Page 75 of The Merciless

And Angel,she thought with slight fear,she hoped all this would work out.

“Or you’ll lose your head before your time comes, Raylene Walker.”

It was a sweet, female voice that slipped through the dark night. Ray’s head snapped up, alertness rushing through her as she kept count of the number of people around her. Aclick-clackof heels was all she heard before the shadows around the doorway she’d been shoved through shifted. Ray squinted, her heart pounding in her chest as she watched the shadow take form. And blinked when a slip of red shone under the moonlight.

They’d been right. They’d been right. They’d been right.

Ray breathed out when she saw the woman step through the doorway elegantly.

While Maya Larsen had been a snake-like beauty with her blonde curls and dangerous eyes, this woman was all angelic. Her red hair was like a bloodstain on her white shirt and white trousers. Ray watched her as she stepped through the doorway and dipped an invisible hat in her direction.

A devil,Ray couldn’t help but think as her mind swayed with anticipation,in an angel’s disguise.

Her green eyes shone like emeralds in the moonlight, something calm in the way she strode through the crowd and waved in her direction.

“Raylene Walker.” She said, andgodseven hervoicewas as still as an ocean before a storm.

A small smile, one she would’ve seen assweetif they weren’t in this situation, played on her red lips, “How nice of us to finally meet.”

Ray’s gaze shuttered, her body shuddering with leashedrageas she looked at the woman step over a pile of debris.She had a part to play,Ray forced herself to think, forced herself to believe as the woman stopped a few feet away from her.

“You?”Ray forced her voice to break, her hands balling into tight fists behind her back. The woman’s eyes crinkled at the edges,

“You can stop acting now darling,” she purred in response, her voice making Ray’s blood run cold, “I know you freed yourself a while back now.”

Ray’s jaw ticked as the man who’d been holding her took a cautious step away from the woman. He dared a glance in her direction when Ray sighed, and put her hands forward to rip the tape off her skin.

“Stupid decision really,” Ray said calmly, as she dropped the tape to the ground and flexed her fingers, “To tie someone’s hands with tape.”

“I agree.” The woman agreed.

They remained silent for the next five seconds. Ray counted, each second passing like a hundred years. She took comfort in the feel of the metal pressed against the skin of her wrist. Of her guns tucked in her boots. Two weapons. One gun and one knife wereallshe had after Martin’s men had ripped all the others off her.It was enough,she told herself as she tipped her chin upwards and watched the woman with narrowed eyes,enough to last. Enough to end this.

The woman’s lips twisted into a soft smile then, her green eyes shining with something malicious as she raised her hands in the air. Ray braced herself, her one foot sliding back in a defensive gesture when–

Clap!

Ray blinked, a breath leaving her as the woman brought her hands together, the clapboomingthrough the large arena.

“We really should be getting this started.” She began, her voice still calm. Itvexedher, seeing a woman like this sound so soft. So calm. Like an angel. She looked at Ray now, and laced her hands behind her back, her shirt flexing against her skin as she pushed her shoulders back,

“We can’t keepRaylene Walkerwaiting now, can we?”

Ray grit her teeth, subduing the urge to shove her knife through the woman’s throat. It was as though she could read her mind because her red curls slipped off her shoulder as she tilted her head. A tender, almostmotherlygesture that had Ray flexing her hands in an attempt to stop herself from rushing through this. But then she spoke, andeverythingaround Ray just…shattered.

“Get Angel De Santos here.”

Please,Ray pleaded with all forces above, begged the moon that shone down upon them,please let it have gone smoothly.

Not a single thing occurred for the next five seconds. No, only a blanket of silence settled upon them, its presence suffocating as the men and woman behind the woman shifted on their feet. Ray didn’t know what the woman was expecting. But judging by the dark look that crossed her perfect face, it was the first sign of somethingwrongwhen no one appeared behind her. Still, Ray didn’t hope. Didn’t think athing.Not until she knew for sure.

But it seemed as though the moon, the night was on her side. Foronce.

Because soon enough, a faint tap,tap, tapof footsteps filled the dark air and Ray saw a man, taller than the one who’d held her captive run into the broken mansion.

“Madame,”he panted as he rushed past the men and woman who surrounded Ray, “A problem, madame.We’ve had a breach–”

Ray’s breath left her lungs, her eyes flaring with relief at the words as the man took another step in the woman’s direction. Ray could see her shoulders stiffening. Could see her calm,perfectcomposure collapse bit by bit as the man continued in hushed tones. The satisfaction that rushedthrough her body wasnothingto the adrenaline she felt when those emerald eyes shifted to hers delicately. The absolute pleasure that rocked her bones.

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