Page 25 of Betting Blind

The gunfire is loud but growing quieter. They must be in pursuit of the bomber. I sink my teeth into my lower lip and huff internally. I wanted to play cops and robbers with the bad guys. Maybe go out in a blaze of glory and bullets. Not be the knight in shining armor and save the damsels in distress.

“Please,” a young girl whimpers to my right. I look over and if it were possible my heart would physically break. She is no more than twelve or thirteen years old. Her blond hair is flat and matted with blood. Her skin is gray and her face is sunken and thin.

“Ah, fuck,” I curse and make my way around the room, blowing the locks of the cages with my gun. “Go down to the first floor and lock yourself in the conference room. It’s the room with a long, wooden table and about fifty chairs. Lock and barricade the door. I’ll call for help. They’ll give you a password to open the door.”

A woman with short red hair pulls her jacket off and covers a young girl’s shoulders. The woman nods and starts gathering everyone to descend the rubble. “Password?” she asks shakily.

“Titty-Muffins,” I say after a split second’s decision. No one in their right mind would guess that. “Do not open that door for anyone unless they give you the password. Got it?”

“Got it,” she confirms and ushers everyone down. “Thank you. Tell the other girl, thank you.”

“What other girl?” I call after her, but she doesn’t answer. I spin back to the sound of a gunfight and pull out my phone. “Declan. The girls are heading down to the first-floor conference room. I need to wrap up the loose ends here.”

“Tell them to lock the door?” he asks and stifles a yawn. I look down at my watch. Oh shit. It’s two. “Password?”

I grin and shift the phone to my other ear, bracing it with my shoulder as I make sure my guns are loaded. “Titty-Muffins.”

“There is something seriously wrong with you,” he mutters after a pause. “I’ll get the medics down there.”

“Thanks.” I hang up and sprint out of the room and back into the darkness. It’s not hard to follow the sounds of men cursing and bullets pinging off metal rafters and walls. At least, it wouldn’t be if the building wasn’t a fucking maze.

I turn down a hallway only to find a dead end. Then I try a room to my left only to find a storagelying halfway in the room. At least I know I’m going in the right direction.

“I feel like Hansel and Gretel following the fucking breadcrumb trail through the woods,” I mutter and jog around the next corner. As soon as I round the corner, I see a dark shape barreling towards me, but I can’t stop. I take the body-check to the gut and my back slams into the wall. The air momentarily leaves my lungs, and I can’t seem to pull it back. As I struggle to inhale, I raise my gun and aim.

“Oh, for fucks sake. How many are there?!” A feminine voice cuts me to the bone. I stop short but don’t lower my weapon. I’m looking down the barrel of a purple silencer and into the green eyes of my goddess of death. She blinks twice and then hesitates. I can see the war behind her eyes asshe contemplates whether or not she should lower her gun. “Hayden?”

I take a moment to absorb the details of her. She’s wearing a black bodysuit that hugs her figure and leaves no curve to the imagination. Her long hair is braided and swinging loosely down her back, but it’s messy and sticking in all different directions. Her pale face is flecked in crimson, reminding me of the first night I saw her in that alley. Her lips are quirked up into a small smirk as I drag my eyes down her body, searching for injuries. She’s positively covered in blood.

“I’m finding it very hard not to just drop down to my knees right now,” I admit quietly and pull my eyes back to hers.

“In surrender? That’s probably for the best. I’ve already dropped ninety percent of your men,” she responds with a shrug and lowers her gun from my forehead to my chest.

“To surrender? No.” I drop both of my hands to my sides and remove my fingers from the triggers. I could never snuff out this angel, no matter if she came to claim my soul for herself. I would rip my own heart out for her. “To propose? Yes. To worship? Absolutely. To beg? If that’s what you want from me.” My voice lowers with each example, and I watch the shiver snake down her spine.

“This isn’t mine,” I continue quickly and gesture around broadly. “The women are safe and there are medics on the way. Are there still more?”

She inhales sharply, and her eyes take in my attire and equipment. “What are you doing here?”

“Same as you, I suppose. I got a tip. I had some time.”

“Do you make a habit of murder?” she asks lightly and finally lowers her gun to her side.

“Do you?” I retort with a raised eyebrow.

“Fair point well made,” she concedes. “I lost a few in the stairwell. They went up to the roof. I was on my way to head them off when I literally ran into a distraction.”

“A distraction? I can’t tell if that’s an insult or a compliment.” I cover my heart with my gun and act insulted, but I can’t fight the smirk on my lips. “I slashed the tires of the vans in the parking deck so they’re probably still here. Care to share? I haven’t scratched my itch yet.”

“I guess I could spare a few,” she mutters and bites her lip to hide her smile, but I catch it anyway.

As we jog back down the flights of stairs, I make a mental note of local jewelers to start looking into. We round the corner of the parking deck and five men charge at us with open fire. We duck behind concrete pillars, and I drop two in quick succession.

Emelia drops another two with ease, but the last has disappeared. We walk in a slow circle but see no signs of movement. “Maybe he died of a heart attack?” she offers quietly. I watch her body move from the corner of my eye, taking in how her muscles coil beneath her suit.

“Right,” I mutter and spin a second too late, distracted by the hypnotic motion of Emelia’s walk. The last man lurches from the shadows with a wicked looking blade and swings wildly. “Fuck!” I shout and stumble to the side.

He bypasses me and swings at Emelia. She immediately drops her gun and pulls twin blades from her thighs. I watch in complete awe as she spins, ducks, twists, and flips around this man’s assault. Lust pulses through my veins and my cock hardens as she maneuvers around him and sinks both blades to the hilt between his ribs. He falls to the ground with a dull thump.

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