Page 49 of Ruin

“So how are we going to get in there, grab her, and get back out again?” he asked, picking up where we’d left off.

I bit my lip and tried to think about that. We had no idea where they were, or if they were even inside the bank. So we could only do limited planning. No matter what, we were going to have to play it by ear. I wished Remy was here as well, but I’d sent him around to the block behind this one to follow Devil if he managed to get away with Saraya.

Brock and I were going to have to do this on our own.

“We go in there with our guns ready, but not shooting,” I replied. “Too much chance of hitting Saraya if we’re just shooting without aiming. But we have to be ready for anything. We don’t know where they’re going to be or how well-armed they are. We don’t even know how many there are. We go in, we stick close to the walls, and we look for shelter as soon as we’re in the building. Then we play it by ear. The goal is to grab her and get out of there. Bonus points if we kill Devil and his men.”

Brock huffed out a laugh and was about to answer when the sound of sirens came screaming around the corner.

I looked to where the sound was coming from and almost laughed. Ten cop cars were speeding down the street toward the bank, sirens blaring and tires screeching. I’d have loved to think they were there because someone had broken into the bank, or even because someone else had called to report that there was a shooting.

But I had a very bad feeling that they were there to support Devil rather than arrest him. Looked like I’d been wrong about his payment to the cops having run out.

This was about to get really, really messy.

The cops screeched to a halt in front of the building and came pouring out of their cars. There were at least fifteen of them, all of them carrying hand guns and riot guards.

“They think they’re actually going to war or what?” Brock grunted.

“I’m guessing Devil told them to bring everything they had. Though fuck only knows why.”

At that moment, the door of the bank swung open, several cops going to hold the doors for whoever was coming out. On a regular day in a regular city, I would have expected the bank’s employees to come rushing out, fleeing from whatever madman had taken the bank itself hostage. I’d expect the cops to be there to help the employees. Show them into their cars and get them the hell out of here to a safer location.

But this wasn’t a regular day in a regular city.

Instead, Devil himself came strolling out, looking like the cat who’d gotten the cream—and the bird, and the mouse. He looked like he’d won the lottery and thought himself the brightest and most accomplished person on earth.

Of course he always thought that. But today, he had an extra reason.

A squirming, screaming, kicking reason thrown over the shoulder of the bodyguard who followed hm.

The man was immense, nearly as big as Brock, and he was grinning from ear to ear, controlling Saraya with almost no effort. She looked like a doll in his hands, too small for her kicks to do any damage, though that wasn’t stopping her. She bit and tore and hit, screaming obscenities at him the whole time. I saw her drive her fingers into his ear and twist, then bite his neck, screaming the entire time.

Nothing bothered him, though. She was a gnat to his giant. Helpless.

I froze where I was crouched, my heart stopping at the sight of her. Sure, I’d known that they must have her. The evidence on the sidewalk said so. But there’d been a part of me that was hoping she’d somehow broken free or gotten away.

That part of me was now dying a slow, painful death.

Devil had Saraya. And it was my fault. I should have stopped her when I felt her getting up. Should have realized that she was planning something like this in some insane wish to protect me from whatever she thought she was protecting me from. Hell, I should have seen this coming. And instead I’d been so busy making plans with Brock and Remy that I hadn’t paid attention to what she’d been doing, or how quiet she’d suddenly become.

I hadn’t paid enough attention to realize she was planning something. And I was going to lose her because of that.

My muscles tensed, ready to push my body into action and run to save her, but Brock’s hand came down on my shoulder.

“Don’t,” he growled. “I don’t want you getting killed just because you can’t wait.”

Easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one watching his girlfriend being kidnapped.

I bit my tongue and forced myself to wait, trying to figure out what I could do to get to her and where they were even going with her. She was hurt, I could see that much. When she turned to where I could see her face, I saw a cut above her eye, dripping blood steadily down her face. That eye was black, too.

Someone had hit her. The bastard had hit her.

I was going to fucking kill him. And I was going to make damn sure he knew it was me before I pulled the trigger.

CHAPTER 27

KNIGHT