47 - Bishop
~ 47 ~
BISHOP
Getting out of the manor after the shit hit the fan was something we’d rehearsed a dozen times. Considering the circumstances, it should’ve been hard. It should’ve taken stealth, or violence, or luck — maybe even a bit of all three.
Instead, I walked right through the door like I owned the place.
The smell of violets and lavender wafted sweetly on a gentle wind, betraying the heat and testosterone that permeated the mansion. It was a little eerie, not seeing anyone outside. Just yesterday Blight had men positioned inside and out, and the place was locked down tighter than a crab’s ass. Now, there wasn’t a single soul. Nothing stood between me and what I needed to do.
I skirted the curve of the driveway and slipped down the hill, quickly eliminating the mansion’s line of sight. The locker was something we’d buried two weeks ago. I hadn’t even gone a hundred yards and there it was, secreted beneath a natural-looking pile of cedar and cypress.
Clearing the deadfall away, I popped the locker open and began slinging weapons over my shoulder. The SPAS-15’s were conspicuous, but effective. If it came down to rifles, and I hoped to hell it wouldn’t, we’d be outnumbered but not outgunned. The Benelli Super 90 was for close quarters. But the grenades…
The grenades were plan C. A hopefully unneeded contingency, for when all other avenues of escape had been exhausted. And right now, escape was all I could think about. Getting Jocelyn out of danger came before everything else, our original plans included.
Jocelyn.
Just thinking about her put a lump in my throat. Of all possible scenarios we’d considered while rehearsing our mission, the idea of our childhood friend interjecting herself into our lives in the last few hours before all hell broke loose was the last thing I could’ve possibly imagined. And yet, we were just as responsible as she was. Maybe even more so.
If it had been anyone else, it would’ve been over that first night. But this was Jocelyn we were talking about here. Jason’s sister. She’d gone from an annoying little tease to a full-grown, beautiful, intelligent woman. We lusted after her together, Kayden and I, and now we actually had her. Shit, we had her in ways that went beyond the scope of our wildest dreams.
Protecting her was paramount. But loving her… that was something entirely different. And I did love her, I realized. Every laugh, every smile, every roll of those beautiful, womanly hips. I’d grown up building myself a vision of the perfect woman in my mind’s eye, without even realizing that woman was Jocelyn. Nothing could ever compare to her, because nothing else was her. I could let myself love her, I knew that now. Or maybe we could love her… the way we always had.
No matter what happened next, we had to keep her safe. All of a sudden, she was everything.
My mind raced as I loaded the remainder of our ordinance into the sling bag and zipped it up. Whatever was going on in the dining room right now could make or break us. Roman was eccentric and unpredictable — a total loose cannon. If he found what we’d planted, everything would move rapidly. Even now, there might already be blood.
Isn’t blood what you wanted, though?
It was, of course. We all knew there was no way of taking down Blight that didn’t involve some measure of danger, or violence. At the moment though, the very idea of unchecked violence put a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I slammed the locker closed and bounded back up the hill, now a good fifty pounds heavier than before. From this moment on, every second would be important. I only hoped I could hook up with the others in time, before things went completely sideways.
CLICK.
The sound was ominously familiar: the hammer of a pistol being drawn back. I’d heard it a million times, but never six inches from my right ear. I froze instantly, my heart pounding.
“Whatcha got there, Delaney?”