Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
Finally.
Thunder was more than ready to end this once and for all.
Seeing Dr. Gardner again after all those years, watching what the psychopath had done to Maya, the way he treated her like she was an object and not a real person, the same way the scientist had treated him and his team, had only intensified his desire to kill the man.
Preferably with his bare hands.
“Need you to hide, babydoll,” he said, scanning the room as he tucked Maya behind him just in case someone came running in before he could get his hands on a weapon.
Protecting her was his priority.
Above all else.
Even killing Ridge Gardner.
As badly as he craved seeing the man’s blood painting his knuckles, watching him take his last breath, feeling the satisfaction of knowing that the scientist’s life was ended by his own creations, it wasn't enough to endanger Maya.
Losing her, even if they wound up killing Dr. Gardner, would feel like a hollow victory.
Ending Ridge Gardner’s life was important to moving on, but Maya was his future. He could see a future with her with the scientist still alive, but he couldn’t see a future without her, even if the scientist was dead.
“Hide?” she squeaked, and he could hear the fear in her voice. She’d done amazingly so far, held up better than he could have asked, put her sanity on the line to keep up her role as the sex toy the doctor remembered, but she wasn't trained for this, and the stress was getting to her.
“Won't risk you getting hurt,” he added, coming up with a plan. Since he didn't know the layout of the house well enough to know a good hiding place, he decided he already knew of a place where she would be untouchable.
It was just a major risk.
Because it assumed that Dr. Gardner wanted her alive more than he wanted to be smart.
Assumed that the man’s ego was big enough that he believed he was going to come out on top, get what he wanted, which was all six of them back in a cage ready to be experimented on, and Maya in a cage of her own, his own personal toy.
Enormous risk.
But one he had to take.
The only other option was to take Maya out there into the unknown with him, where she might get shot anyway.
“In there,” he said, already scooping her up and depositing her behind the wall of metal bars he’d only just walked through.
“In here?” she asked.
“Going to lock you in and then give you the key.
No one will be able to get to you, and I'm pretty sure that Dr. Gardner won't order you shot.” Bottom line was that as little as he liked this plan, he didn't really see any option where he could guarantee she wouldn't get shot, and of his limited options, this seemed like the best one.
“Pretty sure?” Maya repeated, gray eyes wide, but still trusting.
“Almost certain,” he corrected. Because it was true. He was more certain than not that Dr. Gardner, egomaniac that he was, would have ordered all guards he had with him to shoot to incapacitate, not to kill.
“Okay,” Maya agreed. Despite how much the idea of being caged all over again must terrify her, she didn't argue, trusting that he knew the best way to get her through this alive.
Grabbing her shoulders, he dragged her up against him, wasting precious seconds kissing her senseless.
Although it didn't feel like a waste. How could kissing his beautiful, sweet, brave, strong girl ever be a waste? If these were the last moments he would spend on this earth, he couldn’t think of a better way to use them.
Letting her go was hard.
Walking out of the cage, closing and locking the door behind him even harder.
But turning his back after he’d passed the key through the metal bars, pressing it into Maya’s hand, and leaving the room was the hardest of all.
If he’d had a weapon, he might have stayed in there with her.
A barrier between her and anything that wanted to cause her harm.
Since he didn't have a weapon, he needed to go and get his hands on one. Then he’d be back, and he had to trust that he’d made the right decision and his girl would be there, breathing and whole, when he came back for her.
Still, that didn't erase the thread of doubt as he made his way out into a hall. There was a room right beside the one he had been in, and he could see a single bed in there. Had to be the room where Maya had been whipped before Dr. Gardner paraded her in to torture them both.
Sporadic gunfire still sounded, but it didn't seem like it was coming from anywhere inside the house.
If it was a house. There were another four doors up there, grouped around the top of a staircase.
Even though he didn't sense anyone else upstairs, Thunder wasn't going to make the mistake of not checking to make sure.
So he cleared three bedrooms, one that was clearly Dr. Gardner’s, while the others consisted of four beds each, confirming that there were likely only the eight men he already knew about. There was also a bathroom, but all were empty, and he made his way to the stairs.
