Chapter Forty-Five Hollis
Chapter Forty-Five
Hollis
Jason yanked me behind him, his body a shield. The shot cracked past us, punching into the wall.
“I know what you’re doing,” Jason said steadily, remaining in front of me.
“You’re trying to draw our fire, get us to kill you.
We’re not going to do that.” He slowly secured his sidearm and shifted his rifle on its sling around to his back before raising his gloved hands. “You’re under the influence—”
“I’m not,” Lyra shot back. “No drugs. This is me, that’s the problem.” She fired another round, hitting the floor, narrowly missing Jason.
So help me if she hit him. He had a chest plate, but that wouldn’t do any good if she caught him in the face or neck.
“I broke the rules,” Lyra said through a mess of what sounded like tears.
She tossed her helmet and night vision but kept her weapon aimed at us, so we couldn’t move in yet.
“I—I fell in love with my protector. A-and Cassian learned about Tristan this year. Waylen overheard Tristan arguing with Mum about his father months ago, and he figured out he’s our half brother, and they felt betrayed. ”
“Whatever Cassian said to you, whatever you did—”
“I’ve always been so jealous of you. Everyone loves you,” Lyra interrupted me. “Mum. Dad. You’re probably even Cassian’s first choice, really.” Her voice trembled. “And y-you didn’t even want this life anymore. You kept choosing to be with Audrey and her friends, and . . .”
“Do it,” I whispered to Jason. “Rush her now.”
He sprang forward, knocking her arm high. The round tore into the ceiling, and her pistol clattered to the floor as he slammed her against the wall.
She stopped fighting and slowly dropped to the floor.
Jason kicked her weapon to the side and let me take over and go to her. “You okay?” he asked me. “Not hit?”
“No, I’m fine.” Physically, at least. I let my sling catch my rifle and squatted before my sister, unable to wrap my head around how the “innocent” one had betrayed us.
Jason began communicating to the teams over comms to catch them up as I knocked my NVGs to the top of my helmet, doing my best to adjust to the dark hallway and get a look at my sister that wasn’t tainted by a green glow.
It also occurred to me there were no more gunshots coming from anywhere. The fight here was over, but where was Mum? Tristan?
“Waylen found out about that book sometime after that fight he overheard. You came asking Tristan about it, and that’s when the three of them came up with a plan.
Cassian convinced me that I was living in your shadow, just like his family was for all of us, but without the rewards—a-and he said it should be the two of us that control everything.
We could be married. Start a life together. ”
So, this had nothing to do with Cassian’s oath and everything to do with being a power-hungry monster. He’d have found another reason to do this had he not learned the truth about Tristan or how to manipulate us with the book, I was sure of it.
“You were only supposed to be drugged, never hurt. He lied to me. U-used me,” Lyra said, hiccupping, but I wasn’t sure how much was an act so I’d feel sorry for her.
I wasn’t remotely ready to feel pity for her. I also had a million more questions to ask and a dozen versions of how could you to get out, but we didn’t have time, because the man my sister had fallen in love with had our mother and brother out there somewhere.
“Was there a tracker in the suitcase you lent me?” I asked at the memory of her offer to use her RIMOWA.
Then again, my brothers probably kept Lyra in the loop about where we were.
No need to sneak around when your main enemy came from within the circle of trust. “Is anyone else in our family involved?” I asked when she remained quiet. “Cousins?”
“No. I’m the only one w-who really betrayed you all,” she cried.
“Along with the men who devoted their lives to protect us.” I did my best not to lose my shit and shifted my night vision in front of my eyes. “I have to go. I’ll deal with you later.”
“I got her,” an Irishman said from behind me, and I twisted around to see another operator there with us, his NVGs in place. I had to assume it was Sebastian.
“I’m so sorry.” Lyra reached for me, but I pulled my arm free of her touch and slowly stood with Jason’s help.
“Find your family,” I told Kylo. “Stay safe.” I nodded my thanks to Sebastian and the other operator with him, then took off with Jason and Alex, ready to take out the traitors who’d started this chain reaction of betrayal.
Once we were back outside, the storm had eased up, but it was still raining. There was a pair of ATVs waiting for us alongside the Falcon Falls operators, Jesse and Griffin.
I flung my rifle behind me in preparation for the ride, and Jason wasted no time, swinging me onto the vehicle behind him.
