62
EMERSYN
I had enough to think about without the added mystery of Angel.
But, what was one more random man who said I needed to trust him in order to get off this godforsaken island?
Besides, he’d just dropped ammo and firepower at my feet, so I was inclined to go along with things until my instincts said otherwise.
Angel dropped another duffle bag in the middle of the room and unzipped it.
“Last thing.” He pulled a gas mask from the bag and tossed it to me, before he pulled one out for each of us. “Put these on. The forest is unpredictable and contains gas pockets we don’t want to get caught in.”
Once everyone’s masks were secure, Angel did a quick comms check and we were out the door. The estate was quiet, but I felt the underlying tension in the air. Mahoney cut the tablet, which meant he had regained control of his security and locked everything down even tighter.
Angel acted as team leader, with Griffin at his shoulder and me on his left.
Seven brought up the rear. I settled into the familiar cadence of a team.
I’d missed this. I caught Griffin compensating for me for the first few minutes as we made our way through the corridors, but as we neared the final stretch, he backed off when he realized it was a redundancy we couldn’t afford.
I smirked behind my mask—at least he was a quick learner.
Somehow, we made it all the way out outside without encountering a single person—guest or guard. Seven let the door shut with a near silent click. We spread out along the wall and studied the grounds.
For once the island was silent. The waves crashed in the distance, but the island felt like it was holding its breath.
Even the wind had fallen dead. The forest loomed in all its sinister glory across a large expanse of flat lawn that sloped and dipped between manicured shrubs and curated garden beds. There was very little cover.
“Clear.”
“Let’s move.”
Angel broke out into a controlled jog across open grass.
We avoided the pools of light cast by the aesthetic iron lanterns spaced along the path.
I settled into the comfortable cadence of the job, my senses heightened as I took in every ounce of information available.
The weight of the rifle felt familiar and comforting in my hands.
This was what I missed—the freedom of the hunt.
We were halfway across the lawn when the first alarm sounded.
It was a sharp, electronic chirp that cut through the silence.
Angel held up his hand, and we all froze.
“Motion sensor,” Griffin muttered.
The entire estate exploded with light. Floodlights ignited along the sides of the house and cast the entire garden into blinding stark relief. Doors slammed. Shouts went up from either side of us.
“Move!” Angel barked.
Gunfire erupted and rounds tore through the darkness. Dirt exploded beside my boots, but I was already up and moving as we took off across the property. More guards poured onto the lawn, and bullets ripped through the grass and whistled overhead. We dove behind a decorative stone planter.
“Contact left!”
I spotted movement near the front of the house and took out two guards in rapid succession. I saw a sniper get into position on the roof, and locked onto him. Breathe. In. Out. Take the shot.
He went down. It was like muscle memory. I blazed through a full mag and when I ducked down to reload, I caught Griffin staring at me. At least, I thought he was, I couldn’t be sure with the mask, but his head was turned toward me.
“What?” My voice was muffled.
He shook his head and resumed firing. I loaded and popped back up, but there were too many of them. I dropped a few more.
“We need to move!” I shouted.
“Let’s go!” Angel yelled.
We couldn’t risk getting pinned down. The treeline rushed closer as bullets tore through the ground at our heels. Someone collided hard with my shoulder, and I heard the shot meant for me whisper past my head. I righted myself and saw Griffin at my side. I’d have to thank him later.
We hit the trees, and the darkness closed in heavily around us. It was like it consumed all the light within a few feet. The world shrank to shadows and our harsh breaths were amplified by the masks. The gunfire stopped abruptly and gave us a small reprieve while the enemy regrouped.
I stepped up to Angel’s side and studied the way ahead. There was danger here—a lot of it. Angel took a few steps forward, and I quickly yanked him to a stop.
“Wait.” I stepped past him and crouched in the path.
Seven knelt next to me. “What’ve you got?”
I gently pushed aside some brush and revealed a well-concealed tripwire.
“Well, that’s rude,” Seven muttered.
I followed the wire through the undergrowth until I found the mechanism hidden beneath a log.
I looked up into the trees and spotted a sharpened cluster of rebar suspended between two trunks.
