Chapter Forty
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“I’LL RUSH THE GUYS who are coming in through the front and take them down with my sickle,” Victoria whispered to her friends.
“I want you two to flank the back exit.” She pointed at the doorway behind them.
It led to a small kitchenette on one side and a tiny bathroom on the other.
The back door was locked, but it was flimsy.
“Start shooting as soon as they break in,” she added grimly.
“Got it,” Zoe said, flicking the safety off her pistol.
Grace nocked an arrow and readied herself to pull the string back. They pressed their backs against the bookshelves and waited for the action to start.
Vic waited for the leader of the thugs to put his hand on the doorknob, then kicked the door open.
It smashed into him and sent him flying backwards into the other three dudes.
They went down like bowling pins and the warrior leaped into motion.
She chopped the oldest guy’s head off, then sidestepped when one of his buddies fired his pistol.
“Vic?” Zoe called out in alarm.
“I’m okay!” Victoria called back, then deftly sliced the guy’s hand off. “Start shooting!” she reminded them when she heard the back door being wrenched open.
The other two men scrambled to their feet, shouting expletives at her while fumbling for their weapons.
Their friend was clutching his bleeding stump, screaming in agony and rage.
She finished him off with a swift strike to his neck, then spun to the left.
Bullets whizzed past her, missing her by inches.
Zoe shook her head when she heard Victoria laughing madly. She peered around the doorframe and started firing her gun. Grace shot a few arrows and they all found targets. It was hard to miss the four men who were shoving their way into the small room.
Vic took a few rapid steps closer to her foes and lashed out with her reaping hook.
One of the men shrieked when the blade sheared through his wrist. His hand fell to the ground and he collapsed to his knees.
His friend decided he’d had enough and turned tail to run.
Vic picked up a dropped pistol and hurled it at him.
It hit him in the back of the head and he crashed to the ground, out cold.
Finishing them both off, Victoria turned to survey the bookstore. Zoe and Grace had their opponents pinned down. One was dead and a second one was on his last legs. The other two decided to rush the girls. Vic dashed back inside, but her friends were already handling it.
Zoe fired at the guy on the left and blew his brains out. Grace shot the other dude in the eye. She was so much shorter than him that her arrow was angled directly into his brain. They both dropped, stone cold dead and the trio took stock. The final man expired before they could end his life.
“Nice fudging job, girls,” Vic said in approval, bending to wipe her sickle clean on one of the dead guys’ shirts. They both looked a bit green around the gills, but at least they hadn’t panicked.
“It’s a lot easier to shoot someone when they’re up close,” Zoe said with a grimace. She changed her magazine for a fresh one, just in case.
Grace shouldered the compound bow and checked the quiver. “I just went through a lot of arrows,” she said apologetically.
“You might want to wait outside,” Vic told them. “You don’t want to watch this.”
Realizing she intended to retrieve the arrows, Zoe and Grace left the bookstore. They had to step over the decapitated body of the guy who was blocking the entrance, avoiding the pool of blood.
“We’re lucky Vic was with us,” Grace said shakily, sweeping her gaze around to make sure no one was trying to creep up on them.
“We would have been captured, or worse,” Zoe agreed. She was pretty sure Amaros had sensed she was in danger. She sent him a reassuring surge through their bond, hoping he could feel it. The trouble had been dealt with and there was no way he could have reached her in time.
Victoria heard the girls’ comments and agreed with Zoe’s assessment. Her friends wouldn’t have been able to deal with eight foes at once. Even she would have struggled if she’d been alone. Together, they were a formidable team.
Plucking the arrows from the bodies, she studied the tips to make sure they were intact. “I’ll have to give these babies a fudging good wash,” she figured. For now, she wiped the tips clean on another of the dead dudes’ shirts, then headed for the front door.
Grace held out the quiver and the wrestler slid the projectiles home. “We should get the things you need, then head home before more psychos turn up,” the kid suggested.
“They’ve been traveling through here frequently from the sounds of it,” Zoe said as they climbed into the truck. Grace took the wheel this time.
Vic had chosen to sit on the back seat. “There could be more of them,” she agreed.
“I bet they’ll come looking for their friends,” Zoe surmised. “We need to tell Amaros and Camriel about this.”
They had no way of knowing if there were more goons, but it would pay to be careful. “They might set traps,” Victoria said. “It would be wise to scout ahead before anyone from your team comes through here.”
“You’re part of our team now,” Grace said firmly as she pulled over in front of the closest convenience store. “Just because you live in the cabin doesn’t mean you aren’t one of us.”
Vic made a noncommittal noise, then climbed out. “Wait here,” she requested. “I won’t be long.”
Zoe kept her attention on the road, making sure it was clear.
Grace tapped her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.
She had what she wanted and now she just wanted to be back in the safety of their base.
They had enough books to last her for years.
She just wished she could expand on her collection and loot more genres.
Even romance books could get old eventually.
Victoria grabbed a couple of plastic baskets for her clothes and filled them with items she needed.
She kept an ear out for traffic, but the area remained quiet.
Once she had everything, she put them on the back seat of the truck and climbed in.
“Thanks for the driving lesson,” she said as the kid took off.
“No problem,” Grace replied with a grin. “I’d let you drive back as well, but I’m worried we’ll be ambushed by lunatics. You’re a way better fighter than we are, so it makes sense for you to have your hands free.”
“You really saved our butts back there,” Zoe said, twisting around to face Vic.
“You two did well,” Victoria said. “Those cork sucking azzholes deserved what they got.”
They snickered, easing some of the tension from their brief battle. “Amaros knows we were in danger,” Zoe told them. “He can sense it through our bond.”
“Just like Cam sensed Vic was in trouble and went to her rescue,” Grace said slyly. “It’s pretty romantic.”
Victoria rolled her eyes, but secretly agreed with her.
“Did you happen to dream about Camriel last night?” Zoe asked.
Caught out, Vic felt her face flame. “That really happened?” she asked, a bit horrified. “What did he tell you?”
“Just that you appeared right in front of him for a few seconds,” Grace said. “What happened in your dream?”
“Not much,” Victoria replied. “I went to sleep and drifted from dream to dream, then I was suddenly standing in his bedroom.”
“Did you say anything to each other?” Zoe pressed, knowing there was more.
“He looked fudging pathetic and told me he was sorry,” the wrestler said grudgingly. “He tried to cup my cheek, but his fingers passed right through me.”
“What did you say to him?” Grace asked, heart swelling at their budding romance.
“Nothing,” Vic shrugged. “I woke up before I could try to reply.”
“What would you have said to him?” Zoe asked.
“I bet it would have had fudge, cork sucker or azz in there somewhere,” Grace joked.
They all cracked up again and Vic was relieved to be let off the hook. The way Camriel had looked at her in her dream still lingered. He’d been full of regret and longing. His apology had been sincere. She knew he would undo his collection of mistakes if he could.