Page 74 of The Merciless

Angel blinked. Something likeholy shitandsorcerypassing his dumb as fuck mind as he watched her finger curl around the trigger of her gun. Angel ducked at the very last second, a rasping sound leaving his throat as he heard her groan. Saw her tug at her t-shirt.

He rolled his eyes at the black vest that showed through her movements.

“Fucker.”He heard Mia Andrews murmur menacingly as she snapped her eyes open and staredstraightat him.

Shit.

Angel didn’t really wait for her to continue shooting.

Just twisted on his feet and well…ran.

* *

The blindfold on her eyes was tight. And with the bounds around her wrists and the painful way in which she was getting hauled forward, she should’ve been tense. Should’ve at least been uneasy. Almost afraid.

Instead, Raylene Walker just yawned.

The man who’d been hauling her forward seemed to pause in his step behind her, his hold on her wrists tightening. Ray let out a soft echo of laughter and heard him growl in annoyance behind her.

She was aware of others striding in as well, people shuffling all around her as they all filed through one…doorway?

She heard someone murmurfucking psychopathunder their breath as they passed her, other whispers following his words. She couldn’t help it, another burst of laughter left her tongue.

Ray could only assume they were heading into the building Angel and her had blown apart years back.

And judging by the porch the man had hauled her up, the place was still in ruins. She could feel the debris under her feet, could smell the dirt of broken rocks all around the place as the staircase they’d been climbing up ended. Echoing sounds followed the next step she took, and Ray had an acute sense that they’d stepped into a larger arena. She took a deep breath and did the best thing to figure out how big this place was.

She let out a loud andbooming whoop!

Except her voice didn’t echo.

Ray’s brows furrowed as her loud yell got swallowed by the howling winds. But it also surprised everyone enough. She tilted her head when she heard the paranoid clicking of guns in her direction followed by faint swears and yelps. Even the man behind her flinched back, his hold on her wrist slackening. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of having more than adozenguns pointed in her direction. At the thought of her being unable to see her enemies before they pulled her apart.

And yet, Ray smirked. Took their distraction as an opportunity to slip the metal of her knife into her fingers and cut through her tapped wrist with one swift movement. She didn’t move away from the man though. Kept that advantage to herself, even as the man growled behind her again and shoved her forward roughly, swearing in a language she didn’t have enough strength to recognize. She stumbled forward, a gasp stuck in her throat as she felt the blindfold around her eyes loosen and shook her head to make it fall against her neck.

Ray kept her hands flexed behind her back as she blinked back into focus. As she breathed in and coughed at the dust in the air. Smiled, when she found unfamiliar people with their glares fixated on her. A man was standing in the place she had been, somethinggraveshining in his light eyes as he took a threatening step forward. Ray didn’t move. He waslargecompared to her, with his taut muscles pulled back to show his enormous figure. The snarl on his face did nothing to subdue his menace, it only heightened the pureragewritten on his dark and cutting face. But she didn’t move.

“Afraid?” she rasped, her throat dry.

It’d been difficult to keep track of the time. But judging by the dark sky outside, the night had only just begun.

She could only assume that only a few hours had passed. The thought reassuring her, Ray tipped her head back and cast her eyes upwards and all around the place.

Her lips parted in half surprise when she saw thestateof this place. Years back it’d been beautiful, lined with sheer perfection and concrete walls that had held one of the most powerful families in theworld.

Now it was nothing but a pile of broken bricks and walls.

It was so sad. Ray breathed out and watched the brown debris surrounding her. She didn’t dare look up, knew she’d find nothing but a gaping hole from when she’d shot down that hideous chandelier and Angel had blown the roof apart. The bricks were black with soot, vines climbing through each crack venomously. Priceless furniture was ruined, the once familiar décor left to rot.

The moonlight poured down on them like waves, its white light casting an odd glow on everyone in the arena. It gave her enough to keep watch on how many people she’d have to deal with just in care. Her gaze narrowed as she rolled her shoulders back, keeping her hands still flexed behind her back as if they were tied. Ray saw them all tense, their fingers going to the trigger of their gun as they waited and watched.

A sigh left her lips at the lack of any response,

“Can anyone tell me the time?” she asked finally and took a tentative step forward. The man stiffened, his shoulders going taut as he glared down at her, his own finger tightening on the trigger,

“Stay in your place, girl.” He snarled, his voice low enough to send dangerous tremors running down her spine. Ray only shook her head, the strands of her dust-stained hair falling on her face as she moved.

“Or what?” she asked and lolled her head to one side, givingnothingbut amusement as she eyed the crowd. Counting. Calculating. Judging by the time, there was no doubt everyone was already out and searching for her. She could only hope Neera had gotten the other kids out and the others were working on getting as much manpower as she could.

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