Time to use his enhanced speed. The gunshots had quietened down, but he didn't know if that was because his team had already killed everyone or if whatever guards were still alive had hidden themselves away.
Not that there was any way to hide from Delta Team. Between the six of them, it was pretty much impossible to remain undetected, and while for now it was just him, he was always the one who came in first and caused a distraction.
Even without his team at his back, this felt normal, doable, like he could almost forget that his girl was alone and vulnerable, and this was just another case, even if it was the most personal one he’d ever been on. The crux of his future, the culmination of the last decade.
It was everything, and there was zero margin for error.
Moving faster than anyone could get a read on if someone was watching, he’d never seen himself run, but he’d been told he looked pretty much like the stereotypical cartoon depiction of a person running at super speed.
Downstairs, there were three barely furnished, large living spaces, and it seemed pretty clear that Dr. Gardner had moved into this place in a hurry. This worked well for him and his team because it would make cornering the men here and disposing of them that much easier.
Just as he’d finished clearing the downstairs, he saw movement outside the sliding doors leading out from the kitchen and dining room.
Without hesitating because he knew if it was his team they would alert him to that fact, he went full out.
Using his speed to his advantage, he rushed the figure, came to a stop right beside them, and enjoyed the widening of the man’s eyes and the gasp of shocked horror that fell from his lips as he realized he was about to take the jump from this life into the next.
His enhanced speed worked for everything, and when he pulled his fist back and let it sail forward, it connected with the man’s neck with enough force to decimate his airways and snap his neck.
As the body fell at his feet, Thunder snatched up his weapon and turned as he heard someone shifting behind him.
Gunshots peppered past him as he moved toward this newest threat, the man unable to get a meaningful shot off because Thunder was moving too quickly.
His favorite thing about his speed was when he stopped in front of a target, and they looked at him with a mixture of shock and acceptance of their fate.
This time was no different.
Coming to a stop right before the man, Thunder grinned, waved, then fired his newly claimed weapon directly into the man’s neck, sending blood splattering across his face.
The opposite of squeamish, he’d loved the sight, the smell, the feel of blood for as long as he could remember.
It had always been a balm to soothe his anger, a visible representation of the outlet for his rage.
Today was no exception. This man had been a threat to Maya, had participated in kidnapping her, traumatizing her all over again, and for that, he deserved a much slower, more painful death than he’d gotten.
“Try to remember we don’t all have your love of blood,” a voice said from behind him.
“Speak for yourself,” another piped up.
Thunder turned to find Blade looking offended that Lion would dare to talk badly about blood. While Thunder wouldn't say he had a blood kink, he didn't enjoy it as part of sex, he just liked it as an expression of his anger. Blade definitely had that kink.
“He’s here,” he told the others, not wanting to get distracted by anything else. The need to return to his girl thrummed insistently beneath his skin.
“We know,” Steel replied. “And he hasn’t left. We have the perimeter monitored, so if he makes a run for it, we’ll know.”
“Perfect,” Thunder said, his anxiety receding a little. Dr. Gardner was trapped there, and this time, he wouldn't escape. The scientist’s luck had run out, and now he was about to face the consequences of his choices. “Ready to go hunting?”
March 11 th
6:50 A.M.
To stop herself from calling out to Thunder, begging him to stay with her, not to leave her alone again, Maya curled her fingers into fists, relishing the way the key dug into her palm. That small bite of pain was enough to keep her grounded, to make sure she didn't do something stupid.
And calling Thunder back would be stupid.
Even though she was afraid to be alone, she understood that she didn't have any meaningful skills to help right now. Thunder had training and experience, plus his enhanced speed. He could get to his team much easier on his own, and she didn't want to be responsible for anything happening to him.
Delta Team was there now. It wasn't just her and Thunder against Master and his guards, everything was going to be okay.
All she had to do was be brave just a little longer, and it would all be over.
If nothing went wrong.
No. Don’t think that way.
Nothing is going to go wrong.