I grin wickedly, staring into my crosshairs, watching that fucker drop down to hell where he belongs.
Motherfucker got off easy but I couldn’t watch him touch my girl anymore.
Son of a bitch.
As I suited up for tonight’s mission, ready to unleash the deepest, darkest twisted ways of my mind against the men that took my angel… I sharpened my knife. And now we’re here and the only way I’m leaving this ranch is with my girl in my arms and Omar branded with Death’s scythe.
There’s a big window on the roof. I broke it open and dropped in. The shadows of the night fade away my presence.
When I dropped in, I could hear my angel scream, begging for them to kill her. I’m about to send this whole fucking building to the ground.
My chest is fucking sore, and I’m in so much pain, but nothing could compare to the pain I felt to hear Ari beg them to kill her.
Fuck.
I will collect each and every one of these evil mother fuckers souls. The entire time my team and I were being transported by the police, I was contemplating which twisted way I would kill Omar, and I will.
Ari’s on the ground in the stable with that piece of shit’s body.
Kane, Lopez, and Rooker drop behind me. Zeke’s team breaches the side of the barn, making an explosion of an entrance.
There’s about an army of men in the barn and a hanging rope, as if they were setting up to hang her.
I hold my rifle tight against the shoulder that’s been shot; I’ll deal with those consequences later. My adrenaline powered by vengeance won’t let me feel it right now. I will have Omar’s body added to my long list of confirmed kills tonight.
Everything will come to an end tonight.
Paul’s killer is in my sights and I will make sure this time he won’t get away.
Our number one target on the most wanted list won’t have a beating heart after I get a hold of him.
I pull the trigger, but one of his friends throws their body in front of him. He goes down instead of Omar. Fucking coward. But I’ll make him beg for mercy…they all do when Grim Reaper is knocking on their door. Omar tries to reach for a weapon from one of his followers’ belt, but I shoot another one down, preventing from arming himself.
Everyone draws their weapons, and I finally see my girl.
She stands, shaking and crying. She has her hands over her ears and her beautiful brown eyes meet mine like she’s pleading for me to get to her. I swallow the pain in my throat. I will hold her again.
I just have to get through Omar’s army first.
Easy.
“Run!” I shout at her and her watery eyes widen. She takes off running toward one of the doors in the back of the barn. As she opens it, a man chases after her. He’s about to put his hand on her hair and I put a bullet in his head.
Then absolute chaos ensues. Everyone is exchanging fire. I take a few more out from behind cover, and the last thing I see is Omar and his daughter chasing after Ari into the woods behind the barn.
Over my fucking dead body.
“I need to get to her,” I tell the team through the mic, reloading my rifle.
“Go! We’ll cover you…get our girl,” Kane responds and a part of me resents when he says “our,” but he no longer means it in that way.
“Bane, don’t make me put a fucking bullet in your head, too.”
Paul trusted our team with his sister. And Kane will always be a part of Ari’s life, just not the way I’ll be and after a lengthy conversation these past three days, we’ve reached an understanding, but that doesn’t mean we’re close friends. He overstepped, and he’s lucky I’m letting him live.
Our friendship is done, but he’s still on my team, which means I’ll always be professional.
“Do you need backup? I’ll follow you out!” Rooker offers after taking down another from deep into the barn.
I hold my rifle up and shots are being sprayed all around us, but we’re taking them all down one after one, avoiding getting hit. I aim for two men with AK-47s over a wall and pull the trigger. They fall to the floor.
“I got this. Just cover me. She ran into the woods, but Omar is mine,” I roar. I need to get to her before they kill her.
I head for the breached explosion that Zeke created. My boots hit the frozen floor, there’s still a few inches of snow, and I grimace when I remember my Ari is running barefoot on this.
I’m taking her to my house, and we will spend the next few nights by my fireplace after this is over. I will not let her out of my sight for the next fucking century.
The woods are thick behind the barn. We’re in North Carolina, and I can see a glimpse of red glimmer in the moonlight. The dress I bought her has sequins and jewels and the night sky and stars reflect off her dress.
