Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Then we hear the vehicles.
Three black SUVs pull up fast, tires crunching aggressively over the gravel driveway. Doors slam. Boots hit the ground hard. Serafina steps out of the middle vehicle in a perfectly tailored black suit, looking every bit the queen of hell. Six armed men flank her, weapons already drawn and ready. She walks straight to the front door like she owns the entire world and knocks once. Polite. Civilized. Terrifying.
Orchid and I share one last look. I squeeze her hand so tight I am probably hurting her, but she squeezes back just as hard.
“Showtime,” I mutter, voice rough.
Orchid opens the door.
Serafina smiles like a shark that’s already tasted blood.
“Well done,” she says, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation. Her eyes scan the room like she owns it, then land on me with cold satisfaction. “Poe. Such a talented boy. Come here.”
I step forward. Two of her men grab my arms immediately, grip like iron. Another two seize Orchid. She doesn’t fight them, but her eyes burn with pure fury and defiance. My heart twists at the sight of her hands being forced behind her back.
Serafina walks over to the computer and leans down, typing a few commands with long red nails. Her smile fades slowly, replaced by something colder. She straightens, turning to face us with pure ice in her gaze.
“You thought I wouldn’t notice?” she says softly, almost gently. “A dummy hack? How adorable. You really believed you could play me, little puppets?”
She nods at her men. They zip-tie our wrists behind our backs, tight enough to bite deep into skin. Serafina steps close to Orchid and slaps her hard across the face. The crack echoes through the room like a gunshot. Orchid’s head snaps to the side. A bright red handprint blooms on her cheek.
I see red. “I will kill you for that,” I say.
Serafina laughs, and then she focuses all of her attention on Orchid. “You disappointing little bitch,” Serafina hisses. “After everything I gave you. After everything I trusted you with.”
Rage explodes through me so hot and violent I lunge forward, but the men holding me slam me back against the wall. “Do not touch her!” I snarl.
Before Orchid can answer, the front windows explode inward in a shower of glass.
A huge explosion obviously thanks to Ozzy and his small team of misfits he’s got. Ozzy. Arrow. Lark. Gage. They all storm in, and I wonder where Maddox’s BRAVO team is. Did they act on their own? Is Dean coming?
For one shining second I think we’ve got them. Chaos explodes in every direction. Serafina’s men fire, but they’re outnumbered and outmaneuvered. One goes down hard. Another drops his weapon. I watch Ozzy take a hit to the vest and go down, but Arrow dives to cover him. Gage roars like an animal as two men tackle him. Lark fights like a demon, taking down three before they overwhelm her. My friends. My family. Fighting for us.
Then Serafina smiles again. That same terrifying, knowing smile.
She presses a button on a small remote in her hand.
The house shakes violently as hidden charges in the walls detonate in controlled bursts. Smoke fills the air instantly, thick and choking. A side door bursts open and more of her reinforcements pour in like they’ve been waiting in the trees the whole time. She planned for this. She knew. She always knows.
Ozzy takes another hit. Arrow’s tackled. Gage is slammed to the ground. Lark disappears under a pile of bodies. I watch in horror as they zip-tie my friends one by one, my brothers and sister in arms, the people who have bled with me for years.
Serafina walks through the smoke like it parts for her. She stops directly in front of me and Orchid, still smiling that victorious, monstrous smile.
“Did you really think I would come without insurance?” she asks sweetly. “I always plan for betrayal, my darlings.”
Her men drag us all outside into the cold morning air. Ozzy. Arrow. Lark. Gage. Orchid. And me. They load us roughly into two of the black SUVs. Serafina climbs into the lead vehicle and looks back at us through the open door, eyes gleaming with triumph.
“Take them to the secondary location,” she orders her driver. “We have so much work to do.”
The doors slam shut. The engines roar to life. As we speed away from the safehouse, bouncing over rough terrain, I catch one last glimpse of the woods through the tinted window. My heart hammers against my ribs so hard it hurts. We failed. We’re captured. All of us. The people I love most in this world are tied up and bleeding beside me, and Serafina’s driving us straight into whatever fresh hell she has prepared.
I look across the seat at Orchid. Her cheek is already bruising badly from the slap, blood at the corner of her lip, but her eyes meet mine with fierce, unbreakable determination.