Page 105

THERON

After freeing my men, I’d sent Lachlan and Graham off to find Cal and Knight. I needed them to search for Albatron. I sent Tex, Sakari and Knox to sweep and secure the rest of the house and hopefully find Atlas in the process. I was concerned about him. Having Nyx get taken away from him now, so close to the end—I shoved those emotions down because I couldn’t think about how after all of this, he wouldn’t be there to see it. Listening to the chatter over comms, I knew Vetticus had Kaelin so that’s where I headed.

I limped my way towards the end of the hallway. As I neared the middle, I heard two guards come up behind me. I threw myself at them, just barely avoiding a gunshot to the face. The sound was deafening but I slammed the gun against the wall and turned my own handgun on the other. Two gunshots later, they were down.

After that, the guards kept coming.

Where I got the adrenaline from, I didn’t know. By the time I made it out of the hallway, I left a pile of corpses behind me and I was bleeding from more than Vetticus’ handywork. After the hallway, I found myself in a large hall. It was similar to the one Vetticus had held the party in. I could tell he hadn’t lived in this estate for quite some time. There was dust on everything and cobwebs decorated the corners and window sills. Nice of him to bring us back to where it all began.

I wiped blood out of my eyes in time to shoot a man who appeared in the far doorway, then dove out of the way to avoid the gunshots from his partner. I shot back as I hauled myself to my feet. Footsteps came up behind me and the bite of a bullet hit my side before I was moving again. My breath sounded ragged even to my own ears as I launched myself at two of the men. My momentum took us all to the ground where I rolled on top of one, crossing my gun with his and killing two at once.

I turned and dodged a knife to my neck, only to pull his arm forward and shove my gun under his chin. Blood sprayed across my face and I pushed the body to the ground. I used the nearby windowsill to pull myself to my feet and staggered towards the door.

I’d just made it into the next hallway when four men appeared. It was close quarters as they all tried to use their guns. Bullets thudded into the wall near my head. My gun went off three times, with three kill shots. The forth went wide as my arm was knocked aside and the man tackled me to the ground. A knife came for my throat and I dropped my gun just in time to shove my arms up to block it. The man ground his teeth, panting as he threw his weight forward, attempting to drive the knife home.

Somehow, I found the strength and with a shove, unbalanced him enough to daze him. I got to my knees and drove the knife towards his own throat. My chest heaved as I watched his life blood drain onto the floor between us.

This time when I tried to get to my feet, I stumbled and went down on one knee. My own blood mingled with the dead man’s and I was momentarily mesmerized by it.

We all bleed the same in the end.

Getting to my feet took more effort than the last time but I managed and moved on.

Towards Kaelin.

Towards Vetticus.

Towards the end.