The bullet leaves the gun in a rush of power. I feel the shock in my hand and up my arm. Elliot is an open-mouthed statue and I’m the bullet, sure and true. I will not miss.
Shattering my certainty, Tusks flies from the corner and lands on Elliot’s lap, pushing him out of the way. The massive guard jerks as the bullet strikes him in the back. The chair rolls away with the impact. They hit the blinds, send them swaying from side to side. Elliot cowers behind Tusks.
I adjust my aim, ready to pull the trigger again. Zara and Luke jump to their feet. Luke’s eyes lock with mine. A tremor runs down my spine, as the sense of recognition thrills through me.
Lyra and the other guards train their weapons on me. Elliot peeks from behind Tusks who’s trying to struggle to his feet, but isn’t allowed. For an instant, we all stand still, digesting the moment. Lyra’s eyes shine. She makes the first move, angling her gun toward Luke. Dillon does the same. The tall Amazon never takes her eyes off me.
“Shoot them,” Elliot screams.
I jump out of the way. A shot zips by my ear.
“No!” Luke whirls and knocks the gun out of the Amazon’s hand. A shot rings from Lyra’s gun, but misses Luke.
The Amazon swings and lands a jaw-breaking punch. Barely stunned, Luke rams into her, wraps his arms around her waist and knocks her down. Her gun flies out of her hand. Zara goes for it, but Lyra kicks it out of the way and without hesitation shoots her. Zara jerks but doesn’t drop to the floor. Instead, she launches at Lyra, growling like a small dog.
A million steps sound outside. Others are coming; if they get in here before I kill Elliot …
The bastard is still clinging to Tusks, using him as a shield. I step to the side to get a better angle. Several shapes rush behind the vertical blinds. Unable to get a clear shot, I rush forward, ready to shoot over Tusks and at close range. Elliot screams and pushes Tusks off, finally letting him go. He crashes against my legs. I lose my balance and fall backward.
The twin dwarf guards burst through the door. I aim at Elliot’s head. I’m about to pull the trigger when suddenly the whole floor rocks with an explosion. In spite of the blinds, glass flies inward from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Pieces of false ceiling rain down. Everyone ducks, covering their heads. The electricity goes out and emergency lights come on.
Shots erupt outside.
Suddenly, it’s full-on war.
* * *
I bat a piece of ceiling tile off my face. Tusks moans and pushes rubble out of the way. I pull my legs from under him and scramble to find my weapon.
“Give me that,” Elliot says, snatching a gun away from one of the dwarfs.
I crawl under the long table still searching. A bullet explodes through the tabletop, nearly slicing my neck off. I scuttle away from Elliot toward the opposite end. A volley of shots follows in my wake, sending splinters flying in all directions.
The rapid fire of machine guns comes from outside the room.
“What is happening out there?” Elliot demands.
No one answers.
I stop and make myself as small as possible. From here, I see Zara lying on the floor, a hand pressed to her bloody chest. Luke and the horned woman are also on the floor, fighting each other, rolling, punching, grunting.
“You did this,” Elliot screams to Zara. “Kill them both. The other one, I want alive,” he orders.
Guards surround the table, their black, military boots shuffling and stomping all around me. Someone heaves Zara to her feet. The butt of a rifle smashes against the back of Luke’s neck and he falls limp to the side.
“We didn’t do anything,” Zara says. “Don’t hurt him.” Her voice is pleading and desperate, the voice of a scared mother.
“Get the other one,” Elliot orders.
The rolling chairs are wrenched away.
Dillon crouches from a distance, pointing a gun right in my face. “Get out of there.” He flicks his gun slightly in a beckoning motion.
Sweat soaks my ski mask, itching, making me want to pull the damn thing off. I focus on that stupid detail and ignore the gun that’s staring me in the face. The room is now filled with Elliot’s armed beasts. There’s no use in fighting.
Or is there?
More shots ring outside, sounding closer and closer.
Maybe there is.
“Get the bloody bastard from under there,” Elliot screams.
Suddenly, the table above me shifts. I scramble away as one side of the massive piece of furniture tips upward. The sound of a feral growl fills the room, then the table lurches and crashes on its side. People scramble out of the way. Tusks stands, back hunched, chest heaving after the impossible effort. Something smolders in the depths of his small eyes. His tusks seem sharper than ever, dripping with sweat and saliva, poised to charge.
Adrenaline tingles through my limbs. I’m crouching, guns and beasts alike aimed in my direction. This is it. I’ve failed.
I stand very slowly, arms loose at my sides. My heart drums and drums while the events of the past five minutes replay in my mind, showing me all the things I could have done differently to succeed. I should have planned better. I should have—
Bullets fly in from the outside, peppering the walls and the overturned table. Everyone ducks for cover. Two of the guards fall to their knees, then on their faces. Tusks drops, goes for the gun at his hip. I jump over the table and scramble along its length. Shots ring behind me.
Fire shoots through my calf as a bullet grazes me. I lose my stride and fall flat. More shots whiz by right above me.
“I got you,” someone says from this side of the table.
I look up. The horned Amazon has her gun aimed directly at my head. I close my eyes. It’s time, and I’m not ready. If only I hadn’t missed …
Suddenly, a deluge of bullets criss-cross the room. They strike one after another like fireworks. I open my eyes. Amazon woman lies on the floor, groaning. She tears her shirt open, cursing, baring her teeth in pain. I back out and round the table as she fights with her Kevlar vest like it’s on fire.
“Shoot him!” The cry comes from outside the conference room, full of a desperate quality that spells defeat, like whoever they’re trying to kill isn’t an easy target. Not at all.
My heart surges. Could it be? Is he here?
An image of James blurring into nothing pops into my head. It’s a stupid hope. This has to be a trap from Zara. Maybe she is that stupid. Maybe she really thought this would work: attacking Whitehouse on his own turf.
Elliot’s guards hide behind overturned chairs, shooting through the broken windows, shredding the blinds.
I press my back to the table, suddenly forgotten as everyone takes cover. My calf throbs. I press a hand to it, clench my jaw at the surge of pain. My fingers come away bloody.
It’s just a scrape. Just a scrape.
I look toward the vent. I can escape that way.
“Get me out of here,” Elliot says. “You and you and you, cover us. The rest come with me.”
I peer around the edge of the desk. Elliot is rushing out the door with Amazon Woman and the rest of the guards shielding him. Tusks, Lyra, and Dillon stay behind, shooting in the opposite direction at the unseen enemy.
Bullets hit fast. Not missing a mark. I pull back, pressing closer to the floor. Tusks gives a loud grunt of pain. I hope someone hit the bullseye, right in the middle of his hideous mouth. I peer once more. Luke helps Zara to her feet and, in the confusion, ushers her out of the conference room in the same direction Elliot left.
I smile; a twisted thing that’s made of pleasure. They won’t get away. I won’t let them. Patiently, I wait for a few beats. When the next volley of bullets comes into the room, I crawl toward the door, shots zooming overhead, and pick up a discarded gun. With a quick look back, I notice Tusks on the floor, his massive body still. I guess someone did hit the bullseye. Good riddance.
I keep crawling past the door. Once outside, I turn on my buzz-o-meter in case I run into any Eklyptors. I stand and run down the corridor, ignoring the pain that shoots up the back of my leg. The fight rages behind me, its sounds becoming muffled the further I go. Elliot may think he’s getting away, but a second wave of rage is coming at him and, this time, it won’t fail.