Page 72 of Saved By A God
For a suspended moment, there’s nothing but the cold air and the brutal certainty that this place is about to become a graveyard.
“Attack!” I roar.
The west gate blows inward, one side tearing from its hinges while the other buckles enough to leave a gap wide enough for us to move through.
The drivers floor the gas, and the Jeeps and trucks race across the stretch of uneven ground, kicking up dust in their wake.
I see Devran and his team take out two guards who are situated near the gate, and another two are blasted off their feet by an incendiary grenade that Georgi launches.
As Nathan steers the Jeep through the blown gates, four Bratva soldiers come running in our direction, shooting at us.
The side entrance where Rodian said Rosie is being held is less than forty yards ahead. I jump out of the moving Jeep, tucking and rolling before lunging to my feet and running as fast as I can.
“Christ, Enzo!” Christiano shouts. “Stop the Jeep. I’m not doing that shit.”
Five guards stand between me and that door.
My arms swing up, and I open fire on the fuckers, mowing them down like they’re nothing but toy soldiers.
Adriano and Little Ricky catch up to me, and they force two soldiers coming from the left to dive behind a low concrete barrier, keeping them pinned there for several seconds before Georgi takes them out with another incendiary grenade.
Augusto and Lorenzo come from the right, shooting at whoever’s on the side of the building, while Georgi and Santino’s men drive toward the east side to blow the wall so we’ll have a quick escape.
I keep my focus on the door, and as I near it, it slams open, and a soldier steps out. He shouts something in Russian as he lifts his rifle, but I shoot him twice in the chest and keep moving, barely feeling the recoil of my weapon.
Jumping over the idiot, I rip the door open and enter the building.
Ciro and Nathan stay right behind me, and the prison erupts into panic and chaos when the guards notice us.
Rows of people scatter from where they’re sitting behind desks, chairs scraping over the floor. Some of them dive beneaththe tables while others freeze with their hands raised, eyes wide as the guards start firing from between the rows.
I focus as I return fire, making sure not to hit an unarmed person. Unless they reach for a weapon, they’re not a target.
A man with a blue band turns on the other soldiers, while shouting something at them. Then I notice another, and another.
My gaze sweeps over everything, taking in the rows of tables, the bright industrial lights, the giant screen on the far wall, and the cells above.
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
I take out another soldier as I run toward the door up ahead, and as soon as I push it open, I see Rosie.
My Rosie.
It feels as if my soul takes its first breath since the fortress fell.
She’s near the far side of the room, and Rodian has one hand clamped around her arm as he drags her through another doorway. A young guy is with them, looking terrified out of his mind, and when he falters, Rodian grabs the back of his shirt and shoves him forward hard enough to make him stumble.
For one brutal second, everything inside me stops.
Then someone opens fire on them from the room they’re running into, and one hits the ground near my woman, but Rodian forces her to run from my line of sight.
“Rosie!” I shout as I break out into a run. “ROSIE!!!”
Rosie
(A minute or three earlier…)
Suddenly, there’s a blast nearby, hard enough to rattle every monitor on my desk.