Omar, his daughter, and three men run after her. They’re shooting at her as they chase. Gunshots ripple into the air and they sound like fireworks.
“Creature!” I yell at our most lethal sniper as I get closer to them. He knows I’m calling for him to take the shot. I know he’s watching.
As if on cue, another bullet rings out by my ear, and the man chasing Ari falls to the floor.
His body falls against a rock and I take a quick glance as I run past his body, making sure he’s dead.
Creature is fucking good at what he does. Admiral Ravenmore made a great decision, adding him to the team. The fucker never misses. This man was running full speed, and he still hit the target in the head.
“Good shit.”
“I’ll leave you the rest,” he grumbles through the mic.
I lift my rifle now that I’m a few feet away from Ari. She’s hit a dead end and there’s a river flowing down hard. The sound of the river gets louder as I pull the trigger again.
I fire another shot, and that only leaves three men now. I have to reload my weapon, but I don’t have enough time. I won’t grant them quick deaths, anyway. I pull out my knife.
I can’t see Ari anymore. Maybe she’s hiding now that they are cornered towards the river.
My smart girl.
They don’t know where I’m at. I’m Death’s shadow tonight and I’m watching Omar call out for Ari.
“Spread out and find her. She couldn’t have gotten far,” Omar growls, ordering the few henchmen he has left.
“Dad! We have to run. He’s after us, we can come back,” his daughter pleads.
He slaps her on the face.
“We’re not leaving until I have Death’s head on a spike and his slut underground. Now fucking find them.”
“Yes, sir!”
But his daughter rubs her cheek, glaring at her father. She looks like she had enough. She turns around, walking into the deep woods, abandoning them.
He’s delusional. Even if he kills me, they’re surrounded. They’re not going anywhere. I watch his henchmen search around me. There are only a few left.
Don’t they know the shadows are my friends? The Reaper calls out for them, and I will deliver.
I creep behind a tree and watch one of them step into my vision to the left of me.
He’s short, but his frame is built…still an easy kill.
I grab him, palming my gloved hand over his mouth. I muffle his screams as I hug his body, twisting the gun out of his hand as I stab in the chest. Before he falls, I pull my silencer out and shoot him in the head, another one down.
I lay him down on the snow quietly.
One by one, they walk deeper into the cold, blackened night, and I assassinate them. Leaving only Omar.
He calls out for his henchmen and becomes frantic when he realizes he’s alone. His voice echoes into the night with nothing in return. Death will take his soul; I can feel him dancing with joy, anticipation clawing hard. I can almost see him hover over him, licking his lips.
“Mr. Death, I know you’re here,” he mimics, and I smile.
I’m grinning from ear to ear as he searches for me.
“I might not make it out of here tonight,”
You sure as hell won’t.
“I’ll make sure to take your whore with me.”
His tongue will be cut from his throat for talking about my girl like that.
He begins to shoot at random trees into the woods. He’s desperate, and that’s exactly what I want. I want him to know that his ending is near. No one escapes Death.
Sure enough. He stands in an open area and I’m done hiding.
I grip the handle, stepping out from the shadow, and the moon shines on me like a spotlight. Omar’s eyes bulge, terrified. He’s motionless. All that shit-talking, and look at him.
Fucking coward. They always are.
He raises his pistol at me, but I’m faster.
I throw the blade at his arm. His gun drops as soon as it collides with his flesh, and I stalk toward him.
I grab him as he pleads for his life, clawing at me, but my uniform stops him from succeeding.
He wails, flopping around to get out of my hold, but he’s fucking weak and I’m having too much fun.
“Even if you kill me,” I tighten my hold on his throat, but he keeps going, “It’ll never be over Mr. Death. This is a war. And a war is never ending. I’ll see you in hell.”
A sinister grin spreads across my face with excitement. Chills run down my bones at the thought of getting to torture him in the afterlife. Sounds like a good fucking time to me.
“Looking forward to it.” I snarl into his ear. “This is for Ari.”
I do what I say and retract his tongue from his mouth, slicing it off. Cuts through like butter and blood begins to pour like a waterfall onto my hands and his body.
“And this is for Paul.”
I slice his throat.
