Page 69

I’m going to kill every last single fucking person in this stinking city...
I’m immediately given an opportunity to start my rampage. Up ahead, a dark platoon scurries out from under the cover of the nearest corner.
“Hey, hands up!” one of the shadows orders.
Instead, I lunge in front of Cat, gun drawn. My knee barely hits the ground before I start firing.
“Fuck!” the group breaks and scrambles back behind the nearest wall as my bullets dig into the bricks.
“These motherfuckers...” I reload my gun and don’t hesitate to push forward. There’s no more hiding. I’m sick of crawling through the shadows and hiding in the darkness. I’m going to make sure this city never puts out the fire I started, and I’m going to make sure they know it was me who started it.
A head peaks around the corner up ahead and I fire a shot straight at it. My bullet narrowly misses. Bricks erupt as I volley more firepower towards my attackers. Anger and frustration threaten to boil me alive from the inside out; the only way I’m going to survive is if I release it all. But I’m running out of bullets. My only chance is to ambush the unlucky fuckers who just stumbled upon me.
“Angel!” Cat suddenly cries from behind me. “On the roof!” My attention immediately whips up to a dark figure above me. His gun is drawn and pointed my way... but he doesn’t fire.
“Angel Montoya!?” The exclamation almost sounds friendly.
Behind the wall ahead, a slew of voices bicker over my name. “What!? Is that Angel!?”
“We found him!”
“Stand down!”
Before I can respond, a gun is thrown out onto the street before me and two unarmed hands pop out from behind the wall ahead. “We’re friends! Don’t shoot!”
I keep my gun primed and ready, but lower it just enough to give the shadows the confidence they need to come out into the open.
They don’t look like Dante’s men...
“Sir,” the first one salutes, bringing a straightened hand up to his forehead in a show of his respect. His buddies come up behind him and follow his lead.
“It’s an honor to meet you, sir!”
“Oh shit, is that Catalina!?”
I whip back around to my fallen bride. She’s leaning against the alley wall for support, trying to pull the gun out of the dead hands of one of Dante’s fallen soldiers.
“Cat!” I call to her, running back to help. When she’s in my arms, I look back over to the revolutionaries. “Take their weapons!” I order, gesturing over to the dead men.
“Did you kill all these guys yourself?”
“Wow!”
“These guys had no shot...”
I ignore the praise and grab a few new high-powered weapons for myself. Flames from the explosion that ripped through the alley behind us still flicker hot enough to melt steel.
“Do any of you have a vehicle? A car or a bike, anything.” I need to get moving. There’s no doubt in my mind that those soldiers are taking Oscar to Dante, and if they get to him before I can, then it’s all over. There’s no hope for us if we can’t go after my little brother, and there’s no way we can go after him if he starts using my son as a human shield.
“We don’t, boss, but I know Jesus and his crew have a few bikes they’ve been using...”
Jesus. “Where is he?”
“We’re not sure, sir. He sent us over here about an hour ago to try and clear out the army, but it looks like you already took care of that for us.”
“Why did he send you here?” I ask, already knowing the answer. “Why did it take you an hour!?”
“I think he heard that you were in the area. He wanted us to help give you a path out. But every street from here to midtown is filled with enemy combatants, and their firepower is far superior to ours. It took some time to sabotage and ambush our way to you.”