Page 9 of Always A Villain (Revenge Duet #2)

“ T ake out the fucking rocket launcher!” Priest shouts over the mayhem unfolding.

“On it,” I grunt, rifle already in my hands, scope trained. My mind's locked in—sharp, lethal.

One breath. Two. I pull the trigger.

The shot hits true, and the RPG explodes in a fiery boom.

Screams tear through the crowds of people. Sovereigns scramble to arm themselves and join the fight, teams rushing to shield Isaac from the crossfire.

“They're getting closer!” he snaps, voice tight with urgency. “Keep 'em back!”

Gunfire shreds the air.

Bodies drop around us—no time to feel anything. My mind’s a ticking bomb, caught between the immediate threat and finding Rory.

“TAKE COVER!” Griffen's scream is drowned out by a massive explosion that slams into us, ripping the ground apart. The shock wave smashes through my body, sending me crashing hard into the dirt.

I blink against the ringing in my ears, vision blurring for a second. My chest feels like it’s been hit with a wrecking ball, but pain’s irrelevant now.

“Fuck!” Arsen's snarl cuts through the haze. He's bloody, face twisted with rage, but alive. Around us, more Sovereigns converge—blood-smeared, dirt-caked. The air’s heavy with the stench of smoke and death.

Everything else falls away. This is survival.

I push through the pain, crouching low, rifle primed. My brain's a whirlwind of instinct, violence, and cold focus.

“We need to take out those fucking choppers,” Priest shouts, rubbing dirt from his eyes.

Adjusting my rifle, blood drips down my face. The lights from the choppers shine through the smoke, bright against the dark sky. I swipe the blood from my brow and zero in.

“Arsen! Where did the girls go for food!?” Griffen yells. “Fuck!”

I push down the knot forming in my gut and lock in on the target. My finger tightens on the trigger, the rifle kicks back against my shoulder, and the chopper crumbles from the sky in a cascade of fire and twisted metal.

“Moving targets, incoming!” Priest warns, aiming his gun at the sky, gunfire snapping in the distance.

“Reaper! Take the next shot!” Arsen yells, shoving a magazine into his rifle .

Gritting my teeth, I steady my aim and prepare to unleash more hell.

The bullets hit dead-on, igniting a fiery explosion that lights up the night.

My body moves on instinct, reloading before the smoke even clears.

But my mind is elsewhere—Rory. The need to find her sears through me like fire in my veins.

“Let’s move,” Arsen barks, and we fall into formation. Sovereign reinforcements flank us, guns ready.

“Anyone see a fucking shirt? I need a shirt!” I shout, eyes darting through the rising smoke.

Priest snatches up a Kevlar vest from a nearby bench and tosses it my way. “Here, quit bitching.”

I slip it on, the tightness barely registering. “Good enough.”

We rush toward the trucks, my eyes scanning, mind laser focused.

“Rory! Kyla!” Griffen’s shout cuts through the gunfire, his face a mask of blood and dirt.

“I’ll find them!” I snap, the adrenaline spiking harder now. “You guys assemble with the other teams and figure out who the hell these bastards are!” I don’t wait for an answer before breaking into a full sprint.

Debris and bodies litter the ground, but none of it matters.

My priority is singular—Rory.

More gunfire rings out in the distance, mixed with the screams of Servants and Associates scattering like rats. Every second feels like an eternity, the wreckage closing in.

Where the fuck is she?

“Rory!” My voice is ragged, barely audible above the chaos. I’ve faced death a thousand times. But nothing has ever come close to this feeling. This is fear— real fear, crawling under my skin, gnawing at my gut. The kind of fear I don’t know how to handle.

“RORY!” I dodge bodies, refusing to let myself look too closely at the lifeless faces. I can’t— won’t —find her among them.

“Axe!” Griffen’s voice pulls me back. “We have to go!”

“I’m not leaving without her!” I roar, slamming forward, heart hammering as I catch a flash of blonde hair. My pulse spikes, but it’s not her.

Griffen grabs my shoulder, forcing me to stop. “She’s not here! People said groups were running into the woods. We need to regroup and come up with a plan!”

“Two minutes. Give me two minutes.”

“We need you with us!”

“Give me two fucking minutes!” The thought of losing Rory, of failing to protect her, drives me past the edge of reason.

“Axe,” Griffen shouts again, but I don’t look back as I sprint into the tree line.

Then I hear it—Rory’s voice slipping through the madness.

“Let me go! I’m going back!” She’s fighting, screaming. Alive.

I bolt toward the sound. My eyes lock onto a group, and there she is—fighting against some bastard holding her back.

“RORY! RORY!”

