Page 43 of Hunted

The tips of my fingers tapped against my thighs, rolling through the keys of a remembered song in a way that I tended to catch myself doing when my emotions were heightened. It made sense that I’d catch myself playing the thigh-piano now, seconds away from re-entering a dark compound. The added threat of Sebastos Varco coming for me didn’t help—armed with a gun and homicidal ideation.

The second I thought his name, my hand stopped tapping and moved instead to grip my Glock. Sebastos wasn’t the only one with a kill list—and his name was at the top of mine.

Avenging Fleur meant more to me than some stupid Graduation assessment.

My gaze flicked over to Commander Varco almost unwillingly, presiding over the control screens. Perhaps today wasn’t the wisest opportunity for vengeance. It was still fucking tempting, though.

The alarm sounded, piercing my eardrums and shocking me into movement.

Go time.

I drew my gun, dashing through the door Eth kicked open as he followed close behind. Each member of our team crisscrossed through after us, fanning out through the furnished room, devoid of hostiles but full of dusty clutter.

“Clear,” I said softly but succinctly—unwilling to give our position away so early on in the task. “Left or right?”

Eth frowned, his gaze flicking between both doorways, unsure. “Both. Half of you follow me, the other half go with Addie. Clear what’s on the other side, then wait for further instruction.”

“Got it, boss,” Dak said, joining me on the right side of the room. Mercy and Bodie followed, while Ace, Aidan, and Cohen lined up behind Ethan.

I clenched my teeth when Bodie decided my ass was the best to follow, but turned back round to the rickety wooden door, refocusing on the task at hand.

“Three… two…” Eth murmured through the comms, and Dak wrapped his free hand around the metal doorknob in preparation. “One.”

He wrenched it open—somehow soundless—allowing me to drop the dummy hostile on the other side. I heard shots fired behind us, but put it to the back of my mind. Eth was more than capable of handling himself.

“Clear for now,” I said into my mic.

“Clear here, too,” Cohen answered.

“We’re coming to you, Ads,” Eth said.

I felt, more than heard, them approach from behind, and only once Eth’s solid presence rejoined me at the door did we pass through it.

Distant gunfire sounded from the other end of the compound—too many shots to count—giving away Blue Team’s position. They weren’t close, but that level of fire was absolutely a cause for concern.

Eth and I exchanged a loaded look, silently debating our current tactic. Sure, they might have located Lockwood, but that didn’t mean he was unarmed, alone, or willing to cough up the correct keyword.

“Addie, secure the hallways. Dak—the room on the right. Mercy—the room on the left. The rest of you behind me, ready to storm in.”

Without waiting for anyone else to move, I sidled up to the corner and peered around. Half-expecting someone to jump out at me, I was wary, but the hallway beyond was empty. Dark. Suspicious. Someone could easily be waiting around the next corner, or in one of the adjoining rooms, but those weren’t my problems—ensuring no one could sneak up behind my team was.

“Clear,” I murmured, creeping just past the only two doors in this section. I held my stance, exactly like Pearce taught me—gun raised and ready—while my team entered the rooms in tandem.

Ten shots echoed behind me as I waited for the “clear” to come.

My teeth clenched tighter, knowing that those sounds just gave us away.

A further five shots popped off—then silence.

“Guys?”

No answer.

“Eth, what’s going on?”

I knew something was wrong when they didn’t immediately give the all clear, but those instincts were confirmed when a sadistic drawl crept through my earpiece.

“Ethan can’t come to the phone right now, princess.”