Page 148 of Bonds of Pain
Poe’s eyebrows raise. “Maya?—”
“I know how to use it,” she insists. “You saw me with the knife.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Poe draws a compact pistol from his ankle holster and places it in her hands. “Safety’s already off. Just point and shoot.”
Maya’s fingers close around the grip with surprising familiarity. The weight of the weapon seems to steady her, transforming her from victim to something more dangerous.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” she says, her voice harder than I’ve ever heard it.
With Poe supporting one side and Maya armed and watching our backs, we make our way through the maze of corridors. The alarms continue wailing, emergency lights painting everything in hellish red. We pass several more bodies—guards taken down with Poe’s characteristic efficiency.
Each step is agony, but I force myself to keep moving. Maya and Poe are risking everything to get me out of here. I won’t let weakness slow us down.
We reach a set of heavy doors with a neon exit sound above it, when I hear familiar voices beyond them. Male voices, raised in urgent conversation.
Poe holds up a hand, signaling us to stop. He presses his ear to the door, listening.
“Two voices,” he whispers. “Logan and Ares. The door is locked from the other side. They’re discussing how to break it down.”
Relief floods through me. We made it. We’re going to survive this nightmare.
Poe pushes open the doors, revealing a small loading dock where our packmates wait. Logan paces the concrete platform, his white uniform stained with blood that doesn’t appear to be his own. Ares stands in front of a dark vehicle, weapon unslung and tension radiating from every line of his massive frame.
Both men turn as we emerge, and I see the exact moment Logan’s eyes find Maya. His expression shifts from relief to something darker, something possessive and desperate.
“Maya,” he breathes, starting toward us.
That’s when Maya raises the pistol, pointing it directly at Logan’s chest.
“Stop right there,” she says, her voice deadly calm.
Logan freezes, his golden eyes fixed on the weapon in her hands. Ares straightens, his own hand moving toward his concealed weapon, but Poe’s sharp gesture stops him.
“Maya,” Logan says carefully, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “Put the gun down.”
Her grip doesn’t waver. “No.”
The standoff stretches silently between them, loaded with months of hurt and betrayal. I lean heavily against Poe, watching as everything we’ve built threatens to collapse in this moment.
“What’s it going to be, princess?” Logan asks, his voice soft but edged with something dangerous.
“Justice.” Maya’s answer comes without hesitation, just before she pulls the trigger.
Chapter Forty
MAYA
“Fuck,” Logan shouts, jumping back from the bullet I planted in dirt in front of him. “What the actual fuck, Maya!”
I hold the gun on Logan, watching his golden eyes widen with disbelief as he realizes I might just put the next shot in his chest.
His blood-splattered uniform makes him look like something out of a nightmare—a predator fresh from the kill. The dark crimson stains stand in stark contrast to the pristine royal insignia on his chest, transforming him from prince to monster before my eyes.
My hands should be trembling, but they’re steady, fueled by rage and determination I didn’t know I possessed.
“You’re not going to shoot me,” he says, but uncertainty creeps into his voice. Those golden eyes—the ones that once held me captive with their beauty—now flicker with something I’ve never seen in them before: fear.
“Stop underestimating me.” My finger tightens on the trigger as I squeeze off a shot. The sound is deafening in the enclosedspace, a concrete manifestation of my fury that echoes off the walls.
