Page 46 of Forbidden Empire (Sinful Gods #1)

Twenty-Three

E SME

The scent of sawdust and gunpowder clung to my skin, a rough, gritty haze burning in my lungs as I sprinted up the stairs.

I’d caught sight of Rhea on the balcony, laughing, drinking, like she was a queen presiding over carnage, and the fury that slammed into me was primal and hot, obliterating all reason.

My grip tightened around my weapon as I took the steps two at a time.

The world narrowed to the cold metal door ahead, the threshold I knew would unleash chaos the second I breached it. Rhea had ducked behind her guard, but I could feel the others lurking, their presence thick and unspoken.

Somewhere behind me, Aidon’s voice crashed through the haze, shouting my name. I ignored him. I’d deal with that later.

My hand closed around the door handle, ready to rip it open, when the pounding of footsteps sounded behind me. I spun, pulse stuttering, only to find Aidon storming up the stairs, his face twisted in fury. Dark, dangerous, and commanding.

God, it was fucking hot.

For a split second, I wanted to shove him against the wall, sink to my knees, and swallow him whole, tasting that wild, forbidden heat as the world burned around us. The image flashed through me, sharp and electric.

But Aidon? He’d never let me. Not when he was this angry.

Especially not now, with blood and adrenaline singing through both our veins.

“I told you to stay close to me!” Aidon’s eyes were blazing, nearly unhinged.

“Did you?” I tilted my head, feigning curiosity, though I could feel the sharp heat of rebellion sparking in my chest. Maybe I was baiting him, but I didn’t give a single fuck.

“Look,” I said, “we came here to destroy Rhea. That’s the mission. I’m not the one off task.”

“Off task? Off task, Esme?” he shouted, face twisted in disbelief. “This is a goddamn war zone! We’re fighting for our lives, not punching a clock at some shitty mall!”

“Don’t you think I fucking know that?” I shot back. “I’m the one who took the beating, Aidon. Or did you forget already?”

His jaw flexed, muscles working as he glared at me. “You aren’t doing this alone.”

“That was never my plan,” I hissed, every syllable laced with venom. “We’re supposed to do this together. That’s what you said.”

For a heartbeat, the fury in his eyes flickered then softened. “Fine. Together. But don’t you dare run off like that again.”

I arched a brow, refusing to break his gaze.

Ignoring the warning, I asked, “Ready?”

He still thought he could cage me, order me around, but I’d never let him win that easily. If I needed to run, I would. And nothing, not even he, would stop me.

“Stay behind me,” he growled, stepping forward to shield me, as if I was something fragile, breakable.

“No,” I snapped, matching his intensity. “We fight together, side by side. That’s what you promised me, Aidon. Don’t you dare forget it.”

I met his gaze head-on, holding it, daring him to push back. The echo of gunfire in the warehouse fractured the silence, then stopped, so abruptly it left us both frozen, breath caught.

For a split second, all I could hear was the pounding of my heart, then a thunder of heavy footsteps filled the stairwell, vibrating through the floor.

We looked down, and there they were: Zeno, Thal, and Ares at the front, bloodied but unbowed, their men close behind, every single one of them still on their feet.

“Fuck yeah,” Aidon muttered, low and savage, and something hot twisted in my chest.

We waited, tense, until the whole crew was packed in behind us, a wall of bodies and guns and grim determination. I wrenched the door open.

Together, we moved down the hallway, shoulder to shoulder, a bulletproof phalanx blazing toward the door where Rhea had vanished.

We were ten feet away when it exploded open, and a dozen guards poured out, weapons drawn. The air came alive with bullets, a crackling storm of death. Instinct took over: move, shoot, survive.

One guy charged straight at Aidon, firing wild and missing every shot.

Aidon let him come, then slammed the butt of his gun into the man’s chin with brutal efficiency.

The guard crumpled at our feet, red leaking from his mouth, groaning.

I kicked his gun away and watched as Aidon, without a flicker of hesitation, put a bullet through his skull.

“Jesus,” I muttered, but there was no time to dwell.

Another man barreled toward me, rage twisting his face. I steadied my hand, aimed for his forehead, and squeezed the trigger.

The gun kicked, and so did fear, electric and sharp. My shot punched through bone and flesh, and the man dropped, limp and sudden, a sack of dead weight.

All that mattered was getting past these bastards, breaking through, closing the gap between me and the only thing that mattered.

“Good shot,” Aidon muttered, flashing me a quick smile of approval before turning away to help Zeno, who had been disarmed and was tangled up and wrestling with one of Rhea’s men on the ground.

