Page 17

T hey waited for a beat.

And another.

And finally, Ray let out a long-suffering sigh.

“Oh.” Luke began, but his voice was followed by a loud clang behind Miranda. Ray tilted her head sideways, her eyes crinkling as Miranda whirled on her heels to see Akash stride in with a rifle resting on his shoulders.

Everyone remained silent for a second. Not really knowing what to do.

And Miranda was well… bewildered. She stared at Ray and back at Akash as if they’d gone mad. And quite, Ray couldn’t help but agree, they had gone mad.

Because Akash cocked his gun and aimed it towards the man standing on his right.

“Your precious boyfriend isn’t here yet.” He snapped and a smile curved Ray’s lips as she took a step back and heard Miranda scoff in half surprise, “That was just a distraction.”

“For what?” Miranda finally snapped and Akash rolled his eyes.

“For this. ”

It all happened like a blur. Akash whirled on his feet as Miranda let out a guttural yell and turned, looking for Raylene. Looking to end her.

But Ray wasn’t there.

In the night sky, Raylene Walker had disappeared within the shadows.

* *

Angel could see his breath as he ran through the dark alleys. The same ones he’d navigated back when he was searching for the Phoenix’s hideout.

That night had been equally as silent as it was today. The only difference was the faint bangs he could hear through the cold air that blew past him. He shuddered as the cold seeped through his t-shirt, cursing the entire setting as he ran alone through the dark alley.

The ruined mansion was close. And judging by the faint gunshots and yells, he knew the others had gotten there before him.

The plan had been simple.

Convince Martin’s people to join him and just wait for Miranda to call upon them as they rounded up on Raylene Walker. What he hadn’t considered was Mia. And now, after having seen her lose her cool like a fucking psychopath after he’d well… shot her, Angel hadn’t stuck around to find out more.

He really should’ve been smarter though.

Because Mia was now following him like a hellhound.

And now he would have to waste his time searching for ways out of this situation.

To make matters worse, he had a terrible feeling that Mia was far too close than he’d been expecting. He cursed out loud as he shifted his weight and ran to the dark alley on his right. The moonlight was like a saving grace, lighting his way to the mansion. There was no way in hell he wouldn’t get there, he told himself as he ran, no fucking way.

If he had stopped to listen, he would’ve heard the sounds of faint footsteps behind him .

But he didn’t stop.

And was far too quick for Mia to catch even a glimpse of him as he turned around the corner and ended up in a familiar clearing.

Angel blinked, his face alight with the moonlight as he saw the ruined mansion sitting at the end of the clearing, barely a few feet away. And with the view came the rush of sounds. A yell made him pause in his tracks, his eyes flaring wide as he saw a man wearing a black suit fly from one end of the huge open doorway to the other.

Angel began walking again, keeping half his attention on Mia and the other half on the terrible scene up ahead.

There had been a time when a gate was used to guard the place. For a gang that was based in the underworld, they’d sure made their presence very clear. They’d been the easiest ones he’d hunted down back then. Angel could see the debris of the fountain he’d ripped apart the day he had set foot here. The bricks lay over one another, the water no longer flowing through them.

And up ahead, was the mansion with no roof.

Angel’s eyes narrowed as he slowed his pace. The yells, the bullets were all too loud now. Were too many for him to hope for the best. He rounded across the ruined fountain, disguising himself in the shadows that were cast from the large walls built around the estate. His footsteps were light. Silent in the wave of flashes and screams that swung in the air. Angel kept his head ducked, maybe he could get to the back entry of the place. It had no roof, nor no walls to keep it upright for long.

Maybe they could blow it all apart again.

A faint shiver ran up his neck then, making him pause. He could swear he’d heard a click–

Angel ducked .

All air left his lungs as he heard her guttural scream of annoyance behind him but didn’t wait for her response as he covered his head with his hands and ran to the other end of the fountain.

“Mia,” Angel said, keeping his voice calm and loud enough for her to hear as he saw her red hair snake its way through the line of his vision. Mia stood with a hand braced on her hip, her eyes narrowed as she stood right opposite him. He watched the gun in her hands, waiting for her to lift it as his own fingers inched back to grab his own. But she didn’t move. And then it struck him,

“You’re out of bullets, aren’t you?” he yelled, a grin sneaking its way past his lips. It lacked humor but made its mark as Mia hauled the gun in his direction.

Angel ducked and barely flinched when the gun landed behind him with a loud thud. But with the gun, came another surprise.

Angel’s head snapped up, his eyes flaring wide as he saw Mia climb over the ruined fountain and scrambled back when she unleashed herself upon him like a fucking maniac. Her yell was nothing short of booming as she pounced on him. Hadn’t seen it coming, Angel barely managed a step back as her weight brought him down.