He shifted his rifle to his chest so it wouldn’t press up against me and drew my arms around his waist to hang on tight.
“Ryder, Julian, and Gideon tried to pursue behind them in the tunnel, but they were cut off. Part of the tunnel blew up, blocking their path. They’re working their way back up top now,” Jesse informed us. “No casualties.”
Thank God.
“I have the coordinates Kylo gave us,” Jason began, the rain still pouring, “but I’m not sure—”
“Gwen hacked a satellite overhead,” Jesse interrupted with what I hoped would be good news.
“She found the exact location Kylo mentioned. There are two SUVs parked in a clearing in the woods where Cassian and the others should be coming out up top. Easton will do a flyover of the area once you’re closer and spotlight it for you,” Griffin shared.
“Gideon’s pilot is coming back for us. We’ll be right behind you. ”
“Thank you,” I said just before we started forward, kicking up mud with the tires as we pulled out.
The ride was rough and bumpy, and rain continued to fall as he drove us along a muddy trail in the woods.
Since Kylo’s cousins were going on foot with two hostages, we had a shot at getting to their SUVs when they did.
I straddled closer to Jason as the rain picked up, hammering our helmets and goggles. Branches clawed at us, lightning painting the forest in violent strobes.
Every second that passed, it was like we were racing death itself, the ground beneath the tires slippery, the path uneven.
We broke into the clearing just as Gwen came over comms, announcing, “We’ve got you in our sights.” She and Easton had to be within range if they could join our frequency.
I couldn’t hear the blades of the helo with the storm violently raging, but light poured down as promised. We knocked our night vision up the second it made contact and lit up the ground. It also exposed multiple figures near the two SUVs.
Jason and Alex took a hard turn and shifted as gunfire sprayed at us. They killed the engines, and we hopped off and took cover to engage.
“This is Foxtrot One,” my brother came in over comms. “We’re about to drop in out of view from the spotlight.”
“Roger,” I confirmed before squeezing off a round, taking down a hostile.
Jason tapped my shoulder and slipped by me, dropping two tangos before I could even track his rifle.
I tried to put eyes on my mother and Tristan out there beneath the light. Someone was currently shoving her in the back of an SUV. She had to still be drugged. But Tristan? He was fighting back, trying to break free and help her.
“We have friendlies in the mix,” I warned over comms to Gideon and the others before they joined the fight. “The prince is working to get free,” I shared at the sight. “The queen is inside an SUV and drugged.”
“This is Foxtrot One, that’s a good copy.”
“Delta One here, we’re coming up on your flanks. We see you,” Ryder transmitted a minute later as Alex took out the man Tristan was still battling, now enabling my brother to get a weapon.
I stayed tight behind Jason, rifle steady, as he took a knee by Alex, forcing me to duck behind them.
“This is Delta One. On my mark . . .”
I tuned out Ryder and the orders he was giving, because all I could focus on was the woods, knowing someone was out there watching me.
I didn’t want to distract Jason or Alex as they continued to pick off each target one by one, so I twisted around as quietly as possible and stood. That was when a figure stepped into my line of sight from the tree line.
You must be Cassian.
He came close enough I could make out his face. He gave me the kind of smile meant to unnerve me, and the knife in his hand glinted when lightning split the sky.
Rage poured hot into my veins, and I removed the heavy weight of my rifle, then tossed my helmet with my night vision.
“He’s mine,” I whispered, letting Jason know not to engage when he heard what was about to take place.
“Hollis,” Jason hissed as I walked before a man who was supposed to protect my sister, not seduce and trick her.
I lunged at Cassian, knocking his blade wide.
He countered, his elbow slamming into my vest. I absorbed the hit and drove a knee into his ribs. He staggered but twisted, catching me in a choke hold. I was slippery and soaked, hard to hold on to in the storm.
The gunfire died down around us to dead silence.
We’d won the war.
One battle left to go.
I stomped on Cassian’s shin, twisted free, and drove an elbow into his jaw. His head snapped sideways, but he used the momentum to hook my arm, dragging me down into the mud with him. We hit hard, rolling, grappling in the storm’s fury.
He went for his blade, but Jason kicked it from his reach without intervening, knowing I wanted this piece of shit for myself.
I shoved my forearm into Cassian’s throat, cutting off his airway, but he clawed at my wrist until my grip slipped.
