Page 17 of Lily and her Mercenary (CHANGING OF THE GUARDS)

Lily

T here was a single bulb hanging down, casting skittery shadows on the cinderblock walls.

A freezer stood beside rusty wire racks that held mason jars of canned peaches, pickles, and dusty tools.

A dingy mattress lay on the floor in the corner, while a security monitor hung on the wall, directly behind a metal armchair.

The air was cool, and smelled like musty newspapers, despite not seeing one in sight.

He told me to sit on the mattress, cross-legged like a kindergartner.

Then he took my phone and my purse and emptied my bag, throwing it all onto a workbench strewn with broken radios and sockets.

He searched for something inside an old green duffel.

I watched his hands… careful, methodical, trembling slightly at the fingertips even as they loaded a magazine with dull, brass-tipped certainty.

“It wasn’t supposed to go this way, you know,” he said, and his voice was softer than I’d expected.

“Ten years ago, I was a high school physics teacher. You believe that?” He laughed, and it barked off the cinderblocks.

“Matheson handpicked me to keep those in line at the agency. Now even in death, he will get Mia one way or another.”

I stared at him, schooling my face into the same blank patience I used for the wildest kids in my room.

I remembered what Ryker told me— If you're caught, stall. People want to tell their stories before they do something awful. Every second bought is another chance.

“You don’t seem like a killer,” I said quietly.

He smirked at that. “Nobody does. Not at the start, anyway.” He rubbed at a scar under his chin like it itched him. “You’re smarter than they said.”

I said nothing because it wasn’t a question.

He settled onto a battered lawn chair by the freezer, the gun across his knees.

“The plan is, we wait. And if your sister shows up, I end it right here. She has three days to show herself. If she doesn’t, we drive out the next day at dawn and see if you’re useful for trade.

That’s the only reason you’re alive ” he added as if he needed to clarify. “You’re bait with a pulse.”

I tried not to show him my hands were shaking.

We waited.

For hours, or maybe it was days—I lost all track of time in this cold and dank basement.

I slept on the mattress while he dozed in the chair, head lolling back, the gun always pressed firmly in the palm of his hand.

I was only allowed to go upstairs when he did and that was to use the washroom.

Food was consumed on the mattress and my liquid intake was minimal.

If he didn’t kill me, I was certain to die from dehydration or starvation.

When I knew he was asleep, I let my guard down and thought of happy thoughts.

Of Mabel, safe and warm, of Royal, teaching me how to pick locks in the motel parking lot.

And of Ryker. His voice was rough in my ear as he covered me with his body, and the way I wanted to hear it now, more than my heartbeat.

An alarm went off and Vance bolted upright, both our eyes immediately went to the security camera hung on the wall. He stood up and pointed at the chair he’d been sitting on. “Sit.” That was all he said.

I scrambled to my feet and did as he ordered. He wasted no time in producing a roll of duct tape and began tying me to the chair. Lastly, he placed a strip across my mouth. He walked over to the rack with the peaches and picked up something off the shelf.

My eyes grew wide when I saw the hypodermic needle in his hand. I started to struggle against my bindings to no avail.

“Hush now,” he said, as he approached me, removing the cap from the needle. “This is just a mild sedative, just enough to relax you but not strong enough to knock you out.”

I watched in horror as he placed the tip against my vein and pushed it through my skin. A cold, icy sensation seeped into my arm as the drug flowed into my bloodstream.

“There, that isn’t so bad now, is it?” he grinned, tossing the needle into the corner.

My mind started to go fuzzy and even if my mouth wasn’t taped shut, I don’t think I could have responded.

He moved over to the stairs and with a wave at me, he plunged the basement into darkness with a flick of the switch.

Panic started to close in around me and I needed to get a handle on it. I closed my eyes and dropped my chin to my chest, focusing solely on every single second that I’d spent with Ryker.

I sat there in the dark, in my bubble of memories, reliving the last time we had been together up in the mountains.

Footsteps pounded. I blinked against the harsh glare of the bare bulb as the stairs groaned under someone’s weight. My head felt like it was being crushed in a vise, each pulse a hammer against my skull. Panic curled in my gut of the unknown but then I saw her.

Mia.

Behind her came Vance with a remote in his hand and a gun at her back.

He stayed just out of reach of her like he didn’t trust her, voice smooth as he assured her that I was unharmed…

for now. The edge of his coat caught the light, revealing a knife tucked at his side.

My limbs trembled so badly as I forced myself to swallow around the tape, trying to will my dry throat into producing sound.

Confusion and terror washed through me when he circled to stand behind me, his hand pressing onto my shoulder.

I flinched, the metal armrest biting into my wrist.

Then I heard a sound. One that I had heard so many times was with Ryker and Royal.

The unmistakable sound of a knife being pulled from its sheath.

It reverberated through my mind long after he worked the blade along my throat until I felt the tiniest warm trickle of blood.

My vision narrowed; every word they exchanged registered like stones thrown into my skull.

Then the click of a button and a distant boom rattled the cellar. Vance had pressed a button on his remote and called it a “warning shot.” I barely heard his explanation over the roar in my ears. Mia’s face turned white.