His back collided with the ground in a painful rush, a shot of pain running down his spine as Mia’s fingers closed around his neck, her thumbs pressing on the point right above his collarbones, blinding his vision for a second. The air gone left him gasping in surprise. Too much strength, he realized as Mia’s red hair fell like a death curtain around him, she’d been training. Mia leaned down further, her eyes ablaze as though she could read his mind.

“Came to bite you back in the ass, didn’t I? ”

She snarled as Angel gasped, his hands snapping up to clasp her upper arms forcefully.

But he didn’t push her away. He realized then as a tear leaked out of the corner of his eye and Mia looked down at him with such hate that he couldn’t kill her. Didn’t want to.

“And this fucking necklace.” Her chin nudged in its direction. Her words, it brought forth an unholy sort of rage in his mind and his vision, which was once going black now turned red,

“Your mother’s gift, wasn’t it? Martin’s told us all about it. How she died so easily. ” Fuck no, “How after giving birth to waste like you, she spent all her life mothering you. Protecting you.” Mia laughed and Angel shut his eyes, unable to breathe, unable to think, “And what did she do in the end? Died after putting a gun in your hands.”

Oh, Gods, it’d been a while since he’d felt such fury rock his bones. Even as his vision flooded, as his air left, nothing could stop him from hearing her next words.

“You gave one to Raylene Walker as well, didn’t you?” it was the low baritone of her voice, the silk venom hidden in her words that had him snapping his eyes open. Mia matched his glare and laughed, her hold on his throat tightening as she stood up to put more of her weight on it, “How would you feel if I hand her the same fate?”

Screw whatever he’d said earlier.

Angel’s fingers dug into the skin of her fingers, his nails biting into her arm as he glared up at her. By getting up, she hadn’t realized, she’d just granted Angel the perfect opportunity to get out of this situation.

Mia barely noticed as he grabbed her right elbow and grunted softly with the increase in weight around his neck .

Enough air, he told himself as he drew his knees closer, he had enough air to do this.

And it was with that thought he propped his feet against her hip and pushed. Mia’s eyes went wide, her hold loosening enough for him to gasp out loud. But he kept his eyes on the movement as she lost her balance and was about to fall on him when he twisted his leg, wrapped it around the back of her neck, and slammed her to the ground. Still holding Mia’s hand, he twisted it hard enough to have her screaming as he snarled low enough for her to hear,

“Keep her fucking name out of your mouth.”

And shoved her away from him.

Mia rolled away from him with a half gasp and groan but gave him enough time to get to his feet and look to his right to see if anyone was there. All he saw were the bodies in the shadows, hurling around with the sounds of bullets in the background. Angel’s gaze narrowed as he took a step back. And another.

And caught a glimpse of pink highlights in the glimmer of moonlight. Angel’s chest hollowed out. Myra Jelani. They’d all gotten here before him.

A scream had him snapping his head away from the scene and he breathed out in anticipation as he saw Mia get to her feet, rubbing the side of her head angrily. He could see the glimmer of metal twisted around her fingers as she flexed them forward. His gaze narrowed, his leg shifting back in a defensive position as Mia turned her head and spat on the ground.

The vulgar gesture was nothing new. But it still had his mind racing with endless thoughts. He needed to end this quickly, he thought as he slipped his own knife into his fingers, he needed to end Martin tonight. Had to get to Ray before Miranda got to her. Before something bad happened .

“You said we didn’t have enough people.” Mia began the calm in his voice making him still, “But look at the scene now. It’s flooded with people against you. Against Walker.”

His gaze narrowed as she flexed her palms again and curled them into tight fists. Angel watched her every movement, careful not to begin it first as she took a step forward,

“Wrong this time Angel,” she said, “Maybe you’ll be wrong in the future too.”

“Half of them are ours, you moron.”

The words came with a whiplash of movement. Angel saw her black hair and her blonde strands first. He almost cried out in relief when he saw her run and stand in front of him. She’s alive, he thought and sent thanks up to the universe as she saw her look over her shoulder. Her hazel eyes glinted in relief and a spark of mischief as she nudged her chin in the direction of the ruined mansion.

“Go.” Christina Morris said and turned to face Mia with raised fists and a half-hearted grin, “I’ll handle her.”

Angel didn’t wait to reconsider. Nor did he doubt her capabilities as he turned on his feet and ran in the direction of the back entrance of the place. If there was any place he would find Raylene Walker, it wouldn’t be in the shadows.

It would be in the middle of the battlefield.