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I follow close behind her with my head down. The lobby is already packed with PR reps and gossip reporters, but I’ve already fulfilled my contractual obligations.
Lena holds the door open for me and I walk into the shadowed back hallways. She closes it behind us, blocking out the noise.
The back of my neck instantly turns cold. Fox’s watchful eyes aren’t on me anymore.
I pause.
“Come on,” Lena says, stalling a few paces ahead until I catch up.
My shoes clack along the dirty linoleum floor. “Where is everyone else?” I ask.
“Just ahead,” she answers, barely glancing back.
The farther I go, the larger the stone in my gut grows. I’ve been to dozens of these premieres, been led through so many back exits that I’ve lost count, but something about this feels so unnerving.
We round the corner and I realize why.
There are six of them standing side-by-side along the walls. Black masks and tactical vests. The same as the ones worn by the squad that killed Senator Lamb and attacked me in my apartment.
Snake Eyes.
I spin on my heels to run but they grab me before I even take a step.
“Help—”
A hand clamps down over my mouth. At least three take me down to the floor. They jerk my arms behind me, locking my wrists together with a zip-tie. I hear the sudden rip of duct tape as they tear off a piece and slap it over my mouth.
“Wait...” Lena says above me, her voice shaking. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her—”
Thwip. Thwip.
She falls silently to her knees and tumbles to the floor in front of me. Blood spills out of two wounds in her face. A bullet through each eye.
I scream as the black hood pushes over my head and tightens around my neck.
They raise me up and shove me forward. If it weren’t for two of them tugging on my arms, I’d trip down to the floor. They hold me up until one of them tosses me over their shoulder like a rag doll.
Tears spill down my cheeks. I want to scream. If I do, they might kill me, too.
Dammit. Think fast, Dani…
What would Fox do?
I have to fight back. I don’t stand a chance against a Snake Eyes agent — let alone six — but I can at least buy some time for Fox to catch up and find me.
I twist in the man’s arm, rolling off his shoulder. The floor smacks hard and I grunt as pain fires through my elbow. Strong hands grip me again, but I squirm in their grasp, shrieking and fighting against the duct tape to break my lips free. The corner slips off and I open my jaw wide to rip the rest of it open.
“Help me!”
Fingers clench the bag, my hair along with it, and they tug upward. I scream in agony, putting the full force of my lungs into it. It echoes down the hallway. I scream again until something hard hits me in the back of my head.
Spots take over the darkness in the hood. Dizziness plagues my guts and for a second, I think I might be sick. Fuck, it hurts so bad. I may pass out, if only to make this pain go away...
They pick me up again. I can’t fight at all anymore.
A door opens. I feel a warm breeze along my arms and legs. We’re outside. Movement echoes around me. The parking garage, maybe?
They hold me tighter. Fingers dig in deep enough to leave bruises.
