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Hades looks up and tenses. “Stay down,” he says softly. Then he’s moving. Gunshots sound, too close. I have to fuckingmove. If something happens to him because I was too fucked up to protect him… No, it doesn’t bear thinking about.
I flop back onto my stomach and force myself onto my hands and knees through sheer determination. There’s something seriously wrong with my back. It’s one long line of agony, and all I really want to do is lie down and close my eyes. Spend a little time in blissed out unconsciousness.
That’s not a fucking option.
Miraculously, my gun is still in my holster. I pull it out and thumb the safety off. More gunshots sound as I fight to my feet. I catch sight of Hades hunkered down against the side of a car and stagger over to lean against the cool metal next to him.
He glares at me. “I told you to stay down.”
“Need someone…to watch…your back.” Even my voice sounds fucked up, too raspy. I don’t ask about our people. There are two bodies on the pavement near where we landed. They’re not moving, and I hope like fuck that it’s because they’re unconscious. Not dead.
I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and twist in a move that makes my head spin. But my body knows the motions, even if it hurts. I manage to squeeze off two shots, sending the masked personto the street in a puddle of their own blood. Everything is spinning even though my feet are planted… At least I think they’re planted. “We’re in trouble.”
“Yeah, no shit.” Hades surges up and squeezes off another two shots. “There’s more of them than we thought.”
“They’ve been ahead of us since the beginning.”
In the distance, an engine roars to life. Hades and I exchange a look of dawning horror. I know that engine. Arai had me working on it for the majority of the summer a few years back. It’s attached to a monster of a beast, a giant truck that might’ve started out as something familiar but now has so many things attached to it that it looks more like a tank. “They wouldn’t.”
My comm crackles in my ear, and then Arai’s voice is there. “I assure you, theywould. I’m coming for you and anyone left alive. I already picked up the team on the other side of the warehouse. They fared better than you. Let’s run these fuckers over.”
They barely finish speaking when the tank—because really, what else am I supposed to call the damn thing?—hurtles around the corner and skids to a stop between our two fallen team members and the gunmen. Bullets bang into its side as our enemies try to shoot it, but nothing’s getting through those reinforced doors.
I take one step toward the tank, and the world tilts sideways.Shit, this is bad. It’s going to hurt when I make contact with the ground. Except I don’t. Hades is there, sliding under my arm and hauling me up. It hurts like a motherfucker, possibly more than if he just let me drop. He practically drags me to the tank and shoves me up in the back seat, following quickly behind. It takes mere seconds for the other team to get the two of us off the ground and into the back.
“Finish them, Arai.” There’s no forgiveness in Hades’s voice. Just judgment.
They grin, but it’s a shadow of their normal joyful expression. “Sure thing, boss.” They gun the engine and the tank shoots forward far faster than it has any right to. Obviously they’ve made some upgrades since I helped them get this thing running. There’s a faint scream, and the vehicle jostles if we’ve hit some particularly nasty speed bumps.
“Stop.” Hades has his hands on either side of the seat. “We collect them and take them back to the house. If any of them are still alive, I want them to stay that way.”
This isn’t over yet.
34
EURYDICE
All the fears I’ve been trying very hard to keep control of come rushing to the fore when Persephone walks into the library, looking pale and shaky. I surge to my feet and rush to her side. “What’s wrong? Is it the babies?”
“They’re fine.” She pulls me into her arms and hugs me tight. “It didn’t go well. They’re on their way back now, but Charon and several others need medical attention. I don’t know how badly they were hurt.”
Terror takes hold and nearly steals my voice. This is my worst fear. Charon, hurt.Dead.I knew this would be dangerous today, but a part of me hoped that I was overreacting. I feel strong hands on my shoulders and allow Orpheus to pull me back into his embrace. It’s only then, with him supporting me, that I see the look on my sister’s face. It’s sympathetic, yes, but that’s not all it is. I frown. “You’re asking me if I can handle it.”
“It’s okay if you can’t. The first couple times, I had issues with it too.” She takes a breath and her hand falls to her gently roundedstomach. “But if you can’t, then you’ll be a distraction, and we can’t afford that right now. If you want, you can wait here, and I’ll—”
“I can handle it.” I squeeze Orpheus’s arm and step out of his embrace. There’s absolutely no way I’m going to allow them to shuffle me off to the side. I’ve fought too hard to be taken seriously. But that’s not even the driving force right now. I need to see Charon, to know he’s going to be okay. My sister looks doubtful, so I repeat, “Persephone. I can handle it.”
To her credit, she doesn’t question me again. She nods. “Then let’s go.” She turns and strides out of the room.
I go to follow but stop and turn to Orpheus. He looks just as worried as I feel. I open my mouth, but he gets there before I’m able to speak. “If you’re about to offer me an out, I don’t want it. I’m worried about him too.”
“I know you don’t like blood.” Gods, I hope Persephone overstated things. The truth is that I don’t like blood much either. I learned to deal with it. You can’t live on a farm—even a very rich one—without bumping up against the messiness of life, but it never got easier. And this ispeople.My stomach twists in knots.
Orpheus steps around me and offers me his arm. The gentlemanly gesture should look ridiculous, especially considering our current circumstances, but on him it’s as natural as breathing. “We’re wasting time.” He says it gently, as if I can’t see the tension in his jaw or the worry in his dark eyes. “Are you ready?”
“No.” But I place my hand in the crook of his arm, and we walk out the door together.
Persephone leads us to a part of the house that I’ve never been in before. Based on my mental map, it’s on the opposite side of thegarage than I usually enter from. I understand why it’s new to me the moment we walk through the doors and find an arsenal. There are gun racks filled with weapons on three of the walls. There’s also what appears to be tactical gear and a number of other things I have no names for. That’s not where my sister heads though.
