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THE HELICOPTER STOOD beside the burning building, its blades making the fire fold in on itself. I couldn’t believe it: Mr. Ashcroft was alive. My foster father and the leader of the New Dawn terrorist group, I thought he’d died years ago. Yet there he was, large as life, smiling at me as if no time had passed.
“Come with me,” he said, holding out his hand. “We have so much catching up to do.”
Theo put himself between me and the apparition, spreading his arms wide. I felt the world spin underneath me as I grappled with this new reality. So many things I had taken for granted had just been upended. I couldn’t think fast enough to digest the turn of events as it unfolded, leaving me vulnerable to attack.
But Theo was thinking clearer. My partner for a few short weeks, he’d proven himself worthy of my trust. Though my legs wanted to obey my foster father’s command, my heart kept me rooted to the spot. If Theo thought there was danger, then I accepted his assessment of the situation. I gazed at the man who brought me up with a growing horror. This wasn’t someone who had my best interests at heart. He was the leader of an organization dedicated to taking down established governments across the world.
They wanted to create a New Dawn of humanity, with Mr. Ashcroft at the helm. That kind of naked power grab was something only a fanatic would attempt. It was a hard pill to swallow, but I knew that Mr. Ashcroft was the bad guy now.
“Run,” Theo said.
I didn’t hear him at first. I was locked into a debilitating confusion that wouldn’t allow information to translate into action. Mr. Ashcroft smiled a wicked smile, and two black-clad gunmen leapt out of the helicopter to take their place at his side.
Theo didn’t have a weapon. None of us did. We had barely escaped the burning mansion, leaping from second-story windows in our pajamas. I should have grabbed the gun that Jasmine had used to threaten me. It had been lost in the scuffle that left her dead on the living room floor. Her body was still inside, along with the pistol that could have provided us with some amount of leverage.
I wasn’t interested in leaving Theo to fight Mr. Ashcroft and his guards alone, but neither did I want to stare down the firing squad. My foster brother, Lukas, took his place beside Theo. Both men were injured but determined to protect me.
If it wasn’t for my foster sister, Z, I might have stayed. I had gotten myself out of worse, and I didn’t need my boyfriend to act as a human shield. But if I didn’t get Z to safety, she would likely perish. I didn’t need that on my conscience, not so soon after putting Jasmine in an early grave.
“Come on,” I whispered to Z, grabbing her by the hand.
“Mr. Ashcroft,” Z muttered, as stunned as I was by his sudden appearance.
“Z!” I shouted, tugging her away.
“This is foolish,” Mr. Ashcroft said to Lukas.
“He won’t shoot me,” Lukas said, betting on the years Mr. Ashcroft had spent training all three of us. I never would have expected in a million years that he would become a threat. Yet there he was, ready to kill us all for no better reason than world domination.
“Clark!” Mr. Ashcroft shouted as I backed away.
I didn’t want to hate him. He’d meant so much to me growing up. He’d rescued me from the foster care system and taught me a trade. Just because that trade turned out to be killing people didn’t mean Mr. Ashcroft was a bad man. I thought it was because he wanted to serve a greater good. That’s why I eventually joined the CIA so that I could apply myself to making the world a safer place. But that’s not what Mr. Ashcroft had in mind.
“How is it possible?” Z stammered.
“I don’t know,” I responded, turning around to run for the trees.
The front lawn of the property stretched off nearly fifty yards into the distance where it met with a private wood. If we could just make it to the tree line, maybe we would be safe. Z stumbled at first, but her self-protective instincts kicked in finally, allowing her to run.
“Go after her!” Mr. Ashcroft shouted.
I heard gunfire and pressed my eyes closed. I didn’t have time to turn around. I would just have to trust that Theo and Lukas knew what they were doing. They were, after all, as competent as I was. Theo was an agent from the British MI6, while Lukas was the head of Dark Sparrow, an international organization dedicated to saving the planet.
If anyone could contain Mr. Ashcroft and his goons, it was Theo and Lukas. I concentrated on getting Z to safety. Then I could turn around and go back to rescue my lover. Just hold on, I prayed, promising that I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him on my watch.
We reached the trees and dashed inside, skirting behind the first massive trunk we could find. Just as I ducked for cover, I heard a bullet whiz by and dig itself into the tree beside me. So much for bringing me in alive. Either the gunmen misunderstood their objective, or Mr. Ashcroft didn’t care. I wasn’t sure which was worse.
Sneaking around the tree, I came out in back of the first soldier. Launching myself onto his shoulders, I snaked one arm around his neck, cutting off his oxygen flow. He couldn’t shoot me from that angle, and so he dropped his gun to dig his fingers beneath my forearm. I used my body weight to pull him down to the ground, worried about a second or a third assailant. I didn’t want to get shot in the back while taking one man out.
It turned out I was right to worry. As I struggled to subdue the one foe, a second one stepped up to the scuffle, rifle drawn. I half expected him to open fire, killing his companion in an attempt to stop me.
I tightened my vise grip, feeling the fight drain slowly out of the gunman. To my surprise, the second threat lowered his weapon and kicked me in the side instead, his foot barely reaching my rib cage. I felt the sting, but it was blocked considerably by the thrashing of the man on top of me.