I tried so hard to concentrate on what they were saying.

Snippets of their conversation were all that registered.

Mia’s husband was out there, waiting on a ridge.

Did that mean Ryker was there too? I tried so desperately to shake off the effects of the drugs, needing to hear if his name was mentioned.

Their voices rose in an argument. Explosives, betrayals, a hidden black book that sounded like it belonged in a nightmare.

Then all hell broke loose.

Mia lunged, the chair slammed back, metal squealed, and equipment clattered.

I heard palms thump against concrete, the remote skittering across the floor.

Vance cursed. Mia cried out, and a blade whispered free from its sheath.

I squeezed my eyes shut as he pinned her to the floor on top of her, his weight crushing.

Something wet and metallic clicked in my mind, and then a scream as the blade found its mark.

Silence fell. My mouth opened, and I tasted blood and dust. Then footsteps—someone calling “Mia!

I blinked against the bright stairwell light. Someone peeled the tape from my lips, and warmth flooded in when Mia’s voice spoke over the drug fog calling out the name, “Connor.”

A man approached me and softly said, “It’s okay. You’re safe now. We’re here to help you.”

Mia turned towards me, still clutching the remote control. My eyes fixed on her.

“Mia?” I whispered, her voice hoarse. “Is it really you?”

“You... recognize me?”

My hands trembled as the man freed them from the bindings. “I have your picture,” I said. “From before... before Mom died. I always knew I had a sister.” My eyes filled with tears. “I’ve been looking for you.”

My confession looked like it hit her like a physical blow.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “For everything. For bringing this into your life.”

“Is he dead?” I asked, glancing at Vance’s motionless form.

She nodded grimly. “Yes. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Boots pounded on the stairs as a team of people descended into the basement, weapons drawn. They quickly secured the scene, checking Vance for any sign of life and finding none.

“We need EOD for this,” Mia said, carefully handing the remote a man. “It’s connected to charges throughout the property. Possibly on a Deadman’s switch.”

He nodded, taking the device with practiced care. “I’ll handle it. You should get her out of here.”

The man that Mia had called Connor helped me to my feet, supporting me as my legs were threatening to give out. “Can you walk?” he asked gently.

I nodded, though my body swayed with the aftereffects of the drug Vance gave me. “I think so.”

“Let’s get you somewhere safe,” Mia said, moving to my other side. Together, Connor and she helped me up the stairs.

The fresh air cleared the drug fog from my mind as the first hints of dawn peeked over the horizon and tears filled my eyes. I was alive.

And then I saw him.

Ryker appeared from the shadows near the tree line, his expression a mixture of relief and wariness as he approached.

“Area’s secure,” he reported, his eyes roaming over me from head to toe. “Perimeter’s clear, no sign of additional hostiles.”

“Thank you,” Mia said. “Can you help get her to the vehicle? She’s still unsteady on her feet from whatever Vance drugged her with.”

Ryker stepped forward, his professional demeanor softening as his arm slipped around my waist. “I’ve got her.” He lowered his voice, his lips brushing against my ear, he whispered, “I’ve got you.”

I caught the look that passed between Mia and Connor, and I wasn’t ready to announce to her that we were romantically involved.

I buried my head into his neck and softly said, “Follow my lead.”

“You two seem to know each other… well,” Mia remarked with a raised brow.

I laughed, “We have an... unconventional history,” I admitted, glancing at him to make sure he went along.

“I found him bleeding on my fire escape about three weeks ago,” I continued, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Three in the morning, rain pouring down, and there he was—cursing under his breath and bleeding all over my petunias.”

Ryker cleared his throat, as he steered me towards the closest SUV. “I lost my footing,” he said gruffly. “I was conducting surveillance and—”

“He was watching me through my window,” I smiled. “Apparently, my apartment had a 'tactical advantage point' for whatever operation he was running at the time.”

“It did,” Ryker insisted. “Your window looks right into your apartment. What better way to watch?”

“Discretion? What part of that is discreet?” Mia asked, a smile playing on her lips.

Royal chuckled, “That flew out the window the second he laid eyes on her.”

I looked down at the ground, hoping that Royal wouldn’t give it away. “Yes, well It must have been boring.”

A hint of color touched Ryker’s cheeks. “Not at all,” he replied, his tone deliberately casual. “Especially when they spend their Saturdays reading poetry to shelter dogs.”

“You saw that?” I asked.

“It was... unexpected,” Ryker admitted, adjusting his hold on her as they began walking toward the vehicles. “Made the surveillance shifts go by faster, though.”

Royal rolled his eyes behind them. “He volunteered for double shifts,” he muttered to Connor and Mia. “Said it was ‘for operational continuity.’ Right.”

Finally, we reached the vehicle, and he opened the back door. Instead of letting me climb into it myself, he picked me up, ducked his head, and placed me gently on the seat. “I thought I lost you,” he said, his lips brushing against mine. “You are never leaving my sight again.”

A tap on his shoulder had him banging his head on the door frame. “Yeah?”

A woman stood there, smiling. “I’m Agent Winters. I just need to have a word with Lily.”

“Of course,” he said stepping aside.

But the look in his eyes promised that he wouldn’t go far.