Page 24 of Dark Rebel's Fortune

The four of them moved fast while maintaining partial cover behind the cars parked along the curb. The neighborhood was eerily quiet—no pedestrians and no curious onlookers despite the smoke. Peoplehere knew to mind their own business or risk ending up in prison, or worse, at the end of a noose.

The city's modern appearance misled outsiders into thinking that the place was home to a contemporary society where people enjoyed human rights, but nothing could be further from the truth with the medieval regime in power that operated according to barbaric rules that hadn't been modified for modern times. If anything, they'd become worse.

The front gate of Yasmin's home was open, and so was the door to the house itself.

They walked through the gate, Yamanu taking the lead with his weapon drawn. The small front garden showed signs of struggle—overturned planters, a child's bicycle knocked on its side, and drops of what was unmistakably blood darkening the stone path.

That shouldn't have happened if the perpetrators were Doomers unless someone in that household was immune to their mind control. Then again, some Doomers were so inept at thralling that they couldn't take the family without using force. There was also a very high likelihood that they just enjoyed terrorizing humans.

As they reached the open front door, Yamanu moved to one side of the opening while Max took the other with Kyra. Extending his senses, Max detected no sounds of movement inside the house, only the faint crackle of flames from somewhere deeper within, explaining the smoke they'd seen rising from the structure.

He nodded to Yamanu, who nodded back, signaling for him to go in and for Kyra to stay put.

She didn't like that, but neither of them was going to argue with Yamanu, who as Head Guardian was the senior officer on this mission.

As he entered with his gun leading the way, the interior of the house revealed the grim story. The air hung heavy with the acrid smell of gunpowder and the coppery tang of fresh blood, and the entry hall and living room beyond had been trashed—overturned furniture, vases shattered, and walls that were pockmarked with bullet holes. A fierce battle had taken place there, and someone had paid with their lives for the brave defense of the family because it sure as hell wasn't the Doomers who had been left to bleed out on the floor.

As Yamanu and Kyra entered behind Max, he extended his arm to block them from going ahead of him.

The pair of legs sticking out from behind the overturned couch looked like they belonged to a man, but just in case he was wrong about it, Max didn't want Kyra to see her sister like this.

"We are going to secure the rest of the house," Yamanu said quietly behind him.

Max nodded and waited until he was sure that Kyra had followed Yamanu before moving forward to examine the owner of the legs.

The man, probably Yasmin's husband, had died fighting. A pistol lay beside his outstretched hand, itsmagazine empty. Multiple bullet wounds marked his chest and abdomen, the pattern suggesting he'd faced his attackers head-on.

"He tried to protect them," Max said, respect coloring his tone despite not knowing the man. "He fought until his last breath."

Kyra and Yamanu returned from inspecting the rest of the house and walked over to him.

Max could smell her tears even though she didn't let them fall.

"Is it only my impression or are the good ones always the first to die?" she murmured.

Yamanu draped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "If you asked Jade that question, she would have said that dying heroically in battle was the ultimate reward."

"Death is death." Kyra knelt beside the body, murmuring something in Farsi—a prayer, perhaps, or simply an acknowledgment of the man's sacrifice. "May his soul know peace in the presence of the Almighty."

Max wasn't familiar with that prayer or invocation or whatever that was, and whether the Almighty was the creator of the universe or the Fates, he had no problem echoing the sentiment.

"The house is secured," Yamanu said. "There are no other victims and no booby-traps, and it's safe to assume that Yasmin and her children were taken alive."

Max's earpieces crackled a split second beforeJade's voice came through. "We've got a problem. Lost visual on the targets."

Max swore under his breath. "What happened?"

"They went into a tunnel," Jade said, sounding irritated. "We followed, but when we emerged on the other side, the vehicles were gone."

"Where was this tunnel?" Yamanu asked.

"Northern outskirts, heading toward the mountains."

That narrowed it down somewhat but still left hundreds of square kilometers of potential territory to search. They needed more information and fast.

"Return to the safe house," Yamanu instructed. "We'll regroup and?—"

"Wait," Nadim's voice interrupted through the comms. "I may know where they're headed. There's a facility in that area, officially a military research station, but my network has reported special units activity there for months. Some of the soldiers seemed foreign and enhanced."

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