The door flies open, and Harlow, Alaric, Sterling, Theo, and Gideon all walk in with Lachlan trailing at the rear.
“Where’s the target?” Gideon asks, walking right up to Alex and flicking his knife open.
“Excuse you,” Alex says, uncrossing his legs and sighing before he stands up. “I’ll be on my way since I can’t seem to find this person you’re all looking for,” he drawls.
“Stop,” Sterling growls. To my surprise, Alex obeys. “You’re not going anywhere until we locate the targets.”
Alex rolls his eyes. “I can assure you that I’m innocent in whatever you think I’m a part of.”
Harlow steps forward, eyes narrowed. She looks fucking fierce tonight—dark curls spilling over her shoulder. Her dark red dress matches the shade of her lipstick perfectly.
“Really?” she asks, stepping up to Alex despite being a full foot shorter. “Because I think working for Citadel makes a lot of sense for you. Bastard son. Shunned from most royal functions. Your whole life went up in flames after that exposition came out, didn’t it? Why wouldn’t you want revenge on the family who cut you out for something you could never control? From my viewpoint, you and Citadel probably have a lot in common.”
Alex huffs a laugh. “Citadel? Aren’t those the idiots who continue to threaten blowing up Buckingshire Palace?” He looks at all of us, but his eyes linger on mine for a fraction of a second longer. “Okay, I think there’s been a misunderstanding?—”
“Astern turned her earpiece off,” Theo says, brows furrowed as he taps something on his phone.
“Fuck,” Sterling says, pacing. “And Quinn?”
“Nothing from either of them now,” Theo says, communicating silently with the other three Lords and Lady.
“I’ll go,” Sterling growls.
“No,” Harlow says quickly, brows furrowed. “If you go out there, you might blow the cover. Let’s give them a chance to do this alone.”
“Alone?” Lachlan asks, speaking for the first time. “Two untrained people against three highly efficient terrorists?”
Harlow considers what he’s saying, but before anyone else can speak up, more voices in the hallway sound through the closed door of the lounge. A few seconds later, Astern walks in with two men—looking smug and confident.
“What the hell is this—” One of them reaches for their gun, but Harlow is quick and she shoots both of them with a bullet through the skull—smack in the middle of their foreheads. It takes less than a second before they both collapse.
“Fuck,” I mutter, mouth dropping open as I stare at the sole Lady of Darkness. “That was fucking amazing.”
“Holy fuck. Uh,” Alex says, running a hand through his dark hair. “I’m just going to go?—”
“You’ll stay,” Alaric growls. “Until the last target is taken care of, we need you here.”
Alex looks like he’s going to be sick, and he looks up at me. “What the hell sort of shit have you gotten wrapped up in? You’re condoningmurdernow?” I don’t miss the shakiness in his voice.
“So what if I was? Does it turn you on?” I ask, smirking.
“Now’s not the time for a lover’s spat,” Max says sternly.
Sterling disregards the conversation as well as the dead bodies, instead walking up to Astern. “Where’s Quinn?”
Astern blanches. “She’s not here?” she asks, her eyes scanning the room. “She was supposed to meet us here?—”
“Never. Leave. Anyone. Alone,” Sterling grits out, his voice menacing and low. “That was the first thing I taught you today. We all have partners for a reason, for every single mission.”
“I didn’t know,” she says quickly, panic pacing her tone. “I’m sure she’s fine?—”
A loud boom and subsequent screams emit from the ballroom, and Gideon is the first out of the room. We all run out after him, but the smell of gunpowder permeates my senses as we jog down the hallway. People are running in all directions, but mostly toward the various exits along the wall of the ballroom. A cloud of smoke makes it hard to see clearly—was it a bomb?
As we get closer and more people clear out, I hear Astern let out a sob.
Amid the debris near the bar—right where we left her—is Quinn.
Or, most of Quinn.
