Another shout. Male. A scream. Female.
“Oh, fuck,” Cas said as we rounded a corner. The sounds were coming from behind the door ahead of us. “That’s her voice.”
“Door!” I said as I reached for the knob. My brothers were right behind me, ready to lay cover fire as soon as I yanked open the door.
As soon as I did, I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Hanii,” I breathed.
Leona.
Her red hair cascaded down her back, but it was matted and dirty. She stabbed a knife into a man’s neck over and over andover. Blood spurted all over her clothes. Sobs tore through the air.
The world stuttered to a stop. My eyes were wide as I watched, frozen.
“Leona,” Ciel said, stepping around me.
Cas took a step forward as Obi pushed into the room behind him. They fanned out beside me, but I found myself rooted in place, unable to move.
The dead man’s face was mutilated. His eyes were gone. His torso was pulverized meat.
I didn’t care about any of that shit. I’d sure as fuck seen worse.
She wasalive.
And I was paralyzed. Why? Why couldn’t I move?
“Princess,” Cas said.
She whirled, catching sight of us. Standing at the door. Staring.
My vision narrowed to her face, her body. A jagged gash ran down the left side of her face, from her forehead down her eye to her cheek. Her clothes were torn to shreds. Was that a suit jacket wrapped around her?
“What the fuck?” I murmured.
She dropped the knife as she struggled to stand.
“Is this real?” she asked, voice quiet. She tried to wipe the blood from her face, but it was just a slippery mess. Pools of it blanketed the floor. She was a vision in red.
A goddess of death.
She took a step forward, faltering. Before she could fall, Obi was in front of her, picking her up, wrapping her arms around his neck. It all happened within seconds, but it felt like fucking years.
I’d never locked up on a mission before in my life.
“You’re safe,ifunanya’m,” he said quietly, locking eyes with me. He jerked his head. “Let’s go. Now.”
“Wait,” she murmured. “Max. The girls.”
She raised a bloodied hand to point down the bridge. Suddenly, the rest of our surroundings came into focus again.
Across the room, by the far controls, Max Volpe snapped a man’s neck, the body crumpling to the ground. At least half a dozen people were scattered between us and him. A fucking bloodbath happened here.
Behind him cowered six young women, pressed against the wall in fear.
His eyes locked on us, and I raised my gun. Thisfucker. I didn’t know how, but he got her into this mess. He was to blame. My finger curled around the trigger. I would kill him here, and we could leave this boat with our biggest enemy dead.
“Wait, Ryu,” Leona said as Obi began carrying her away. “Wait, please. We can’t leave him. Them.”
