Chapter 53 #2
Digging my hand into the pocket of my cargo pants, I pull a bomb out.
The smooth metal is warm beneath my fingertips.
Muzzle flash sparks through the room, lighting the room and sparkling against the steel pipe.
I run the fuse between my fingers, a smile spreading across my face.
No one will survive this. No one but the three of us will walk away from here.
Sparking the fuse, I toss the bomb over the bar.
It sails through the air and lands in the center of the crowd of Bianca’s men.
With a resounding boom, it detonates. The vibration of the blast reverberates through the room, making it wobble.
I cover my head as wood and plaster rain down from the ceiling.
Shrapnel and nails rocket through the room, shattering windows and impaling flesh.
A shrill song of shrieks and moans drifts through the room.
Gunpowder and smoke fill my nose, wrenching a cough from my throat.
Pressing my hand over my mouth and nose, I wait for the smoke to clear.
When it does, I peer through the open cracks on the bar in front of me into the room beyond.
Mangled bodies cover the floor, their limbs sprawled out around them or missing entirely.
The ringing in my ears subsides and silence slithers through the room.
I stand, huffing my relief out from my lungs. I turn around, a smile pulling at my lips as I look toward my little bird. She steps out from behind the wall of Malik’s chest. A shy grin lifts her face, spreading little cracks through the dried blood caked on her cheeks.
Her eyes widen and she throws her arm out in front of her, pointing in my direction. “Look out!”
Pain explodes in my head. I stumble back, my thighs crashing into the wobbling bar.
My boots squeak against the slick marble floor as I whirl around.
My eyes narrow, honing in on a figure at the other end of the room.
I recognize him immediately. His dark, slicked-back head and prominent cheekbones give him away—he looks exactly like his mother.
Nico steps forward, belting out an angry screech and points his gun between my eyes.
Dropping to the floor, I nestle my body behind the bar.
It explodes in a shower of splinters, but I manage to avoid the barrage of bullets he sends my way.
Popping my arm out from behind the rubble, I shoot in his direction.
I hear the ping of metal and the crash of glass before the click of my empty gun.
Click, click, click.
“Come out and fight me, motherfucker!” Nico growls as his gun clatters to the floor.
I stand, pulling a knife from the sheath at my ankle.
He yanks a blade off of a nearby corpse and wipes the crusted blood across the leg of his suit pants.
He stomps toward me, his eyes flashing with anger and determination.
Stopping just shy of a foot from me, he moves left.
I move with him. Like a twisted dance, we circle each other with our knives drawn, waiting to see which of us will make the first move.
As impatient and cocky as his mother, it’s only a moment before Nico lunges forward. He jumps toward me, his arm outstretched and slashing. His blade slices across my bicep. A stinging pain zips up my arm as it rips through my jacket and into the skin below.
“Not so tough now, huh, Grayson?” he chortles.
I swing my leg out. It connects with his knee and sends him crashing to the floor. Rushing behind him, I bend over his body and ready my knife to slice across his thick neck. He thrusts his head upward, forcing his skull into my chin. My teeth crack together and I stagger back.
Nico jumps to his feet. His knife rips through the air toward my face, sending a puff of air whistling through my hair.
I rear my head back, narrowly missing the slice of his blade.
As his arm falls, I whip my knife out, connecting it with his side.
He grunts and totters to the side before regaining his footing.
Our eyes flick to the ceiling as it howls out a loud groan.
A slimy grin peels across Nico’s mouth and he shoves my chest with his elbow.
My balance teeters, my feet sliding backward toward the sound.
The plaster above us ripples. A line tears through it just before a massive wooden beam plummets toward me.
The sound of a frightened scream blasts through the room.
“Gray!” Ava cries as I dive sideways, avoiding the bulk of the falling wood.
White hot pain lances my hand and my grip on the knife loosens.
My body thunks to the floor where chunks of the rubble dig into my back and legs.
The blade clatters to the floor beside me.
I reach my hand out toward it, my fingers desperately searching for the handle.
Nico’s boot collides with it first, sending it sliding across the marble.
The air rushes from my lungs as his body lands on mine. His elbow crashes into my sternum and his knees pin mine together. A humorless laugh barks out of him and he presses his knife to my throat.
Fuck.