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24
Mercy
Gideon turnedhis tablet toward me with some of the footage playing. It was even worse than I’d expected after what he’d said. Xavier was walking down the normally busy city street with a large semi-automatic rifle in his hands. Most of the pedestrians must have already scattered, but he took random shots at people who were still dashing for shelter, at the windows of the stores on either side of the road, and at the cars parked along the street.
My stomach churned. I found myself grateful that the street cam feed didn’t come with sound so I didn’t need to hear the booming of the gun and the panicked shrieks that must have been splitting the air. Hearing them in my imagination was bad enough.
Sitting between me and Kaige in the back, Beckett sucked a breath through his teeth. I felt a quiver go through his body where his arm brushed mine. “Fuck. I knew he was a loose cannon but—fuck.”
“The Storm screwed us over,” Kaige said, his voice harsh with anger. “He pretended he’d gone along with our deal—”
Gideon was already shaking his head. “I don’t think the Storm ordered this. Most of his men are on their way out of the city as he promised. The kid told us that Xavier’s been chafing against his leash. Seems like he’s snapped it and gone totally rogue.”
And yet the psychopath was walking almost casually down the street, as if he had all the time in the world to wait for what he really wanted. A chill ran over my skin. I knew exactly what that was—or rather, who.
“How is this going to affect our—” I cut myself off before I mentioned the deal with the Long Night, remembering that we hadn’t told Beckett about that part. Maybe we should fill him in now that he’d proven his commitment to us, but I wasn’t going to make that decision on my own. “We needed the war to be over,” I said instead. “Everyone out.”
“I don’t know how this will factor in,” Wylder said darkly, hitting the gas hard as the highway came into sight up ahead. “One thing is for sure—we’ve got to get back to the county quickly. It’s time to put this rabid dog down.”
He must have broken a dozen traffic laws zooming along the highway toward Paradise Bend, but thankfully there weren’t many other cars taking this route at this time of day to get in our way. Gideon monitored the situation via the street cams the whole time, his frown pulling deeper and deeper.
“Almost all of the Storm men and vehicles I was aware of have left the county,” he reported as Paradise City’s skyscrapers came into view. “A few stragglers seem to have joined up with Xavier for whatever insane reason. Maybe just enjoying the rush of power. They’ve cleared the street completely, everyone keeping out of their way. They even took down a couple of cops who tried to intervene. It looks like the police are hanging back while they try to figure out a workable strategy… or maybe just hoping they can wait until he tires out.”
“Useless as usual,” I muttered. “That means it’s up to us.”
Wylder drummed his hands on the steering wheel and veered to pass another, slower car. “We’ll head straight there and take the lay of the land. There’s got to be something we can do. We haven’t got any legal restrictions holding us back from taking him down, whatever it takes.”
I glanced at Beckett, who’d shrunk in on himself with each glimpse of the street cam footage. “We shouldn’t let him see you with us. He’s already pissed off enough—I don’t want to put you in danger like that. I’ll get one of my men to take you back to…” I paused, not sure where the safest place was. But as long as Xavier was rampaging through Paradise City and I was there trying to deal with him, I didn’t think he’d suddenly head to my house. “You can stay in the Claws headquarters in the Bend until we sort things out.”
Beckett nodded with obvious relief. “Thanks. I—I wish I had some idea how you could stop him, but even my dad didn’t seem to know how to keep him in line.”
“Obviously,” Kaige muttered, and let out a growl of frustration. “We can’t let him ruin everything.”
“We won’t,” Wylder said firmly. “This is our city, and we’re taking it back whether he fucking likes it or not.”
I texted the Claws who’d come with us for the ambush to confirm that they were sticking close by and then called some of the men at the house for additional backup and someone to pick up Beckett. Gideon had been coordinating with our Noble allies too. By the time we parked a few blocks from where Xavier was currently wreaking havoc, an occasional gunshot reaching our ears, we had five other cars joining us.
One of the Claws guys motioned Beckett over to him. I gave the kid a wave before they drove off. Then Wylder and I looked around at the assembled men.
“We need to try to kill Xavier before he can do any more damage,” I said. “If you get a shot, take it. Same with any of the other Storm people still attacking the city. They’ve made their choice, and now we have to show them the consequences before they tear our home completely apart.”
Wylder’s mouth curved into a crooked grin. “You heard her, boys. Let’s go prove to them what the true rulers of Paradise Bend are made of.”
We hustled through the streets until Xavier’s voice reached my ears. He was alternately mumbling and yelling. I could only make out the yelling parts, which were things like, “You’re all going to pay!” and “Fucking coward!” I wondered if even he knew who he was talking to.
We got into position along some parked cars that could act as shields. A couple of the vehicles had already had their windows shattered by bullets.
Xavier was strolling down the middle of the road, almost carelessly. The other Storm men were sticking closer to the storefronts, smashing windows and shooting out door handles. As I watched, they burst into one building and ended up on the second floor, where they tossed furniture out onto the street just because they could.
My blood ran cold. What if they broke into a place that still had people inside? I hoped anyone who was still in the stores or apartments overhead had a back door they could escape through.
Xavier was too far off and weaving back and forth too randomly for anyone to get a good shot. A few of the guys darted closer along the line of cars, but even with his back turned, the monstrous man heard them. He spun around and shot at them before they could even start firing. As they ducked low, he sprang behind a van with the swiftness that’d startled me before.
Our men took a few shots at the Storm guys emerging from the building they’d broken into and had better luck there. One crumpled, clutching his wounded knee, and the next bullet caught him in the skull. His companion dashed farther down the street, aiming a couple of shots over his shoulder at us.
I pulled out my gun and flicked off the safety. My gaze traveled from the van where Xavier had disappeared to the other figures roaming the street. It caught on the sprawled bodies of pedestrians who hadn’t gotten out of the way in time. Blood stained the asphalt beneath them.
A weight sank into my stomach. I was responsible for this carnage; I was the reason the city bled now. Xavier was never going to stop until he had me. He was always going to be one step ahead of us, destroying and killing everything and everyone in his path.
