Page 96 of Beautiful Villain
There was a door at the end of the hall, heavy and reinforced, a keypad on the outside.
“Mikayla,” I yelled, the word ripping out of me raw.“Mikayla!”
A voice came from behind the door, shaky but unmistakable.“I’m here.”
Relief hit so hard it almost made me dizzy.
“Stand back from the door,” I said.“Get as far away as you can.”
I raised my weapon and fired into the lock.Metal exploded.The door buckled inward with a scream of tearing hinges and slammed open.
Mikayla stood inside, pale and wide-eyed, her hands clenched at her sides like she was holding herself together merely as a courtesy.
“Dunn?”she whispered.
“Yeah,” I said, stepping toward her.“We’ve got you.”
Mikayla’s reliefhit her in slow waves, like her body was only just catching up to the truth of what was happening.I could see it in the way her shoulders dropped, in the way her breath came out uneven.She was glad to see us.More than that—she was safe.No bruises.No shaking hands.No distant, hollow look that said someone had touched her where they shouldn’t have.Whatever Archie had planned, he hadn’t had the chance to do it.
We did not linger.
We moved fast through the service corridor, boots striking stone in sharp, echoing beats.Cold air rushed at us as we pushed out into the night, the mountain looming above like a dark witness that had seen too much.The forest pressed close, thick and waiting, as if it was listening.
Mikayla slowed only once.
She turned back to look at the fortress, its narrow windows black and empty, the whole thing sitting there like it was pretending to be harmless.It wasn’t.She knew that now.
I caught her arm gently and steered her toward the car.There was no time to slow down.
I got her into the back seat, pulled the door shut, and swung around to the driver’s side as the rest of the team peeled off into their vehicles.Engines started.Gravel crunched.We began the descent down the mountain, headlights cutting narrow tunnels through the dark.
“Dunn?”Her voice was unsteady, but her eyes were clear when she met mine in the rearview mirror.“Where’s Gianni?”
“He had to deal with Archie,” I said.
I did not tell her the rest.I did not tell her that Gianni had refused to be the one to come for her because he did not want to drag her back to him by force.He had already done enough damage.He had wanted her choice, not her gratitude.Even I could see how much that mattered.
She studied me, searching for something.Doubt.Truth.Permission to hope.
“Where are we going?”she asked.
“Anywhere you want,” I said.“Archie’s dead.Gianni told me to get you out and take you wherever you decide.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed, emotion catching in it like a thorn.
“Is that all he said?”
“Pretty much,” I replied.
It was not all he had said.But it was the part that mattered most.
40
Mikayla
The ride down the mountain felt unreal.
Cold air pressed against the windows, fog clinging to the glass, the road twisting and dipping beneath us like it was trying to shake us loose.Dunn drove in silence, steady and focused, while I sat in the back seat with my hands folded in my lap, staring at my reflection in the dark.
