Chapter 42 Liev
LIEV
The deserted warehouse—a Taggert property—sits at the end of a service road, half-choked by weeds and broken pavement. Finn kills the lights and the engines as we roll to a stop with the building in sight.
Vincent’s voice crackles in my earpiece. “Ten minutes out. Bringing twelve men.”
I check my watch. “Mine will be here any minute. I’m not waiting.”
Alex doesn’t argue. He just reaches into the duffel and starts handing out hardware.
I strap on the vest and chamber a round in the suppressed Glock, pocketing a few extra magazines.
My hands are steady which is ironic because everything inside me is screaming.
I meet Finn’s eyes. “No mercy.”
Finn nods.
Alex raises an eyebrow. “You’ve done this before?”
“More than you, I bet,” Finn answers without looking up. He chambers his own pistol, expression flat.
The property is too quiet, and as we make our way carefully around the perimeter we don’t spot any guards.
“Idiots,” Alex mutters.
Finn touches his comm listening. “Medics will be on standby.”
I recoil. Alex’s hand lands on my shoulder.
“We don’t know what shape she’s in,” he says quietly.
I can’t answer him. Can’t think about her in pain.
We advance down the central corridor, our footsteps almost silent on the concrete.
We reach an open area and see an office space built into the back wall.
The door is shut, but light is visible through the windows high in the wall.
Raised angry voices reach us. A man’s. A woman’s.
Not Sera. Then the unmistakable crack of a gunshot.
I’m about to breach the door when Finn holds up a fist. I make myself stop. He pulls a palm-sized drone from his vest, and thumbs it on. The tiny quadcopter lifts silently and hovers outside the windows.
He taps on his tablet. My stomach drops through the floor.
The private investigator lies on the concrete. Dead.
Behind her Sera hangs from a rope fastened to a hook in the ceiling. Her arms are wrenched high and blood streaks the front of her workout top. I can’t tell where it’s coming from.
Aaron stands in front of her. Even with his half-ruined face, I recognize him from the picture.
He holds a knife to Sera’s cheek.
Rage detonates behind my eyes. White-hot and blinding.
We can hear him through the door.
“You think I fucked your face up before? What do you say, Sera? Should we make both sides match? Even if they find your carcass, I promise they won’t recognize it.”
I’m already moving.
“Liev wait—” Finn hisses.
I don’t.
I kick the door open so hard it ricochets off the wall.
Aaron spins, yanking a pistol from his waistband.
I keep coming.
He fires. Once. Twice. Three times.
I barely register the impacts. My entire focus is on the horror that is Sera, using her legs to wrap around Aaron’s waist and swinging, making it impossible for him to aim. With a snarl, his other hand holding the knife strikes at her abdomen twice before she screams and her legs drop away.
I slam into him like a freight train.
We crash into the table of tools, metal scattering across the floor. His gun clatters away.
I drive my fist into his ruined face, over and over, feeling the bones crunch beneath.
He claws at me, snarling. “No matter what, she’ll always carry my mark. She’ll never forget me. She’ll always be hideous!”
My fingers sink into his throat.
“That’s where you’re wrong, asshole.” My voice is raw. “Her battle scars are fucking hot.”
Aaron’s eye bulges. He gurgles as his face turns purple.
I want to make it slow. Want him to feel every second of the agony he’s given her.
But Sera makes a broken sound behind me, and getting to her is more important. I twist his neck hard, drop his lifeless body, and stagger toward her.
Finn is already there. He’s cut her down and is gingerly lowering her to the ground. Blood immediately begins pooling under her. Too much blood.
Finn slices open her shirt as I drop to the ground next to her. He pulls a trauma pack, from his vest and dumps clotting powder over her wounds. He presses hard. “Shirt. Now.”
Alex tears his off without hesitation.
I want to help. But my vision tunnels. Black edges creep in. My lungs won’t expand right.
“Little Warrior,” I rasp.
Sera’s head lolls toward me, eyes half-lidded. Pain etches every line of her face, but she still finds me.
“Hey, Gangster,” she whispers with a shadow of a smile.
She manages to lift her hand, middle finger extended.
I try to answer. My arm feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. My finger barely twitches.
Love you, I want to say.
Darkness rushes in.
I love you.