Page 153 of Caught in the Crossfire

Most of us had either headlights or mounted flashlights on their weapons. I didn’t have either, so I stuck close to Cas and Obi.

The deeper we went, following Max’s direction, my fingers ached. The scar on my face tingled. Dampness clung to the air.

It reminded me too much of the ship.

Flashes of cold, hard metal sent ripples of pain down my spine. Kicks to my stomach. The metallic taste of blood on my tongue.Fear.

I shook my head, willing the memories to stay locked away. This wasnotthe time. My hand clenched firmer around my gun, allowing the bite of the grip to dig into my palm and center me back to the present.

Things would change for the Vokshi Clan tonight. We would stop this auction, rescue the girls they planned to sell, deal withthe buyers who took part in the atrocity, andruinthe Albanians.

“I think Ervin Vokshi should be there. He hasn’t been spotted in Albania for a few days,” Max murmured. His words carried in the echo chamber of the tunnels. “Everyone keep alert.”

The second son.

“Where’s Armir Vokshi? And the first son?” I asked.

“They’re both still in Albania tied up with the Camorra,” he answered, casting a glance over his shoulder at me. He frowned and stopped in his tracks. “Are you okay?”

I blinked, swallowing to clear my cotton mouth. “What?”

“What’s wrong?” he asked. His eyes burned into mine.

Beside me, Cas stiffened. All eyes were on me. Our entire group stopped.

A cool sweat dripped down the back of my neck. “I’m fine.” I jerked my head back toward the tunnel. “Come on, we have to hurry.”

He narrowed his eyes, opening his mouth to respond, but then he paused. He gave Cas a look and then turned back to our path without another word.

Cas pressed against my side, but said nothing.

The heat of embarrassment clawed its way up my neck. More than ever, I wanted to appear strong in front of all these men.Mymen.

I had to get my shit together. The sooner we could get this over with, the better.

I jumped on the box in my chest, shoving all the memories down as far as I could. This wasn’t the ship.Jump. This wasn’t the cargo hold.Jump. I’d already killed Buzz Cut. Jump.

We kept moving through the tunnel. We’d proceed for a few lengths, and then turn and go up another path. Max and Daniele consulted their maps, and I counted myself lucky that Daniele only threw afewdisgusted looks my way.

After almost thirty minutes, we heard the voices.

We slowedat the mouth of a tunnel that opened to a large clearing. The concrete roof above us arched into a large dome structure, with more tunnels adjoining around its circumference. With how large it looked, this space might have been used in the past to change the direction of the subway cars. Like a train roundhouse, but each tunnel continued into the dark farther than I could see.

In a lightning fast move, Ryuji grabbed the head of a man who stood guard at our opening and snapped his neck. When he fell, Wynn was there to catch his body, and the two of them moved the man back toward the way we came to hide him.

Meanwhile, Max shushed our group. Our footsteps had been loud on the concrete surface of the abandoned tunnels, but now we had to be silent. We could not spook them. Everything had to go perfectly.

I peeked my head around the tunnel opening to get a look at the clearing. Dozens of people mingled around, holding champagne glasses and chatting together. There were men dressed in tailored suits, and even a few women dressed in lavish fabric and dripping with jewels.

It made me sick to my stomach.

“Take pictures,” I murmured to Ciel. He nodded, pulling out his phone and trying to document as many people as he could. If they somehow got away, we’d track them down.

Max jerked his head to the opposite side of the clearing. “That’s how they’re getting in.”

More people filtered in through the tunnel entrance on the other side of the dome. They were dressed to the nines, like this was some kind of high-society social event. About twenty feet to the side, another tunnel spit out a group of men dressed in black and carrying automatic weapons. Those must be the VokshiClan. A group of men carrying guns walked away from the clearing, entering a third tunnel and disappearing inside.

“Lots of entrance and exit points,” Wynn whispered. “Plenty of escape routes.”