I rolled away, releasing the soldier and climbing to my feet. Trapped and out of alternatives, I put my hands up. Maybe Mr. Ashcroft didn’t want me dead after all. That was something I could use to my advantage. And at least Z had gotten away safely.
“Move,” the gunman growled.
He ignored his fallen compatriot, motioning back toward the helicopter. I’d come all this way only to be forced back to the battleground. My thoughts leapt to Theo and Lukas, wondering whether they’d managed to subdue Mr. Ashcroft. If our luck ran out and we were all captured, then New Dawn would have free rein to put their evil plan into motion. More than anything, I hoped that wasn’t the case.
I turned to follow instructions but was caught off guard when Z appeared behind Mr. Ashcroft’s henchman. She hefted a log, bringing it down on the man’s neck. He tumbled forward without preamble, crashing to the forest floor like a sack of armor and bones.
I glanced up at Z, astonished and relieved all at the same time. We fell into each other’s arms, sparing a moment for a hug. Though Z had the same training that I did growing up in Mr. Ashcroft’s mansion, she wasn’t a field operative. Much more comfortable behind the scenes, she made all my missions possible with rapid intel and support. I didn’t know what I would do if I lost her, and knowing that we were both out of the crosshairs was a brief victory.
I grabbed both guns from the fallen soldiers and handed one to Z. She might be a computer nerd, but she knew how to handle a weapon. We crept back to Mr. Ashcroft’s helicopter, determined to rescue the boys before all hell broke loose.
Theo and Lukas were fighting with Mr. Ashcroft’s guards. It looked like they had successfully disarmed the assailants, but they were a little worse for wear from the fire. Theo was trading punches with one guy while Lukas was kicking ass a little farther away. I knew they were both beyond capable, but since I was armed, I dashed to the rescue.
With a battle cry, I charged the scene. Mr. Ashcroft saw me coming and ducked back into the belly of his bird. The rotors picked up, and I could hear him shouting to the pilot. I didn’t want to let him get away, but that concern was secondary to making sure Theo was okay. I had to focus on my boyfriend and his attacker first if I wanted to protect my heart.
Theo punched the gunman’s nose, pushing him back toward the helicopter. I skidded to a halt, getting between Theo and the threat. The helicopter hovered above the grass, showering all of us with bits of grass and ash from the raging fire.
“Get Ashcroft!” Theo yelled.
I had a decision to make. If I put my weapon down and leapt onto the helicopter, I might be able to stop Mr. Ashcroft from escaping. But that would leave Theo vulnerable and eliminate any advantage we had in terms of ending the fistfight. I chose to abandon the more valuable target and focus on extracting Theo from his altercation.
“Down on the ground!” I shouted above the whirr of the blades.
The henchman didn’t follow my instructions. Instead, he twisted and lunged for the helicopter, draping his body over the landing skids. I fired once, hitting him square in the back. The body went limp, but the helicopter continued to rise. By the time the body fell to the ground, it was too high to recover.
I fired a dozen rounds into the undercarriage as it picked up speed, diving away from the ruins of Mr. Ashcroft’s mansion. But no matter how targeted my shots were, they didn’t reach the fuel tank or slow the bird in any way.
Lukas was still struggling with one of the men, so Theo and I ganged up on him, bringing him to the ground. Lukas stumbled back, thinking clearly.
“Don’t kill him,” he said. “We need information.”
Without warning, the captured assassin whipped out a pistol and pointed it at Theo’s head. I shot him square in the eye, dropping him like a hot potato. Lukas let out a groan of frustration, kicking the body with his good leg.
Z came running up, now that all the gunmen were accounted for. We were no closer to learning what New Dawn was up to than we had been the previous night, but at least we knew that Mr. Ashcroft was alive.
I looked around, astonished by the devastation. I’d seen bombings before and worked my way out of many a tight spot. But that blazing ruin atop the hill was my childhood home. We’d found a lot of information about what Mr. Ashcroft was up to hidden within its walls, but I was sure there was more to uncover. We wouldn’t have another chance, but we couldn’t stay where we were either. Out in the field, we were sitting ducks. We needed weapons and vehicles and a plan of action. With just one more base of operations up in flames, we needed to reconvene and figure out who was still alive.
“Come on,” Lukas said, pointing toward the driveway.
I agreed silently, lowering my rifle. Together, the four of us walked away from the crime scene, down the expansive drive toward Mr. Ashcroft’s private road. We had only traveled a mile or so when the sun began to rise. I felt the weight of little sleep dragging me down. The adrenaline from the fight was wearing off, and I was just glad that we were all still alive.
As we walked, a black van pulled up alongside. I checked with Lukas to make sure he was aware of the situation. He didn’t look concerned. There were two ways an unexpected arrival could go down: Either they were a friend or a foe. But one glance at my foster brother put my mind at ease.
The van stopped, and a driver got out. He shook hands with Lukas, proving that he was friendly, at least for now. We needed transportation and a place to reconvene. So we all got inside, sitting on seats nailed to the wall. The driver resumed his position and began to move. I closed my eyes to rest for just a moment, putting my head down on Theo’s shoulder. He took my hand and squeezed, assuring me that we were safe for the time being.
