19 Asher
"I wasn't coming to negotiate. I wasn't coming to talk. I was coming to bring her home."
The twenty-minute drive feels like it takes a lifetime. Every second feels like another knife twisting in my chest. Roman is in the passenger seat loading magazines while Cipher feeds us updates through the earpiece.
“Satellite confirms at least six heat signatures inside the basement,” Cipher says. “Possibly more. We have about five on the outside and six on the inside first floor.”
“Scarlett?” I ask.
“Can't confirm.”
I grip the steering wheel harder. The old farmhouse finally comes into view through the trees.
From this distance it looks abandoned. Rotting wood, broken fencing, overgrown fields.
The kind of place people forget exists. As we get closer, I see the tell tale signs that there is still some life here.
There is two cows out in the field, and it looks like some pigs wondering in a fenced in part by a barn.
I cant believe someone actually lives here.
I kill the headlights and bring the SUV to a stop behind a line of trees.
Grant's truck appears from the opposite direction.
The look on his face tells me Hannah made it to the hospital alive. The look in his eyes tells me someone is still going to die.
“She's stable,” he says before I can ask, relief hits me hard, but then it's gone because Scarlett is still inside.
“Roman takes the east side.”
Roman nods.
“I will take the rear.”
“Asher go through the front.”
“Everyone clear?”
The team spreads out. Roman disappears into the darkness like a ghost.
Grant circles toward the rear of the property.
The farmhouse grows larger with every step.
Then a light flashes inside one of the windows.
Movement, good because I want them to see us coming.
The front door explodes inward. The sound echoes across the property and I storm into the house.
Chaos erupts instantly. Shouts. Running footsteps, the guy comes at me from around the corner his gun drawn and I grab it and twist his wrist before he even sees me.
The gun clatters across the floor. Another man appears in the hallway and freezes, his eyes widen.
It is Tyler. He turns to run, big mistake.
I take one of my knives and throw it. It hits him right between his eyes.
I walk over and remove the knife from his skull and wipe the blood off on my pants.
Roman's voice crackles through my earpiece.
“East side secure.”
Grant follows seconds later.
“Rear clear.”
I move through the house room by room. When I walk into the kitchen, there are two fuckers sitting at the table playing cards.
They look up and reach for their guns, but I'm faster.
I fire twice. Both shots hit dead center in the chest, dropping them instantly.
I move into the next room. Clear. As I round the corner into the living room, I find two more fuckers waiting for me.
These ones put up a little more of a fight, but I'm still better.
I already have my knives in my hands. I slash the first one across the throat.
Blood sprays as he stumbles backward, clutching at his neck.
The second comes at me from behind. I spin and reverse my grip, jamming the knife backward without even looking.
When I turn, I see the blade buried deep in his eye socket.
I yank it free. His eyeball comes with it and he screams.
I don't give him the chance to finish. With my other knife, I drive the blade into the side of his head.
The scream dies instantly as his body crumples to the floor.
Clear. My heart pounds harder with every second.
Then I hear it, someone yelling from below.
Soon Roman and Grant are entering the room and we all converge toward the same hallway, at the end sits an old wooden door Grant looks at me and all three of us get our guns ready and start down the stairs into darkness.
The air grows colder with every step, the smell of mold and damp concrete filling my lungs.
At the bottom of the stairs, the basement opens up.
Two doors sit at the far end. One is dark and the other has a faint strip of light glowing beneath it.
Grant and I immediately break right toward the illuminated door while Roman heads for the left.
I don't hesitate. I drive my boot into the door and the wood explodes inward.
Gun raised, I storm into the room. Two masked men immediately turn and open fire.
I squeeze the trigger twice. Both rounds hit center mass.
The men collapse before they even know what hit them.
" Get Scarlett!" I shout to Grant
I glance over just long enough to see him kneeling beside a chair, already cutting through the restraints binding Scarlett's wrists and ankles.
Relief slams into me so hard it nearly knocks the breath from my lungs.
Then movement flashes in my peripheral vision.
Shit. I spin. Thomas emerges from behind a stack of boxes, gun raised.
I fire twice. The shots hit, but not where I intended.
And then I feel it. A burning explosion tears through my chest.
The impact sends me stumbling backward and my gun nearly slips from my hand.
I hit the concrete floor hard. Pain erupts through my entire body.
"ASHER!" Scarlett screams.
Fuck. I just got shot. The room spins, voices blur together.
Then another shot rings out followed by a scream.
I force my head to turn. Cecilia is sprawled across the floor, clutching her bleeding hand as she cries out in pain.
The pistol skids across the concrete. Roman storms into the room and kicks the weapon away before grabbing her by the throat and shoving her back down. His eyes are cold and deadly.
"Death would be too easy for you," he says in a voice that sends chills down my spine. "We're going to watch you both suffer."
Beside her, Thomas struggles moving, I shot him in the abdomen, panic finally replacing the arrogance he always wore like a second skin.
Good. Let him be afraid. My vision starts to blur again and suddenly Scarlett is there.
She's on her knees beside me, her hands pressed desperately against my chest, trying to stop the blood pouring through her fingers. Tears stream down her face.
"No, no, no..." she sobs. "Asher, please. Please don't do this."
I force a weak grin.
"Red..." Her face crumples.
"Don't you dare," she whispers.
I reach for her hand, squeezing it despite the agony ripping through my body.
"I told you..." I cough, blood filling my mouth. "Nobody was going to hurt you."
A broken sob escapes her.
"And I meant it."
Sirens echo faintly in the distance as Scarlett leans over me, refusing to let go.
"Stay with me," she begs. "Please stay with me."
And for her...
I fight to keep my eyes open. The last thing I see is my beautiful Red with an angelic halo around her. This is how I know that I’m fucked.