Never wanting Maya’s faith in him to be misplaced, Thunder moved faster than he’d ever pushed himself to move.
Catching her before she hit the third step, he wrapped his arms around both Maya and Dr. Gardner, not wanting to give the squirrely scientist any chance to run, and made sure he angled his body so that he took the brunt of the fall and his girl was caught between the two bodies, taking the least of it.
No sooner had they hit the floor at the bottom of the stairs than his team was on Dr. Gardner, pulling him away while Thunder turned his attention to his girl. Shifting her so she was lying flat on her back with him above her, he ran his hands over every inch of her body, noting when she winced and when pain tightened her mouth.
“I'm okay, Thunder, you caught me,” she assured him, her hands lifting to cover around his.
“Not before you hit a few steps,” he murmured back, brushing their joined hands over a red mark on the bottom left of her ribcage that would turn into a bruise over the next few hours.
“You caught me,” she repeated. “And now you have him.”
Both of their heads turned to where Steel held a writhing Dr. Gardner, who seemed to think it was possible to escape the hold of the man he had given enhanced strength to. Not even Thunder or one of the other members of their team could break free of Steel’s grip.
They’d done it.
The man who had ruined their lives—or tried to at least, since he couldn’t say that now his life had led him to Maya that he hated it in any way—was before them, and as he stared at Dr. Gardner, the rage he felt was still there, but it no longer demanded that the scientist suffer. All he wanted was to give Maya the peace of mind of knowing her bogeyman was dead.
Taking her hand, he pulled her up with him, then stripped off his shirt and pulled it over her head, shielding her naked body from everyone’s view. Once he’d done that, he tucked her against his side and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“If you all want to take him with us, lock him up, torture him for a while before we end him, then I won't argue, but I just want him dead,” he announced. They were a team, and the plan had always been to keep Dr. Gardner alive for as long as they could and make him suffer like he’d made them suffer. But things had changed, for him at least.
“My little ladybug will be disappointed,” Steel said with a smirk, “but kill him now. I want it over, and so does she.”
“Now. But I vote for setting him on fire since he had his people try to burn down Cassandra’s house,” Dragon said, thoseunusual violet eyes of his fixed on Dr. Gardner, who seemed to shrink closer to Steel under the vicious gaze.
“I vote for gutting him,” Blade said, already pulling out his knife and spinning it between his fingers. “Oh, and I'm good with doing it now.”
“Don’t care how we kill him, but I'm breaking his legs first,” Voodoo said with determination, and they all knew he was thinking of Indigo and how Dr. Gardner had instructed his people to hit her leg with a hammer, shattering her bones to study her ability to withstand pain. “I don’t want him near Indigo ever again, so we can kill him here and now, get it over and done with.”
“He already stole my future, I'm ready to end his,” Lion said.
“Then it’s unanimous,” Thunder said, touching another kiss to the top of Maya’s head. “Although I think knives will be easier than setting him alight, more fun anyway.”
Dragon sighed in disappointment, but nodded his agreement.
“I want to help,” Maya said before he could take her out of the room and tell her to wait there for him.
“You don’t have to, babydoll.” Unlike the rest of them, Maya wasn't a killer, she hadn't chosen this life for herself.
“I know. But I want to,” she said, determination in her voice.
“You can't kill me,” Dr. Gardner protested, finally going still. “I created you. You're mine. You're all mine.”
Without a word, Voodoo swung the butt of his weapon into the scientist’s kneecap, shattering the bone and making him howl with pain. Of all of them, Voodoo was the one who liked violence the least, but Dr. Gardner had hurt the woman he had fallen for, and knowing someone had hurt what was yours changed things. Changed you.
“We can and we will,” Steel said simply, nodding at the rest of them, and they pulled out knives, Lion handing one to him,while Blade handed one to Maya, who eyed it for a second before wrapping her fingers around the handle.
Ready to get this done, Thunder kept his arm around Maya as they all stepped closer to the squirming scientist, circling him.
A few seconds later, it was done.
Seven blades sliced into Dr. Gardner’s body, both his and Maya’s, aiming directly for the man’s crotch, and he loved that their thinking was so perfectly matched.
Dr. Gardner screamed in agony, thrashed against Steel’s hold, until enough blood drained out of him that he hung limply, his body no longer capable of doing anything. His life was quickly bleeding out of him, and Thunder felt immensely satisfied.
“It won't be over, won't ever be over,” Dr. Gardner mumbled as Steel finally released him, letting him fall in a heap to the ground. “Not while she’s still out there.”
She?