Not quite chest height, but angled perfectly to maim.
Seven hummed low under his breath and looked over his shoulder.
“Let us take point,” Seven spoke to the others and nodded at me. “This is some nasty stuff through here.”
Angel inclined his head. “Keep east.”
“Roger that.”
Seven and I stepped over the tripwire and ventured carefully forward. The deeper we traveled, the stranger the forest became. The trees grew thicker with roots and vines that tangled around our feet. The air was bone-chillingly cold, and every surface was covered in moss that dripped and bled sap.
I chose my steps carefully. Everything looked dangerous here, and twice I spotted concealed pits before anyone stepped in them. The first contained rusted spikes and the second dropped into blackness so deep, I couldn’t see the bottom.
I almost missed the third trap because I thought I saw movement through the trees.
Seven’s arm slammed into my chest and I looked down in time to see another tripwire, except this one was made of vines.
I turned to thank him, only to catch the same movement I’d thought I’d seen over his shoulder.
It was nothing more than a shadow detaching from another shadow, but it was enough.
I shoved him into a tree. “Contact left!”
A sharp crack echoed through the dark, and a bullet bit into the trunk on my right. Wood exploded, and we all dropped to the ground as splinters showered across our backs. Beams of light bobbed through the trees. We’d been spotted.
“Let’s move,” Griffin hissed.
“Tripwire,” I warned. “Step where I step.”
I chose my steps carefully and hoped I could spot the dangers fast enough.
I concentrated on the path ahead, trusting Griffin and Angel to cover our backs.
The gap was closing—they must have night vision and maybe a map of a safe path through the trees.
I cursed our luck just as another few gunshots cracked through the night.
A sudden scream rent the air. Chills sheeted my skin at the sound of agony that laced through their cry. Someone had obviously tripped one of the traps. Hopefully it would give us some space. I skirted the tripwire and pointed it out to the others as I stepped over it.
I turned to make sure everyone stepped over it safely and saw Griffin jerk as though something had struck him. My heart immediately jumped into my throat. Griffin fumbled with his mask and yanked it off just as I reached him.
“Are you hit?” I asked frantically.
He shook his head, but poked his fingers through a bullet hole in his filter.
Everyone fell silent. We knew what that meant, and it wasn’t good.
We hadn’t run into the green mist yet, but I’d seen it in pockets of darkness through the trees.
It seemed to glow with its own effervescence.
Seven came back from where he’d scouted ahead and saw Griffin without his mask.
“Fuck. Is it done?”
“Yeah, it’s useless now,” Griffin muttered.
“We need to move,” Angel said.
No one argued with that, so we continued on.
The screams from behind us faded, overshadowed by the sound of running water.
We came to a dark cut through the trees where black water raced through a shallow, but vicious looking creek.
The swatch of sky above cast moonlight down onto the water and made it glitter, like black jewels.
“Why does that look so sinister?” Seven muttered.
“It doesn’t look that deep,” I said.
“It’s not the depth I’m worried about,” he said dryly.
“You think something is in there?” Angel asked.
No one answered him. I crouched near the edge and watched the water.
It didn’t look dangerous. It was only black because of how dark it was, and the depth didn’t look like anything to be concerned about either.
But, this forest was a nasty bit of sorcery and had secrets that lingered beneath the visible surfaces, so I couldn’t be completely confident.
I stood and grabbed a long branch from the bank.
I stuck it into the water where I was going to step and prodded the rocky bottom in search of any hidden threats.
When nothing happened, I went to take the first step, but Seven grabbed the branch and stopped me.
“I’ll go first,” he said.
We didn’t have time to argue, so I handed him the branch.
Seven carefully waded into the water. The depth dropped as he neared the middle until it was up to his knees.
He thrust the branch forward. Safe. He took another step.
He brought the branch down again, and the water surged.
A snap of wood and Seven wrestled the stick back.
He held it up. It had been severed about a foot from the bottom.
“Jesus,” he muttered. “Only step where I’ve cleared.”
We followed after him. When I reached the trap, I gestured for everyone to go ahead. I reached my hands down into the water and felt around. My fingers brushed cold metal.
Griffin stopped next to me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m resetting it.”