Page 91 of Heart of Iron
“I won’t tell anyone,” Lena said, staring at the barrel of the pistol.Her father’s own design.How ironic.“I want nothing more to do with this.All I want is to go home and forget this whole nightmare.”
Rosalind knelt down, the pistol resting on her knee.“Didn’t you realize?This isn’t a game, Miss Todd.You know too much.”
“I won’t breathe a word of it—”
“Unfortunately, I’m not sure I believe you.”
Bitterness welled.“You were never going to let me go, were you?You’re worse than the blue bloods, than the Echelon.You use people, then discard them when they no longer suit your purposes.”
A distant look came into the other woman’s eyes.Her eyelashes lowered, fluttering against pale cheeks.“It surprises me how innocent you still are.”A bitter smile.“I am what I have been made.A weapon.A hunting hawk, finally unleashed from its master’s jesses.There can be no mercy, for I expect none.”
The gun wavered again.
“Wait,” Lena cried desperately.“Please.Please don’t do this.I have lost everything today.There is nothing left for me.”Tears blurred her vision, made the pistol vanish.She held her breath, her eyes screwed tight, waiting for the retort of the pistol, the pain.
Silence.
With tears sliding down her cheeks, she looked up.Rosalind made a disgusted growl and aimed the pistol at the ceiling.
“It seems there is some small scrap of mercy left in me after all.I know I shall regret this.”
Lena let out a shuddering breath, her heart rabbiting behind her ribs.“I promise you won’t.”
Grabbing her by the arm, Rosalind hauled her to her feet.“Come.I’ll blindfold you and have Jack or Ingrid dump you out near the stews.”
“Not Ingrid.”Lena had a feeling if Ingrid found out about this moment of leniency, she’d take care of the matter quietly.
Rosalind’s lips thinned.“You’re not in the position to be making demands.Come—”
A scream sounded in the distance.
Both of them froze.
“That had better not be friends of yours.”Rosalind’s eyes narrowed.She shoved the lantern into Lena’s hands and pushed her through the door, holding the pistol against her back.“Or all deals are off.”
The sound of steel on steel echoed through the tunnels, then a roar of earth-shattering fury.
Itcouldn’t be… Lena’s heart started ticking, her breath catching in her lungs.She wanted to run toward the sound, but something held her back.Rosalind’s gauntleted hand on her arm.
Rosalind shoved her against the wall and glanced around a corner.Evidently sighting nothing, she hauled Lena after her.“That’s coming from the guard room.”
Lena didn’t dare hope.He couldn’t have survived that fall, could he?
Another roar filled the air and something that sounded like a chair smashing against the wall.
“Get out of the way!”a woman called.“Let me handle this.”
Rosalind hissed between her teeth.“Ingrid.”She started running, which was precisely what Lena wanted too.
The door ahead of them flew open and a man crashed through it, sliding across the tunnel’s smooth floors.Blood matted his hair and he struggled to roll over.Rosalind swore under her breath and knelt down, cradling his chin as she examined him.
The open door revealed chaos.Pieces of chair were scattered like matchsticks, and a booted foot lay motionless, the rest of the person lost to sight.
Will stood in the middle of the mess, breathing hard.His fists were clenched at his sides, his shoulders shaking from barely restrained rage.Blood smeared his wet shirt where it was plastered against his side and his hair hung wetly against his scalp.
Lena sucked in a sharp breath, coming to a halt.“Will,” she whispered, her heart swelling within her chest.She stumbled, grabbing onto the wall.Hewasalive!She could barely believe it.Then her eyes narrowed on the blood that stained his side.Aliveandhurt.
Scalding amber eyes looked up.The shock as their gazes met swept right through her.His fist curled tight around the shiv he held.“Lena,” he growled, and it was a tone she’d never heard from him before.
