Page 126 of Merciless

Char and I make our way down the south side of the aisle, sweeping our way through, constantly checking every inch of our surroundings for any signs of incoming hostiles.

Nothing.

Looks like Priest’s Gatekeepers are wholly focused on their boss’ grand speech, hanging onto his every word, treating him like the almighty God that he really ain’t.

Our movements are soundless as we make our way toward the site of Priest’s overdramatic, ego-centric speech in the distance. Used to be a time when my movements were anything but. Years spent in hiding, plus my contract work altered my approach to situations in a big way and I let go of the whole bull-in-a-china-shop strategy I held to for most of my reign as Prez of Thorns. That’s come in handy and actually proven life-saving many times over the recent years.

It most especially is now. It’s imperative that we get into position without alerting any of the Gatekeepers to our presence. The first stage of this mission is all about perfect timing.

Knowing that’s just the initial way we gotta play things, is pretty much the only reason I’m managing to keep it together and prevent myself from unleashing the true demon within all over these motherfuckers.

We reach the end of the aisle, our cover coming to an end in the next few feet. We peer around one of the racks to see our targets twenty feet from us.

“Thirty-nine,” Char mouths to me, having counted them already. The woman works fast, no doubt about it.

They’re gathered in a circle around Priest and his interim second—the guy Cavalno planted real deep inside the organization. There’s two soldiers on their knees in front of them, their hands bound behind their backs with zip ties. I guess they’re the ones on the chopping block tonight.

As Priest goes on talking about the major opportunities he’s carved out to take the Gatekeepers to the next-level, Char relays the confirmation of our position to Cavalno, as we move closer, ducking low beneath a crate for momentary cover.

Things take a turn in the next beat, Priest going off on a rant at the two bound guys on their knees. Seems their only crimes are being the worst performers out of the rest, something Priest don’t tolerate. Only the best for him, apparently. The small army of them that came at us down in Brockford weren’t nothing to write home about. But everything’s about perception to Priest, not cold, hard reality. Just like making himself appear benevolent and loyal when he’s real far from that. Manipulating Char to take out his former right-hand guy, Will Land, is just one piece of proof.

In the next second, my attention is drawn up high, watching Cavalno and Wraith slip in through the skylight, zipping down on cables, and landing in soundless crouches on the mezzanine above. They both pull their pieces, taking aim at the crowd of Gatekeepers below. Their confirmations sound through our earpieces in the next beat.

“Wraith in position.”

“Cavalno positioned. On my signal.”

Priest holds out his hand expectantly and Cavalno’s plant draws a blade from an ankle holster strapped to his tactical pants, holding it out for him. Gonna slit the bound guys’ throats, I’m figuring.

Snatching it from him, Priest steps right up to one of the bound soldiers. He tears his balaclava off to find the guy beneath squeezing his eyes shut, trying to prepare for death. Priest grins, his eyes lighting up, clearly getting off on the power he’s wielding over somebody else’s life.

He goes to bring the blade down, aiming for the guy’s throat, just like I figured.

But he never makes contact with skin.

The whiz of a bullet cuts through the air, hitting the blade dead on and blowing it from Priest’s grip.

A hell of a fucking shot.

And our signal.

I look up at the raised platform in the distance to see Cavalno’s gun still in firing position, while Wraith is performing some kind of hardcore parkour, making his way rapidly down to the ground floor level, moving in to back us up.

Priest roars and spins around, following the trajectory of the shot, taking in the shooter up on the platform.

As he curses, Cavalno winks at him smugly. In the next second, he fires into the crowd, taking out three Gatekeepers in quick succession.

All hell breaks loose then, the Gatekeepers trying to dive for cover every which way.

“Don’t fucking hide!” Priest bellows over the chaos as he crouches behind a pallet rack container to avoid Cavalno’s onslaught. “Take him down!”

Before his army can even begin to formulate a strategy amid the shock of the attack, Char and I come at them from the opposite side, picking off the ones on the periphery, getting about half a dozen.

Some of them try to hightail it to the back of the warehouse, but they don’t get far.

They’re met by Wraith.

He lays into them like he’s batting insects away, like they ain’t nothing, taking on four at once with a series of rapid-fire blows, using every move they make against them and turning it into an opportunity for him.

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