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A dead soldier was resting against the wall, a gun held loosely in his hand and blood dripping from a wound in his head. A recent death, probably caused by one of my men.

“You’re right,” a familiar voice said snidely. “Agree to disagree.”

Lucian let out a grunt, pushing me to the ground, as Ryder shot him in the back. While a normal man would’ve toppled, I was determined Lucian was superhuman. Super...villain? Or maybe that was just a trait of all sociopaths. He turned, distracted, and aimed his gun at Ryder.

Then Lucian turned, dodging to the side and redirecting his aim as Tamson came around a corner firing his gun. I scrambled on my hands and feet, crab walking backwards. My hand closed on the gun the dead soldier discarded.

Behind me, I was distantly aware of my men fighting against the soldiers. Screams. Gunshots.

There was an odd roaring in my ears, almost as if I was underwater. Slowly, carefully, I ambled to my feet. Lucian had his gun raised, aimed at Tamson. Another soldier was occupying Ryder’s attention.

So I did the only thing I could do.

I shot once, twice, three times, four times, into the back of his head. The back of his head that looked so similar to Fallon’s, but would never be my lover’s.

I shot until his body fell to the ground, dead.

And then I fell.

* * *

Tamson

It was chaos when we arrived inside the compound. Absolute chaos. We had expected chaos would ensue...but not to this extent. Blood painted the walls a vivid red, and dead bodies littered the halls.

Ryder took point, expertly moving down the twining hallways. I followed behind, my gun held loosely. I didn’t need a gun to fight, though, unlike my brother. I much preferred to use my body, my fists.

“Fuck,” Ryder cussed, voice a hushed murmur. When he held up a hand to stop me, I slammed to a halt, attention piqued. Over Ryder’s shoulder, I took in the scene in rapt fascination.

A somewhat familiar man, a man I had only met once or twice but who happened to bore a striking resemblance to Fallon, held Addie in his arms, a gun to her head. In front of them, on their knees, was the rest of our team. Asher, Declan, Ronan, Fallon...and Calax.

I blinked, wondering if I was imagining it. Did I hit my head?

Ryder inhaled sharply.

Because...fuck. This felt almost too good to be true. Calax was supposed to be dead, and Addie was supposed to be dead, and the entire world was supposed to be dead. But this? This felt like the start of a very good dream.

Except for the man holding a gun to Addie’s head.

Red briefly engulfed my vision. My body tightened, icy rage skating up my spine. Anger like no other thrummed through my veins.

But I knew I needed to keep my wits together. Ryder wouldn’t be able to, so I had to.

Tapping his shoulder to garner his attention, I nodded towards the hall to the left of the men and Addie. Without words, we moved into position.

“You’re right,” Ryder said cockily, but only someone who knew him as well as I did could note the slightest waver in his voice. “Agree to disagree.”

Really, Ryder? Were the dramatics necessary?

The man grunted, cried out, as Ryder shot him in the back. I would only trust Ryder with that job. He had always been an expert shot, and he needed to hit the far left side of the man’s back, right below his shoulder blade. The one place that wouldn’t hit Addie as well.

The man released Addie, and she fell to the ground, backing slowly towards the wall.

When the man turned towards Ryder, gun raised with a ferocious snarl, I stepped from the side hall I had disappeared down, materializing from the shadows.

I shot him until my gun ran out of rounds. Without preamble, I dropped that gun to the ground and pulled out a second one.

While I didn’t overly like guns, I was damn good at using them.