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I stared at Melanie, hating to abandon her when she was in distress. There was nothing I could say to make this better, not when I’d already said everything I could a million times. There was only one thing that I should say a million times. “Je t’aime, chérie.”
Her eyes watered, but she didn’t say it back, like if she didn’t say it, I would never leave.
I turned away, knowing she would never say it if it kept me there.
She grabbed my wrist and pulled me back, moving into my chest as she gripped me so hard that twenty men couldn’t pull her off me. “Je t’aime…”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead then forced myself to leave her behind.
To walk out with my brother.
To know that there was a chance I might never return.
We stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close.
The girls held on to each other, side by side, their hands coming together in solidarity of their pain.
Magnus couldn’t look. His eyes remained on the floor.
The doors closed.
Magnus released the breath he was holding and lifted his chin, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
My hand went to his shoulder. “It’ll be over soon, brother.”
We infiltrated the camp.
The men made it over the wall, and we spread out.
But then the alarm rang.
Not sure who saw us, but it didn’t matter.
They would all be dead soon anyway.
I broke in to the first cabin. The men were half asleep in their bunks, hearing the alarm but not quite awake enough to respond to it. But when they saw my silhouette in the darkness, they screamed.
“Shoot him!”
My knife slid into his throat, killing him instantly. The man beside him got up to run, but I slammed the butt of my knife into his head, knocking him out instantly. Shouts sounded, and the men fumbled for their guns in the darkness, too disoriented to do anything before I got to them. They were both down in seconds.
Off to the next cabin.
The next row of cabins was for the girls, so I kicked down each door so they could run if a fire started.
When the door smashed in, they all screamed.
“Stay where you are. You’ll be free in a few moments.”
Maybe they recognized me in the darkness. Maybe they didn’t. But none of them moved.
Men ran out of their cabins in response to the assault. Gunfire pierced the darkness once it had become an all-out war. Men collapsed to the ground on both sides, mowed down by the spray of bullets. I hid behind a cabin when one of their men ran out, and I stabbed him right between the ribs and watched him collapse. His comrade ran back, knowing I was out there.
I chased him down and slit his throat.
Blood was all over me.
The screaming continued.
Women screamed too, having no idea if they would be slaughtered or freed.
My eyes immediately scanned for Magnus, making sure that he was okay, that he was enjoying this killing spree as much as I was.
Didn’t see him anywhere.
I ran across the clearing, making it to the next cabin before the bullets meant for me hit their mark. They struck the wooden cabin, making the girls inside scream. I counted the bullets and ran to the next building as they reloaded. Farther and farther I went, killing the men I came across, searching the area where Magnus was supposed to be.
Then I saw him.
Napoleon.
Napoleon slammed his cane into Magnus’s skull, making him too disoriented to fight. Both on the ground and fighting to the death.
This was happening because of me.
Because I didn’t fucking listen.
I sprinted, and instead of holding my silence to give me the element of surprise, I screamed. “Magnus!” He needed to know that I was coming, to keep fighting because I would be there in two seconds. “Get the fuck off him!” Rage like I’d never known hit me so fucking hard, gave me adrenaline I’d never experienced before. My brother was bloody and bruised, seconds away from death if I didn’t get there in time.
Magnus had the strength to kick Napoleon away, to extend his life long enough for me to get there.
I slid to my knees and pulled out my knife, moving over Magnus to protect him before I slaughtered this motherfucker.
But he was quicker.
He spun backward, his hidden knife at the ready, and hit me dead in the center of my stomach.
I’d never been stabbed. Hardly been nicked. The air left my lungs. My body shut down. The fight left me even though I didn’t feel an ounce of pain. The last thing I did before I collapsed was share a look with Magnus.
Napoleon’s voice was full of victory. “Two-for-one special.”
Then I hit the earth.
My brother’s scream split the night. “No!”
I lay there on my back, my heart racing, the blood pooling around me.
