Danaë Chapter 19 #2
I held in my warrior cry. The one they teach you in self-defense, and I swung the rod across my body, taking him in the back of the head. He staggered forward. I hit him again and then a third time, until he lay on the carpet, unmoving, and bleeding.
I didn’t bother to check if he was dead or search him for a weapon.
I recognized his clothing. He was one of the footmen.
Yes, they had footmen, like royalty or something.
They all wore the same livery, as it was called.
I hurried past him and then peeked out into the hall.
I glanced both ways. Seeing no one, I shut the door and then headed left.
I had no shoes on. So my feet barely made any sound on the marble. I went as fast as I could without making a sound. My heart was pounding so hard, I worried someone would hear it, which was ridiculous. My breath wanted to pant out of me. I kept breathing in and out slowly.
Hearing the murmur of voices, I ducked into one of the countless bedrooms they had.
It was dark. I left barely a crack in the door so I could watch who passed.
It was two maids. They were headed toward the front of the house, toward my room.
When their voices faded fully away, I eased out and was off again.
It was nerve-racking to try to hear over my own breathing and heartbeat while keeping track of where I was going.
At the top of the back stairs, I paused to look down them.
Seeing no one, I began tiptoeing down. I held onto my rod and the balustrade.
If I weren’t pregnant, I wouldn’t have held on, but I was afraid I’d slip if I didn’t.
When I reached the first floor, I sent up a thank you.
I wasn’t free yet. I had to navigate the servant’s quarters.
At this time of night, they should still be working elsewhere in the house.
This way would take me through their bedrooms.
The difference between the main house and the understairs staff, as they were called in Victorian times, was like night and day.
In the common areas and the family’s rooms, it was ostentatious.
Everything screamed their wealth. The servant’s areas were basic, bland, without any high-end finishes or anything beyond serviceable.
Their rooms weren’t large. They shared bathrooms. It was disheartening.
And I knew they didn’t make nearly what they deserved.
I did wonder how many knew or guessed what else Huston did to make the money for all of this.
The side door that led from the servants’ wing to the outside was up ahead.
I moved faster. The next hurdle was almost finished.
My hand was reaching for the door handle when a strong arm came out of nowhere and wrapped around my ribs.
I was hauled back against a hard chest. A hand came up over my mouth to hold in my scream.
Terror and rage filled me. I wiggled, kicked, tried to bite the hand, and even flung back my head, trying to hit my captor’s face. There was a grunt, though no face was impacted. Then, in my ear, I heard a voice.
“Will you settle down before you unman me and I have to explain to my wife why I can no longer perform my husbandly duties?” he growled.
I sagged. I knew that voice. Tears pricked my eyes. Slowly, the arm eased its hold, and the hand inched away from my mouth as the voice continued to speak in hushed tones.
“I need you to stay absolutely quiet and do everything I say. We’re not out of the woods. Can you do that?”
I nodded vigorously. Then, I was let go and whirled around to face my captor. Undertaker stood there watching me. Without pausing, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him. He patted my back.
“It’s okay. But we’ll have to continue this lovefest after we get you home.
Just stick with me. Stay in my shadow. Here, take this.
Use it if you have to, but make sure you don’t shoot any of our people.
Put these on. You’ll recognize who is ours by the infrared patch on the front or back of their vests.
But you have to keep these goggles on to see them.
They’ll make your vision wonky for a bit, but work with it. ”
My mind was working to take in and retain everything he told me.
“I’m ready. Get me home. Is Heath here?” I whispered moments later.
“Do you think we could keep him away? He’s here. Now let’s get outside, then I’ll let them know I have you. There’s a load of security crawling all over this place.”
I nodded to let him know I was ready. And just like that, Undertaker opened the door an inch.
Then wider until he could stick his head out.
I kept my head turned to watch our six, as the guys would call it.
He tapped my arm. I shadowed his footsteps, but kept checking behind us, just as he was.
We went about five feet from the door before he paused in the deep shadow thrown by a large ornamental bush. His hand went to his ear.
“I’ve got the precious cargo and exited the east door. We’re beginning our movement to the extraction point,” he whispered.
There was a pause of several seconds before he responded, “Roger, over and out.”
Undertaker bent over and then came up with something I recognized because I’d seen Heath’s. It was a Kevlar vest.
“We need you to put this on. We want to protect you and the baby.”
He got no argument from me. It took no more than a minute to have me zipped up in it.
It felt like it weighed a ton, but I was grateful for it.
Satisfied, he gave me a chin lift, and then we began to move again.
It was terribly stressful. I was scared that any second we’d be spotted and shot.