“I got it,” I promised Jason so he wouldn’t try to save me. Well, not unless I truly needed it.
Rain blurred my vision, and Cassian flipped me over against a fallen tree and bark scraped my shoulders.
He pressed his weight into me, whispering in my ear, “I corrupted the good little angel. The innocent one. Got her to do whatever I—” He was ripped off me in one fluid motion, and I was grateful Jason had ignored my pleas to stay out of it.
Jason was still snarling as he helped me rise, but then he stepped off to the side, letting me finish what this bastard had started.
Adrenaline burned through me, and I forced Cassian back up only to slam my knee into his ribs. A sharp crack followed that rattled his breath.
He stumbled back, and my hand went instinctively to my holster at my thigh. Fingers slick, I yanked the Glock clear in one motion.
He spat blood off to his side, then gestured with his wrist to bring it on.
I closed the space between us and pressed the Glock to his forehead, finger hovering on the trigger.
He held open his arms at his side, a dark laugh falling from his bloody mouth. “You don’t have it in you.” He abruptly grabbed my wrist, steadying my hand, and shoved the muzzle more forcefully against his forehead, baring his teeth. “Go ahead,” he provoked. “Do it.”
“Hollis,” Jason said in warning from behind.
I trembled, my eyelashes fluttering from the mix of tears and rain as thunder and lightning crowded the night sky.
I didn’t need my memories to know I’d never taken a life in cold blood, and was I going to start now?
I thought back to the family crest. “In time, there is truth.” My voice caught as I tore my wrist free from his grip and stepped back, lowering my weapon. “You’ll rot in a cell for what you did.”
“I knew you couldn’t—”
A gunshot cracked the night. Jason’s hand went to my waist, dragging me close as Cassian’s head snapped to the side and vanished in the spray.
“No, you won’t.” Tristan dropped the 9mm into the mud. “You’ll rot in hell instead.” He turned toward me, the spotlight burning at his back. “Hollis,” he murmured.
My chest ached as I remembered the boy in those photos from our grandfather’s house. “You were helping me all this time, weren’t you?”
Jason gave me a small nod, a quiet signal he’d step aside. He melted into the shadows but remained nearby as Alex moved in with the others to secure the field.
Off near the SUVs, Jesse and Griffin guided my mother to safety, her steps unsteady.
“You came to me asking if I had the book,” Tristan said on approach. “When I admitted I did, you requested I come up with a way to reverse engineer the memory-wipe drug to help others.”
“And did you?” I whispered.
“I had to first make it work for our bloodline before I could extrapolate the data to see if I could use it on other people. And I, uh, tried both drugs on myself, and that’s how my protector found out about it.
I trusted Waylen. I asked him to inject me.
Gave him the instructions. You’re a stubborn pain in the ass”—he half smiled—“and I knew you’d have insisted on testing the drugs on yourself, so I had to beat you to it.
I never had the chance to work on it further, because the book and all my research was stolen.
We met at your place in France a few weeks ago, assuming there was a traitor among us. ”
That’s why they tossed my place in France. London. The hotel. They were searching for any evidence I may have gathered.
I hung my head, guilt taking hold of me.
In a way, I truly did trigger all this, but ultimately, Cassian clearly had an evil side and so did his brothers, and they were bound to betray us eventually.
“Waylen told me the truth while I was here as a prisoner.” Tristan twisted around and pointed toward the dead bodies, and I took that to mean Waylen was now one of them.
He faced me, shaking his head. “After the first experiment, Waylen realized I didn’t recall anything that happened during the time between when the first drug was administered and the antidote.
That gave him and his brothers the idea to use the mind control drugs from the book on us in that in-between time period, to get us to do what they wanted.
We’d never know about it. But we screwed up their plans before they could even start by closing in on who the hell stole my book in the first place, forcing them to rush and change things up. ”
“Wait, rewind.” I stared at him in the downpour, trying to make sense of what he’d just said. “Do you mean that I’m going to forget—” I let go of my words as thunder cracked, shaking the earth, and the spotlight above us spun wild.
“We’ve been hit,” Easton barked out over comms, voice strained. “Brace!”
A screech cut through the storm, followed by a burst of fire overhead.
The world pitched sideways, and before I could react, Jason slammed me and Tristan to the ground, shielding us from the falling sky.