All around us, the battle raged, our own little army fighting valiantly against Rhea’s men.

Aidon was there in a heartbeat, his gun drawn, and he didn’t hesitate. He shoved the barrel against the back of the man’s skull, the one tangled with Zeno, and pulled the trigger.

The body went slack, crumpling in a dead weight over Zeno, pinning him beneath. For a moment, Zeno was lost in the mess of limbs and blood, but then he shoved the corpse off, breathless, grabbing both the dead man’s gun and his own as he scrambled upright.

The room spun with chaos. Thal and Ares were locked in combat near the balcony, three men pressing in on them, fists and elbows flying.

The fight was merciless, bone on bone, and though Thal and Ares were holding their ground, it was clear they were getting pushed to the edge.

Aidon charged forward, Zeno at his side, and I followed, heart pounding, the metallic taste of fear on my tongue.

Before I could even raise my gun, Zeno and Aidon crashed into the fray, drawing two of the men away from Thal and Ares, giving them just enough space to gasp for breath and regroup.

One of the men landed a savage punch to Aidon’s jaw, knocking him flat.

It was brutal, and for a second, I lost sight of him in the violence, but then I saw Aidon pinned, the man straddling him, driving fist after fist into his face.

I moved, instincts taking over, gun raised, hands shaking as the fight writhed across the floor.

Aidon twisted, bucking hard, and suddenly he was on top, then back underneath, both men rolling and thrashing, bodies slick and desperate.

I tried to draw a bead, tried to steady my trembling hands, but every wild movement forced me to readjust my aim. I couldn’t risk hitting Aidon, not even by accident.

My heart slammed against my ribs, the noise and bodies and panic threatening to drown me.

But then I saw Aidon, blood streaked down his cheek, teeth bared, eyes wild. It was like something inside me snapped into place.

Calm, cold, certain. I closed the distance, blocking out everything but the target on the floor.

I pressed the barrel against the back of the man’s head, inhaled, then squeezed the trigger. The retort shattered the air, the heat of the recoil biting into my palm, and the acrid tang of gunpowder curled around us as the man’s body went limp beneath Aidon, dead weight and blood pooling fast.

I jerked the gun up and squeezed off two more shots, dropping the last of Rhea’s men who stood between Thal, Zeno, and Ares. Then it was just us on the balcony again, the floor a graveyard of Rhea’s loyal dead.

All four of them stared at me, open-mouthed. I lifted my chin, pride humming through my blood.

“Onward, gentlemen,” I said, stepping over a corpse and dodging the red, glossy pool bleeding from the hole in his head.

“Fuck, Esme,” Zeno muttered, a crooked smile splitting his face. “You’re making me goddamn proud to be your brother right now.”

“Half-brother,” I shot back, arching a brow. “Don’t get cocky.”

He grinned. “I like to think we got the bad-ass half of the DNA.”

I let him have that one. There were bigger things at stake. Like the door Rhea was hiding behind. I could feel Aidon’s stare burning holes through me, the taut line of his jaw. I knew every muscle in his body was straining not to shove me behind him. But I was leading now.

I’d saved these bastards. I wasn’t going to fade into the background. Not when I could practically taste Rhea’s blood.

Anticipation shimmered through every nerve ending. I saw Rhea’s face, clear as day. Revenge was so close, I could almost reach out and crush it in my fist.

I was at the door when it swung open.

Rhea stepped out, flanked by two more men. Her gaze swept over the carnage, lingering on Aidon, and then she laughed. Threw her head back, hair gleaming, sipping champagne like she was holding court at a palace and not surrounded by corpses.

It was an act, a perfect, icy illusion.

But underneath? She was a monster, a polished, beautiful nightmare with a heart made of razors.

“Oh, Aidon, you are so predictable.”

Her voice dripped with arrogance, every syllable heavy with mockery. She stood there, cool and composed, as if she were untouchable.

As if the world bent to her will and we were nothing, a laughable threat at best. Her confidence was almost impressive, except for the fact that she was so very fucking wrong.

She prowled toward us, her gaze locking onto mine with a predator’s delight.

“Esme, Esme, Esme,” she purred, each repetition a taunt, tongue clicking in feigned disappointment. “You’ve stuck around, I see.”

I said nothing. Let her fill the silence with her poison.

She kept going, relentless, her smile razor-sharp and cruel.

God, I wanted to wipe it off her face with a single bullet. But she just kept circling, trying to get under my skin, even now, moments from destruction. It was almost impressive, the audacity she wore like a crown.