33. Raphael
Raphael
33
My entire body is restless and eager to spill blood.
Every second I’m made to wait is another second Lily and Mei spend with Xiao being forced in to whatever hell he has planned.
For every wound on them, I will deliver three times over on Xiao and his men. They have no idea the devil that comes for them, but they will before the night’s over.
My fingers tap against the knife strapped to my leg, my eyes on the yacht in the distance. We have to wait until night falls to approach. Otherwise, we’ll be seen by Xiao’s lookouts. Even then, to avoid radar, Michael and I will need to dive and board the boat from the back.
Michael hands me a mask and a respirator designed to pull air from the water while I swim. Genius piece of tech, really. Just like how our guns are specially designed to work after being submerged in the water.
Enzo, who's been keeping an eye on the boat through a pair of binoculars, curses. “Shit.”
I freeze. “What?”
“We need to go now.”
“It’s not dark enough yet,” Michael says.
“We don’t have time to wait. Look.” He hands me the binoculars and then starts the boat.
Mei is trying hard to keep hold of Lily while a guard tries to pull her away. Another guard wrenches Lily’s hand back until Mei’s hold gives out. I can’t hear her cries over the ocean waves from this distance, but I can feel them in my gut.
“Hurry, Enzo,” I order my friend, knowing he already has the speed boat going as fast as it can.
Lily struggles against a guard while Mei is taken away. And then in the blink of an eye, Lily is on Xiao’s back, and blood flies.
“Fuck! She just stabbed Xiao.”
“What?” Michael grabs a rifle and looks through the scope. “Holy shit! Does she have some kind of death wish?”
Lily doesn’t know I’m coming for her. And while I hope she trusts I am, she can’t be certain. So in her mind, she can only count on herself right now. As dangerous as that is.
A guard pulls a feral Lily off Xiao’s back, and my chest swells with pride at the pure viciousness on her face. Blood covers her hands, her face, and hair, but she’s never looked more beautiful to me.
Xiao spins around, and a second later, a guard hands him a gun.
“Enzo, we need to get there now. He’s going to shoot her.”
We’re not going to make it. We’re still too far away.
I’m going to lose her.
I’m going to lose her before we even have a chance to be together.
“Raphael, do you trust me?” Michael asks, his voice calm and steady over the rushing sound of the water.
“Yes,” I answer without hesitation.
“Good.”
And then he fires the rifle.
I don’t even have a second to get angry because, through the binoculars, I watch the guard holding Lily drop to the ground. I can’t see where she goes after, but I watch Xiao’s eyes snap up and narrow in our direction. Michael ejects the casing and loads another bullet. But before he can fire the bullet, Xiao takes cover, and the bullet buries itself right where the bastard stood only a second before.
My eyes scan the deck and catch sight of a blond dressed in red. It’s Lily. Relief floods my chest when I see she’s been able to get away. My arms would be better, but I’ll take the bottom deck for now.
“Hold on to something,” Enzo warns. “This is gonna be quick.”
At the very last second, Enzo decelerates and turns the wheel to steer clear of the yacht, allowing Michael and me to safely jump onto the swim platform. Originally, Enzo was going to stay close by and be ready when we called for extraction, but that’s no longer the case. Even though he can’t leave the boat with his bum arm, he can at least provide cover fire for us.
Xiao’s men descend on us the moment we jump over the stern wall separating it from the swim platform. Moving as one, we send each one to the pits of hell without a second thought. They were dead the moment they signed up to work for the bastard.
“Lily!” I rush over to where I last saw her, but she’s not there. “Michael!” I yell at my brother. “She’s not here.”
Michael joins me behind the bar table. “She probably went to find Mei. Don’t worry, Xiao’s men won’t hurt them.”
“But Xiao will.”
Michael slams a clip in his gun before smacking me on my armor-covered chest. “Come on, let’s go find them before he does.”
Coming around a corner, I come face-to-face with a guard who swings at me with a knife. I lift my arm to block his attack and hiss when I feel the hot slice of his knife cut down my arm. A gunshot cracks through the night air and sends the man flying away from me. A quick look to my side and I catch Enzo lowering the sniper rifle from the side of the boat he used as a prop before he revs the boat engine and moves to locate his next target.
Michael thumps my shoulder. “Let me see. How bad is it?”
It stings, but since I can wiggle my fingers and move my wrist, it’s most likely just superficial. “I’m still alive.”
Michael reaches for my arm. Once he confirms it’s nothing too serious, he wraps a bandanna around my cut and cinches it hard. I bite back a groan and the urge to hit my brother in favor of concentrating on the goal at hand.
Find my family and kill Xiao.
“Let’s go.”
A woman’s scream cuts through the chaos, followed by a ringing gunshot. Michael meets my eyes. It didn’t sound like Lily, but I can’t be certain. My heart pounds in my chest, blood rushing in my ears when we hurry toward the sound. The hall is empty except for a young Asian girl. Her eyes are open, staring lifelessly at nothing thanks to the bullet wound bleeding between her brow. I reach out and close her eyes. She didn’t deserve to die like this. An innocent caught in the middle of a war.
We move on and come out on the bow of the ship.
“Lily!”
She spins around, her eyes frantic. She’s terrified, and I see why. Xiao stands at the edge of the bow, holding Mei over the dark water below. She has her tiny hands latched on his wrists as she cries and pleads to her dad to stop and let her up.
My gun is locked on him, but if I fire, he’ll drop Mei. And she can’t swim.
“Oh look, the guest of honor has finally arrived,” Xiao boasts.
“Xiao, please don’t do this. She’s your daughter,” Lily begs, tears streaming down her face.
“Is she?” he taunts. “Because it seems like she’d prefer Raphael as her dad. Just like you do.”
“That’s not true,” Lily urges, and I try to ignore the small stab of pain her words cause. I know she’s lying to him, but it still hurts.
“Stop lying!” he shouts, pushing Mei out a little bit more over the water. She cries, and my fist tightens on my gun. “You stabbed me, remember?”
“You were trying to take Mei from me, and she was scared,” Lily tries to bargain. “I was scared, and I was mad.” She takes a small step forward. “Just like how you were mad after what I did and almost shot me.” One more step. “Please, baby. You know I love you. Just let Mei go, and we’ll go with you. We can fix this. Together.”
Xiao sways on his feet, his face pale from blood loss. We don’t have long before his strength gives out, and he drops Mei either way.
“Bàba,” Mei cries.
For a moment, I think he believes Lily and will listen to her. But then a look of anger flashes across his face, and he opens his hand, dropping Mei to the water below.