Undertaker, for such a big man, slithered through the darkness like a ghost. He crouched and found the darkest spots to move from place to place.
The crackle of a voice, which I recognized as one coming over a radio, caught my attention. Undertaker stopped moving and gently pushed me behind him. Clearly, no one on his team was using radios in that manner.
“Everyone, be alert. The boss is coming. Five minutes,” a crackly male voice barked out.
“Anyone see anything?” the guard we were overhearing asked softly.
“All clear. No one is gonna be stupid enough to try to enter this place, even if they figured out she’s here. Just stay alert and whatever you do, don’t anger Zhāng unless you want to be dead.”
“Roger,” the guard stated back.
He moved on. From my vantage point, he seemed relaxed, merely circling his designated area. He clearly believed there was no reason to be worried about intruders.
As I watched him move on, out of the darkness crept a figure.
He snuck up on the guy, slapped a hand over his mouth, then his other hand came up to do something I wasn’t able to see.
The guard’s body went limp. His body was dragged further into the shadows.
Moments later, the figure from the darkness reappeared, saluted us, then moved off.
Had the guard been killed or knocked out?
Undertaker tapped my arm. We moved off. As we moved in a serpentine manner over the estate, I saw more figures coming out of the shadows and taking down more of the guards Huston had.
None seemed to be spared. I still wasn’t sure whether they were dead.
At this point, if they worked for Huston or even Bolin Zhāng, then they couldn’t be oblivious to what their bosses did.
Undertaker paused again, seemed to listen, then whispered, “Understood.”
He leaned into me and whispered, “Zhāng is approaching the gate. He’ll be at the house soon. It’s time to get you out of here. Let the others take care of him and your ex-family.”
“No, I want to hear them confess what they did. I want to know exactly what Zhāng intended for me. They took me for him to save their lives. I refuse to hide. I want to face them,” I hissed.
“Danae, you’re pregnant. I can’t allow you to endanger yourself or your baby. Do you know what losing either of you will do to Heath? To Johann? No.”
“Do you know what it’ll do to me if I never see them pay? I won’t gain peace. You guys can protect me. Don’t tell me you’re not getting updates as we move. How many have been taken out?”
He glared at me, and it was intimidating as fuck, but I refused to back down. After several seconds of a stare down, he swore, “Fuck.”
“We have precious cargo insisting she stay for the show. I can carry her out of here.”
I hiked up my eyebrow and gave him my try me, look.
“I told her. She’s facing off with me. Hell, she might take the gun I gave her and use it on me by the looks of her,” he said ruefully.
Then, out of the shadows came two more figures.
I tensed until I saw the infrared patch on the vest. As they got close, there was no mistaking the man in the lead.
It was Heath. He appeared grim, but I didn’t care.
I rushed the last couple of steps and threw myself at him.
He caught me and hugged me tightly. It lasted a couple of heartbeats, then he eased back.
“You need to go,” he ordered.
“Heath, I can’t. Is the estate in your control or theirs?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not risking you or our daughter,” he replied.
“If you control the estate, then the risk is nominal,” I replied. We were whispering, but our tones were clear.
“Reinforcements could arrive at any minute. The situation could go south without warning. If I have to worry about you, then I can’t concentrate on the team getting away safely,” he argued.
“Then take them away from here. Are you planning to hang here and interrogate them for hours? That would be stupid. Then you have all these bodies to deal with. You’re taking them to a secondary location. I want to go with you,” I demanded.
He growled under his breath, but I knew I was right. That part of the master plan hadn’t been discussed in front of me. He exchanged a look with Undertaker. I held my breath as I wanted to see if I’d have to argue more.
“Danae, I don’t have time to argue. What we have to do will get ugly and bloody. It’ll take hours. We have to extract as much information as we can. They won’t want to give it up. You and the baby don’t need that kind of stress,” Heath protested.
“It’ll be more stressful on us if I have to sit back at headquarters or home, waiting to find out what you discovered,” I countered.
“You two, we have to shelve this. The last guest has arrived,” Undertaker informed us, though I knew Heath was able to hear that update in his earpiece. It was for my benefit.
“You promised me I could be there. Are you breaking that promise?” I asked.
Heath grimaced. “Don’t think of it as that. I did say that, but this is too important. I can’t have you watch that.”
A coldness settled in the pit of my stomach. He was going back on his promise. Something I never thought he’d do. Without another word, I turned to Undertaker.
“Take me home.”
“Danae, don’t be—”
I cut Heath off. “I heard you. I want to go home. Now.”
After a brief exchange of glances, Undertaker gestured for me to follow. I did. I left Heath standing there.