still pressed against me, I swiped the two guns off the bed, holstering one while gripping the other, and started for the door. My fingers flexed around the weapon as I edged around the door frame, checking both directions before stepping into the hallway. All clear for now, though it wouldn’t stay that way for long. When Karigan didn’t immediately follow, I twisted to look behind me. Still in the room, she leaned over one body, but with her back to me, I couldn’t see what she was doing.
Brows furrowed, I started to ask her why the fuck she stopped to play with a corpse when the pounding of several sets of boots from the direction of the main stairs vibrated down the hall. Whirling around, I aimed the gun toward the sound and fired off two warning shots in hopes they would hunker down so I didn’t have to add their deaths to the growing tally mark on my soul.
“Let’s go, now,” I snapped at Karigan. She stood quickly and hurried to my side. “Stay at my side. I need to know where you are.” Gun still aimed at the unseen threats, I backed down the hall all the way to the staff stairwell. The boom of a gun firing sounded just as a vase exploded on a side table to my right.
“Fuck,” I hissed, holding Millie even tighter against me, careful to keep the knife still clutched in the hand around her back, away from her delicate skin. After firing off two more warning shots, I turned and bolted for the stairs, Karigan keeping up like I asked. There were too many questions around the girl, who looked alert and pissed. What happened to her drugged-out expressions or the almost unresponsiveness from earlier?
But those answers would have to come later. They didn’t matter in the moment, and I wasn’t willing to pause to ask them.
The staff stairwell door slammed open beneath my foot, almost ripping off the hinges from the force. My boots hit the stairwell landing just as multiple rounds of shots were fired from the other end of the hall. Karigan’s bare feet and the leather soles of my shoes pounded against the stairs as we flew down the steps, almost making it to the first floor before the door slammed open. I took the shot the moment I confirmed he was armed, though this time, I put one in each thigh instead of between his brows.
His scream filled my ears. Not that I gave a shit.
Stepping over his writhing body and ignoring Millie’s complaints to let her walk—like that would happen with us in the middle of a near war zone—I bolted to a different door than the one we had come through earlier. The toxic stench of bleach and laundry detergent filled the air as we stepped into the laundry room and headed for the door on the other side. Rapid gunfire erupted behind us but not close, meaning we still had a small lead. Thank fuck Charlie had helped me map out multiple escape routes just in case shit went down.
And this was exactly what I would define as shit going down.
I sensed Karigan hovering near my back as I shoved the side door open that faced the east side of the property. Cool, damp air wrapped around me in a false sense of security as I flew outside. Millie wiggled against me, fighting my hold as I hopped the three concrete steps that led to the laundry room’s side door, my boots slamming onto the soft grass.
“Put me down. I’m good now. I think.” Her pink hair fluttered with my incredulous huff. “Killian.”
The clear warning in her tone had my hold loosening, allowing her smaller frame to slide down my body. Wishing we had time for me to check her over and make sure she was okay, I opted for a quick scan of her face before nodding.
Needing a free hand to help guide the two through the dark, I flicked the knife to the side, the blade burying itself into the damp soil several feet away. Millie’s fingers wrapped around my own, and I hitched my chin for her to grab Karigan’s. The moment their fingers interlocked, I took off toward the trees for cover. Just as we slipped into the concealing shadows, just outside the mansion’s security floodlights’ reach, men poured from the laundry room. Their heads whipping one way, then the other.
I swallowed an inappropriately timed laugh as I led us deeper through the tall trees that surrounded the property. Minutes passed, but none of us said a word or made a sound. Even with the pace slower than my normal fast clip, the angry shouts at our backs faded. Barely winded, ready to keep going until we reached the fence that edged the property line, I failed to notice the two behind me struggling until Millie yanked on my hand, urging me to stop.
Their combined heavy breathing hit me when I turned, and I wanted to smack myself in the face.
“Sorry, forgot not everyone is…” I paused at the scowl on Millie’s face. “As exceptional as me?”
She huffed and turned to Karigan. “You good?” Karigan just nodded, but now that my attention was on her, I zeroed in on the hand tucked behind her back. Fuck, was she injured?
“I know you two are tired, but we need to keep moving. They won’t stop looking until they find us.”
I felt like an ass saying that, but it was true. We could fix up their bare feet, and they could have a nice rest once we were on the other side of the fence. A silent prayer that we were far enough from the house, I pulled out my cell, thankful that it was still there. Hope and relief swelled in my chest at the messages and voicemail notifications popping up on the screen in rapid succession. “Thank fuck,” I muttered to myself.
Before I could swipe to Hunter’s contact information, the screen lit up, brightening the dark that helped conceal us. Thumb to the screen, I quickly swiped to answer the phone and pressed the smooth surface to my ear to minimize the beacon that could give away our position to anyone close by.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Charlie yelled.
“Dude, chill the fuck out. My ears are still sensitive from that damn alarm.” Plus, it hurt my feelings when he yelled at me.
“Oh, you mean the alarm I triggered because I caught you trapped with five guards trying to storm the room?”
“Aww, you hacked into their cameras. You love me.”
“Shut the fuck up and tell me where you are. Rhyan is freaking out.”
“They had a jammer, so I couldn’t reach out at the initial check-in.” There was a lot I needed to tell him, but not now when I was a sitting fucking duck with two little chicks to keep safe.
Wait.
“Are baby ducks chicks like chickens or something else?”
My lips quirked at the exaggerated loud exhale Charlie took on the other end of the line. “I’m tracking your phone now,” he grumbled instead of answering my very pertinent question. “I’m sending it to Hunter, who?—”
The soft crunch of leaves had me turning to the sound, dropping the phone, and aiming the gun all within a single heartbeat.
“Get behind me,” I snapped to Millie and Karigan. Eyes narrowed, I scanned the dark, hoping to catch movement with help from the full moon’s light pouring through the trees. It wasn’t much, but I’d take it over nothing any day.
A flash of a white shirt had me zeroing in on the person stepping from behind a wide tree, empty hands raised. It took a second for the light to hit just right to make out the person’s features.
A low growl escaped as my lip curled the moment I realized who stood between us and freedom.
Fucking Pastor Paul.