Page 175 of The Hunter's Empire

There will only be one chance. And I don't intend to waste it.

Chapter 39

Zora

The office reeks of gunpowder, sweat, and betrayal. I remain seated in my chair, refusing to move even as Tobias stands directly in front of me with the cold barrel of his pistol pressed firmly against my forehead. Around us, the office looks like the aftermath of a massacre.

Tobias doesn't take his eyes off me.

"Any last words, princess?" He asks quietly, almost amused. "Before I paint the walls with that pretty little head of yours?"

I force myself to meet his gaze. "You're pathetic."

A low chuckle escapes him. He presses the barrel harder against my skin. "Just like you're about to be."

My heart pounds so violently I can hear it in my ears, yet I refuse to look away.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I catch the faintest movement near the office door.

For the briefest moment, Tobias's focus shifts away from me. The pressure of the barrel against my forehead never eases, but his eyes slide toward the entrance before the corners of his mouth slowly lift.

"So." He murmurs, almost pleased. "The Ghost finally arrived."

My breath catches. Standing in the shattered doorway is Nico. Blood streaks his knuckles, his chest rises and falls with controlled breaths, and his pistol is already raised. His eyes never leave the gun pressed against my forehead. Every muscle in his body is perfectly still, yet the restrained violence radiating from him fills the room.

"Elf." He says, his voice calm enough to steady my pulse despite everything. "Duck."

I don't hesitate. The instant Nico speaks, I throw myself sideways, the chair scraping violently across the floor as I dive behind the heavy oak desk.

The first gunshot cracks through the office. Then another.

Glass explodes inward as bullets punch through the floor-to-ceiling windows, showering the room with glittering shards. I keep my head low, my heart pounding in my ears as fragments scatter across the carpet around me. The desk absorbs the worst of it, giving me just enough cover to breathe.

By the time I risk a glance over the edge, Nico has already reached Tobias. They collide with bone-rattling force.

Tobias fights like a man who believes brute strength can solve everything. Nico doesn't waste a single movement. He slips inside Tobias's reach, driving him backward into a bookshelf hard enough to splinter the wood. Tobias answers with a heavy shove that sends Nico crashing into the coffee table, but he's back on his feet almost instantly, meeting the next attack before Tobias can capitalize on it.

The office becomes a blur of movement. Furniture overturns. Glass crunches beneath their boots. Neither man gives the other room to breathe.

I spot the pistol Tobias dropped near the chair. Without thinking, I rush from behind the desk.

Tobias doesn't see me coming. Every ounce of frustration, fear, and fury pours into the kick I drive into the side of his knee. The joint buckles. He stumbles with a sharp grunt, his balance breaking just long enough for Nico to seize the opening.

Nico drives him backward again before his eyes flick briefly toward me. A grin appears despite the blood running from his split lip.

"There you are." He says between measured breaths. "I was beginning to think you were going to let me have all the fun, Elf."

I roll my shoulders, ignoring the sharp protest from my ankle as I force myself fully upright. Every part of my body hurts. My ribs ache with every breath, cuts from the shattered glass burn across my arms, and my pulse still races from everything that has happened over the last hour.

None of it matters anymore. I'm done running. "I'm not finished with him."

Nico turns his head just enough to look at me. For a brief moment, neither of us says anything. His eyes search mine, not for courage, I already have that, but for certainty. Whatever he finds there makes the corner of his mouth lift.

"I know."

Across the room, Tobias wipes the blood from beneath his nose and lets out a humorless laugh.

"So this is how it ends?" His gaze moves between us. "The two of you against me."