Her head whips my way, eyes locking onto mine. “Axel!” she cries and bolts toward me .

I catch her so fast, so hard, I’m afraid she’ll vanish if I don’t hold on tight enough. For a second, the world disappears—nothing fucking matters but her, alive in my arms.

“It’s okay,” I murmur. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

Her sobs shake us both. I run my hands over her face, her arms, checking for injuries.

“Are you hurt? Did you get hit?” I force the words out, terror still thrashing inside me.

She shakes her head, can’t speak, just buries her face in my neck.

I press my lips to her forehead, trying to calm her—trying to calm my-fucking-self. But there’s no stopping this feeling. Not when it’s her . For the first time, what’s driving me is more than rage or bloodlust. It’s a desperate need to keep her safe.

“You’re covered in blood,” she chokes out, her blue eyes wide with concern. “I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead.” The words spill from her, frantic, repeating over and over.

“It's not mine, little siren,” I lie as I steady her. But she’s not hearing me, not really.

“Axe,” she pleads, voice cracking. “What's happening?”

What can I tell her? I don’t know who the hell’s behind this. All I know is that whoever they are—they’re fucking dead.

“Shh, it’s okay, baby. I’ve got you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I was so scared,” she whispers, her legs still clinging to me, tears soaking my skin. That protectiveness rips through me, stronger than anything I’ve felt, and I grip her tighter .

My gaze zeroes in on Creed Kovac, lingering off to the side. What the fuck was he doing with her? I’ve never trusted that bastard. His silence pisses me off, my rage flaring hotter. If he so much as touched her the wrong way, I’ll bury him, no hesitation. My hands twitch at the thought.

Engines rumble in the distance; trucks roll in, soldiers spilling out, weapons up. Griffen rushes toward me, Kyla latched onto him.

“We need to get you out of here,” Griffen mutters, swiping at the blood on his face.

He looks ready to pass out, but we’ve got no time.

More trucks screech to a halt, soldiers scattering across the grounds.

Sovereign choppers hover overhead, floodlights illuminating the wreckage.

I glance at Rory; she can’t stay here another second.

“Get the girls to safety,” Arsen barks. “Secure the area. Get every Servant and Associate out. Now.”

“I’m not leaving without you,” Rory protests, voice trembling but laced with that stubborn fire. She can’t stay in this blood-soaked chaos—she needs out.

But hell, the only thing worse than her in the middle of this mess is the thought of her out there, unprotected, where I can’t keep her safe.

This wasn’t the Dolore. This was something else. But they fucked up. I’m still breathing, and I’ll tear them apart when I find them.

“Kyla!” General Reese calls out. Kyla breaks away from Griffen, sprinting to him. “Go and stay with our son.” He pulls her away from the group and loads her into one of the trucks with the other Servants. Then Reese heads my way, jaw set .

“Axe,” he says, “Rory can stay with Kyla at my manor. My son’s there, 24-hour security. She’ll be safe.”

Rory tenses in my grip, like she already knows I’m about to send her off. I hate it. I’ve never had to make this kind of decision before. I’ve always known my path—kill or be killed, hunt or be hunted.

But she’s become mine . The only thing in this fucked-up world that feels like it’s worth more than the blood on my hands. The idea of leaving, of trusting someone else to keep her safe—it’s eating me alive.

But I’m not built to protect. I’m built to destroy—I’m a weapon.

“Axe,” Griffen says, “she’ll be fine. We need you here.”

I turn to Reese, decision made. “If anything happens to her, I’ll fucking kill you.”

Reese nods, a dark understanding in his eyes. He knows I’m not bluffing.

I look down at Rory, her blue eyes wide. She’s silently begging me, but she can’t stay.

“Rory, baby, you have to go,” I force out, grabbing her chin so she meets my eyes. “I need to find out who did this, and I can’t do that unless I know you’re safe.”

Her head shakes, voice breaking. “Axe, please…don’t leave me.”

“Shh.” I crush my mouth to hers, quick and desperate. “You’ll be safe. I promise.”

Peeling her arms off me, I shove her toward the truck. She fights, screaming my name, but I force her inside. She’ll thank me later, when she’s alive to do it.

Reese slams the door, cutting off her last plea .

“Let’s move!” Arsen shouts behind me, and it’s like a switch flips in my head.

Vengeance drowns out everything else. I tear my gaze from Rory’s truck, locking onto the group of Commanders, Generals, and other Sovereigns.

My muscles coil, adrenaline surging, the taste of blood still bitter on my tongue.

Whoever coordinated this? They’ve signed their death warrant. The Sovereign don’t go down without a fight, and now they’ve declared open war.

And war is what I do best.