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My heart raced as we moved past more shadowy figures. Sebastian. He was ahead of us on our right as Greyson kept pace at our left. My heart lit up.
Sebastian’s posture was rigid as if carved from stone, rifle nestled in the crook of his shoulder.
Sunny twisted, using me as a shield between himself and Sebastian. But I knew Sebastian wouldn’t take the shot, not when it was too likely to hit me.
“Easy, Seb,” Greyson muttered under his breath. “Let’s move this party outside.”
He sounded so confident. Did he think he’d be able to get a clear strike at Sunny once we were outside?
He didn’t know that Sunny had an ambush prepared out there.
The moment Sunny dragged me outside was a disorienting shift from the smoky dimness of the factory to the glaring brightness of morning. I’d imagined emerging back into the sunshine to be a moment of power and relief. I’d thought I’d be free and safe.
But this dawn light didn’t mean anything. Not with Sunny’s hot breath on the back of my throat and the gun bruising my temple as he shoved it hard against my skin.
My body was still sluggish. But I wasn’t stumbling anymore. The drugs were wearing off.
“Keep them away,” Sunny called, his voice loud in my ear. Ahead of him, I saw the men he was fixed on, who had taken cover behind some cars, their guns fixed on him. “Get me a car!”
But while those men had all his attention—and no way of knowing Sunny’s forces would try to envelop them—I saw Greyson’s gaze shift upward.
Through the corner of my eye, up above on the rooftop, I saw a silhouette against the too-bright rising sun. A figure, lying on the edge of the roof. The tell tale glint of a rifle.
Panic surged through me. Greyson thought the sniper was his, but what if the sniper was part of Sunny’s ambush?
I had to make sure Greyson knew an ambush was coming.
With a surge of desperate energy, I twisted against Sunny’s hold. I was clumsy as I fought against the numbness in my limbs, my actions more of a distraction than an effective struggle. But it was enough. Sunny’s hand slipped from my mouth to grab my chin, holding me against the muzzle.
“Ambush!” The words tore from my throat, my voice hoarse.
But Greyson heard me. I saw his face through my narrowed vision.
The world spun as the butt of Sunny’s gun connected with my temple. Searing pain exploded across my skull. My vision blurred even more.
My knees buckled, but I was stronger now and stayed upright.
I snarled at him, “If you kill me, there’s nothing to stop Greyson from killing you...I’m not going with you!”
Sunny didn’t respond, but I could feel his chaotic desperation oozing through the air.
“Tell me about this ambush, Sunny,” Greyson mocked. “Did you think you had that much control over my Jackals? That you could orchestrate a coup, and I wouldn’t be able to figure out who was loyal to me?”
A single shot pierced the charged air between us.
Instinctively, I dropped, my fingers clawing at Sunny’s gun, desperate to wrench it away. Sunny finally let me go, shoving me hard. I slammed into the ground on my knees.
Greyson tackled Sunny. The two of them rolled over and over on the ground, fighting for control of the gun that Sunny still gripped between them.
Dizziness swirled through my head as I stumbled up and forward, the world tilting precariously with each step as if I were in a funhouse. The drugs left a metallic taste on my tongue and turned my limbs to lead.
“Kennedy!” Jack’s voice was rough with concern. His form was a blur as he, along with Sebastian and Carter, burst from the shadows of the factory, guns drawn and ready for a fight.
“I’m okay,” I tried to say, but it came out slurred, lost beneath the ringing in my ears. I fell to my knees, the impact jarring, sending shots of pain up my spine. The ground was cool against my palms, steadying me for a fleeting moment.
Long enough to see the figures moving out of the forest and toward the factory.
A dozen men moved forward with quick, stealthy steps, all heavily armed.
