She heard his exhale.
They were still staring at each other when the lights flickered back on, making them all jump in surprise. Her hand braced against her abdomen as she flinched at the sudden brightness of the room and wanted to keep her eyes closed. The pain was thudding through her, pulsing and raging like a goddamned animal. But Ray forced herself to open her eyes.
And what lay beyond them was a simple massacre.
She didn’t conceal her sharp exhale at the bodies on the ground, most of them injured but hurt enough to not move from the ground. As her eyes scoured the crowd, her eyes caught only a few people who seemed younger and all of them were still moving.
Her relief was so prominent that Ray swayed back, her heart thudding through the prison of her ribs. She grit her teeth as she searched for those who were still on their feet. Her gaze cut to Akash, who was standing beside Neera. They both had a sulking Cameron sandwiched between them and didn’t look like they were going to die anytime soon.
Her eyes swept the crowd, catching Myra Jelani wiping specks of blood off her face as she looked down at the bloodied man on her feet. She grimaced and took a step back, bumping into Irene, who was staring down at a squirming girl at her feet.
Her fists were tight, her shoulders taut as she raised her icy eyes from the teenage girl and turned to Kyle and Ray with a menacing look,
“What thefuckis going on?” She snarled in their direction and Ray saw Kyle step forward, a tremor in his hands as he laced them behind his back and looked at all of them.
“I think we were ambushed.”
Irene’s head snapped down at the girl as Kyle responded. Ray gulped as she saw the fury in her eyes, in everyone’s eyes as they stared at the bloody mess they had been forced to create. Ray was about to say something when her eyes caught the one she had been looking for since the beginning.
Noah Hassan and Angel Santos were heading in their direction when she finally saw them. Both of them had blood on their faces, the skin of their knuckles scrapped off as they hurried forward.
Ray inhaled once, knowing that his amber eyes were searching for her when he strode forward. But she was hidden by Kyle’s figure and Kyle’s words that rendered them all frozen,
“I think we have a vigilante group in our hands.” He said, his voice low as he looked around him. There had been no staff in the hotel when they’d entered, but that hadn’t been very surprising at the time. Not with the preparation of the event going on. Butthis?
This was a badly-plannedmurder.
Akash let out a harsh breath from beside them, stumbling away from Cameron and Neera, “There’s another game afoot here.” He said softly, attracting all their attention, “This could have been–”
“Enough.” Ray’s voice was subdued, but it was loud enough to echo through the bloody walls. Her eyes shut briefly as a wave of pain washed over her, “Go home. All of you.”
When her eyes snapped open, they were all looking at her, surprised at the calmness in her voice. She didn’t know how long she could maintain that for. Ray’s stance was hiding the knife acutely, making most of them miss it completely as she turned to them with practiced eyes and confident words,
“If someone meant to start a war with us,” she said and avoided Angel’s gaze as she turned to the others, “They chose the cowardly way of doing so. Bringing children to a war they cannot fight is a sign of their inferiority to us. They don’t have the manpower, but something tells me they have a way of luring rats into their traps.”
Her head turned, eyeing the people on the ground. Some unconscious, some listening. Her eyes rose as her face scrunched in disgust, her fingers curling into tight fists as she continued,
“They might’ve started this. But we’ll be the ones to put an end to it.” Her voice was a warning, her words laced with cold, brutal threats to anyone who was listening, “And it’ll end the way it began.”
Her eyes caught Angel’s then, and she saw his chin rise with a dark flash in his amber eyes.
“In massacre.”
13
It was wonderful to see how people responded so well when the situation was made slightly more dramatic.This was not good,she thought as they all left. No one said a word, not even a mere goodbye as they left the hotel.
It was only her, Angel and Kyle left.
And she could barely stand.
With a tight exhale, Ray walked ahead, her movements practiced even as the pain pierced her abdomen so hard, she wanted to scream. Despite her body’s protests, she didn’t stop until she was standing before a man she’d managed to hurt badly before. His face was bloodied, and his nose broken, but he was still awake.
And he was the only one within her range who didn’t look like a child.
Ray didn’t lean down. No, as she saw the man’s eyes flutter open in pain, she just raised her foot and slammed it right on his pounding heart. The man’s body bowed, and she almost grinned at the piercing howl that left his lips. His eyes snapped to hers, and then she did smile. All sinister andbat-shit crazy.
“Why don’t you tell me why you brought a bunch of teenagers to fight here, old man?” she began, pressing her foot against the middle of his chest. He shook his head, a gurgle of sounds leaving his mouth. Ray’s smile was still intact and crazy against the blinding pain when she heard Kyle’s voice say softly behind her,
