Page 109 of Lay Me Down
“They’ve been—” She stops, and her face turns horrified. She even pales, and I wasn’t sure she could look any more ghostly. “Oh, my God!” Victoria punches Grease in the face, like she could’ve actually escaped at any moment, and then takes off.
After taking a moment to reel in the shock, I sprint after her. She darts right once she clears the door, and by the time I follow her around, she’s already a few yards ahead of me. Mybody has to sprint to its limits just to get close, and I hate how fucking impressed I am. She’s moving like her life actually means something, and that tells me that I’ll just have to prove her wrong. I don’t know how much time I have, or what Damien has in store for her, but I’ll be sure to use every advantage I can get to make her suffer.
I finally catch her about halfway down the passage, and as I grab her arm, I throw her into the stone wall. Just so she doesn’t pass out, I plant my hand behind her head, but pin her to the wall with my body so she can’t escape. She hits my chest with her small fists, but her hands don’t hurt. Her little form feels surprisingly firm, and when I smell a hint of tonka bean, I have to shake my head to force it away.Of course this little demon would smell like something toxic.
“No! You have to let me go or he’ll kill her!” she screams, and ice races through my limbs.
“Kill who? Ashia?”
She nods frantically, and of course, I let her go. If someone is threatening my sister, then that takes priority. I can come back to Victoria later.
She instantly starts to sprint again, but I remain on her heels this time. We only move a few more doors before we reach what I’m assuming is their version of the Batcave. There are screens everywhere, and a lot of wires along the walls. There are plush chairs, like the devils had to make themselves comfortable in these conditions, and the thought makes me sick. She runs up to the monitors and starts hectically looking over them. The second her eyes lock onto a screen, my eyes follow, and my body explodes with fear when I see a live scope-feed of the hospital presented on the monitor.
And the scope is looking right into Ashia’s room.
“What the fuck?!”
“That’s Sette. He’s one of the assassins. If Saconne gets a hold of him, or the hour is up, he’ll kill her! You’ve got to move her!” she yells.
“What hour?” Grease asks as he runs into the room, slightly out of breath. I can’t help but roll my eyes at him.He’ll never be cut out for our line of work.
“Sette was ordered that if he didn’t hear from DeLuca every hour, to shoot her immediately. It was a fail-safe incase Damien ever killed her.”
“Well, how long has it been?!” I scream and immediately pull out my phone.
“I don’t know how much time has passed. I haven’t exactly been on their good side lately!” she screams back. My nerves tick with her tone, and I can feel my anger towards her grow tenfold.
“Well, this is my fucking sister!” I storm up to her and pinch her chin in my fingers. My eyes bore into hers as I force her to look up at me. That same fucking scent hits my nose again, and I snarl. “If she dies, then you’ll follow her!” I release her and step back as I call Alex. When he picks up on the second ring, he visibly sighs, and I can see it on the monitor.
“What’s up, Zeke? Did you find anything?”
“Leave the room,” I demand and keep my gaze to the screen. “Walk out very smoothly, and very quietly. Donotlet Ashia know something is up. Do you understand?” He doesn’t know I can see him, but I watch as he heads for the door. EvenIcan see the worried look that cascades over his features, and I’m not the killer behind the rifle. “I said smoothly, dumbass! Get that look off your face!”
“Oh, fuck y—wait. How can you see my face right now?” he asks as he walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.
“Because I could see you on the scope feed of a sniper rifle. Go to my car. Now.” I can hear shuffling from his end, so I’m assuming he’s listening. I turn back to Grease and whisper, “CallCarter and tell him to make Serena grab all of the medical shit she can.” He nods to respond and pulls out his phone.
“Alright, I’m going down the stairs. What am I doing?”
“Under the floor of my trunk, there’s a bag of pistols and ammo, and my rifle is under that. Grab it.”
“Let me guess, this is the bastard that try to take John out?”
I can tell that he’s starting to breathe heavily, and I’m sure his nerves are starting to go crazy. While Mister ‘I’m so perfect’ likes to act like he’s got his shit together, I know his tells. He can have his little freak out later, though. Right now, my sister needs him to get his shit together.
“I’m going to guess so, and now he’s aiming at Ash. So, get fucking moving. She’s on the fourth floor, right?”
“Yeah,” he says not so surely. “Zeke, I’m not the best with sniping…”
“Well, you’re going to have to be,” I interrupt him, so he doesn’t let his mind get in his way. “Go to the fifth floor of the parking garage—east side.”
He doesn’t say anything else, but as long as he gets his ass into gear, I don’t need him to. I hear a lot of shuffling, and eventually some clanking metal. That tells me that he’s at least made it to the car. I can’t tear my eyes away from the screen. The smallest movement from this ‘Sette’ fucker has my stomach rolling. It doesn’t look like he’s aiming anywhere vital, but as I watch my sister stare blankly out the window and rub her belly, I can’t help but shake. She’d never see it coming, and if we don’t take this mother fucker out, we’ll never know if she safe. Simply moving her out of the room isn’t going to do anything. The second he would get another clear shot, he’d take it.
“Alright, I’m here,” Alex says with a trembling voice, and it brings me out of my daze.
“Alright. It looks like he’s aiming from a balcony with a screen door from the left of Ash’s room window. So, you’re going to adjust for the wind, and aim high.”
More shuffles and noises come from his end, and I have to clench my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. I have no idea how much time we have, and I don’t know if I can stomach the anticipation.
