Chapter 89
NOVA play: The Emptiness Machine by Linkin Park
The last two bombs went off close enough to our attackers that I heard several of them scream out in pain.
Milo hit the strobes immediately after, as most of the guys launched themselves helplessly away from the explosion and directly into my line of fire.
The gunfire and shouts of agony triggered the part of my brain that Luke and his mad doctor had worked so hard to synthetically cultivate, and I felt myself go on autopilot.
I went into a cold, dead, trance-like state as I tracked the now exposed men with my scope and bounced my finger off the trigger to light them up with quick bursts of automatic gunfire.
More screams.
More blood.
The flashing strobe light made each death look fucking cinematic, and the cold rage in my chest only intensified with each kill.
Three down.
Four.
Five.
Six…
Where were the other two? I was missing two bodies…
After several beats of silence, I left my position by the window and stalked toward the front door.
I needed to see if I could get a clear shot behind the SUVs.
Maybe the bombs had taken them out… but I couldn’t afford to leave loose ends.
I pressed my back against the wall next to the door, straining to see if I could catch any movement behind the wrecked cars, but it was impossible, especially with the insane flickering strobe.
“Cut the lights,” I ordered, and they immediately stopped. It was now impossible to see, as my night vision had been ruined by the bright lights, and the smoke from the bombs was doing more harm than good.
“Did you see where the other two went?” I hissed into my mask, and Milo sighed.
“No. I think they’re still behind the cars. They might have been hit with the bombs, though.”
“I need to go out and see.”
“No! Don’t leave the house. What if it’s a trap?” Milo hissed, and I let out a frustrated growl. He was right… but… if there were two guys still out there, I needed to take them out.
Just then, my worst fucking fears made themselves a reality, as the familiar hum of chopper blades shattered through the silent night.
“Shit,” I snarled.
“We have more company,” Milo said grimly, and I resisted the urge to slam my fist into the wall.
“Can you see where they’re headed? The roof?”
“Yeah, you were right. It looks like they’re headed for the skylight over the den.”
I hovered, unsure what to do.
Did I abandon my post here and hope that those two men had been taken out by the bomb? Or did I wait for the men in the helicopter to come to me?
Fuck, fuck, fuck…
“Oh my god,” Milo gasped in my ear, causing my already frantically beating heart to kick up a notch.
“What!? What is it?”
“It’s Sebastian… He’s on the roof with two other men,” Milo whispered. “He… What did they do to him?”
Fuck.
Guess I was heading upstairs.
Whatever they’d done to make Milo sound like that was scarier than any potentially maimed mercenaries would ever be.
“I’m going up to intercept.”
“Be careful…” Milo whispered, sounding so shaken up that I had to force myself not to immediately go and check on him.
“Stay down there. Let me know if you catch any movement from our missing guys outside,” I ordered, before making my way to the stairs, where I knew I would be coming face to face with someone I’d once considered my brother.