Page 157 of Cavern of Silence
"Julieta is safe. Let him make threats,"Maureen haughtily says, and I laugh.
Evandro furrows his brows. "You laugh at me?"
"Doesn't he look like our old goat, Darragh. The one you thought was the dumbest animal on the planet?"
I chuckle again. "He sure does."
"His ears especially resemble Darragh."
I peer at Evandro's ear. "Huh. I see what you mean."
"Kill Louis first then Evandro. His time is up,"Maureen says.
"Yes, ma'am."
Evandro's face turns red. He snarls, "Fight."
Louis mistakes my side comments as a weakness. But I'm paying attention.
He comes running at me with his fist in the air, and I duck and punch his heart as hard as possible.
He flies backward and gasps for air as blood oozes out of his mouth.
And the beast that lives within me awakens. Something snaps, and with no plan about how I will get out of this crowd alive, I spin, and with one blow to the temple, I kill Evandro.
As soon as he goes down, the floodlights turn off, and everything becomes as black as the night sky."They are here. Duck and stay low,"Maureen yells through the men's shouts.
I can't see anything. Clouds cover the stars and moon so it's as dark as it can be. I obey Maureen and crouch down, covering my head as hundreds of gunshots ring through the air.
"Let's go," a familiar voice yells, and I'm dragged through the darkness and pushed behind a stone wall as bullets continue to fire. "You all right?"
I can't speak but embrace Hunter.
"Good to see you, Ryker. Enjoy the show." He hands me a pair of night goggles, and when I pull my shit together, I put them on.
My brothers are here. And I realize, nothing about this rescue is normal. It's not aget in and get outjob. They didn't come just to save me. They came to send a message.
When the smoke clears, not one of the Torres cartel members are standing. Bodies lay on top of each other.
"Time to go," Andre booms.
Tinker and James pull up in a Jeep.
Hunter gets in the back seat with me. "Your form looked good."
"Julieta...is she—"
"Safe in Bermuda. Blaise is watching over her."
I release a big breath of air.
He pats me on the back, and we quietly ride to the aircraft waiting for us.
The rest of the team comes on the plane and all talk to me, but I can't understand a word they say. Hunter puts a blanket over me. "You're shaking."
I barely hear Dirk. "I think he's in shock."
"Give him some space," Andre booms.
