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CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
HADES
As our car skids to a halt, my pulse throbs in my neck. That’s all I can hear for a moment as the armed security guards sitting in front of us begin to open their car doors. One of them seems to be in better condition than the other, climbing out of the passenger seat and raising his sleek black gun to fire at Constantine.
He’s standing behind his open door but Constantine glances over at him and casually fires his own weapon back. Though the shot seems impossible, it hits the guard in the chest, and he goes down hard.
I mutter a curse out loud and pull my weapon out, assessing the situation. Getting Penny to safety is going to be my primary concern right now. But the security guards have both opened their doors, so there is no longer a barrier in place between Constantine and us.
No, it’s better if I try to draw them away from the car and have Penny run for it when she can. Locking my jaw, I look at her, the expression on my face stony.
“Yer going to have to run for it.”
She looks at me, grabbing at my hand wildly.
“What?” she breathes.
I start sliding over toward the door that faces outward toward the other SUV. She clings to me, but I grab her hands and look her in the eyes, scanning her face. I see fear and grief written there, two emotions that I had hoped to never see on her face again.
“I am going to draw Constantine out. While I do that, I need ye to run. As far and as fast as ye can possibly go. Do not stop for anyone, no matter who they are. You are not safe until I come find ye. Do ye understand?”
She looks at me, terror in her eyes. When she tosses her hair and lifts her chin in rebellion, I see the sheen of tears in her eyes.
“You can’t really think that I would abandon you.”
I reach for the door latch, pressing my hand on it. This is the hardest thing that I ever have to do but I stare her down.
“This is not about ye and me anymore. We have to think about the baby. And I need more than anything to know that ye and the baby are okay. So ye had better run if ye know what’s good for ye.”
Penny looks a little shocked. She opens her mouth to say something else, but I open my door and pile out of the car, slamming it behind me.
Instantly I am greeted with a hail of bullets. I can’t even tell where they’re coming from or who exactly is shooting at me. I duck behind the opened driver’s side door and wait for a break in the gunfire.
I hear Penny open the back seat as I pop my head up, firing off a couple of shots. My aim is not to make actually hit anything. Rather, it is only to distract Constantine by making as much noise as possible. I fire several shots directly into the broad side of their vehicle, blowing out the windows. Constantine and Penny’s father duck their heads down.
I lower myself and glance back, but I find an empty backseat. Penny has gone, running to safety.
My heart clenches in my chest. Constantine fires a shot that hits the door only inches from my head. I flinch away from the sound, feeling the bullets impact as it travels through the door. I pop my clip out and reload it, riding myself for another volley of gunfire.
Constantine shouts out from behind the white SUV where he is sheltering.
“If I take you, Hades, I’ll take Persephone too. I don’t just want one of you. I want to grind you into the ground and let you die knowing that you’ll never get to meet it.”
My whole body tenses. He’s trying to get a rise out of me of course, but I have to say that he’s doing a pretty good job. Gritting my teeth, I try to think of what I should do next. I need to keep drawing him away from wherever Penny fled to, so I start looking at the building to my immediate left. It’s a tall marble building with stone columns and I stare at it like an idiot.
Think, Hades. What would your training tell you to do?
The security guard that fell beside the passenger door rouses and I can see him beginning to move. He is obviously in pain, but he gets onto his knees, sheltering behind the door. I glance over at him and he makes a gesture to his suit jacket, pulling it aside to flash a bullet proof vest.
I’ll give him a thumbs up and a questioning look and he nods tightly. I point toward the building, making a motion of crossing the open space. I point to him and mimic him laying down fire.
He nods tightly, his expression contorting with pain.
Good man. I will be sure to make his efforts worth it if I ever get out of here.
I hold up my hand and look at him, asking silently for five counts. He nods and turns toward Constantine’s car. I notice that there has been no noise from the other side for almost a full minute and I wonder if I should be concerned about that. But my brain doesn’t allow me to worry about it for a long period of time.
I am laser focused on what is right in front of me.
