by Penelope Sky
I believed in him with all my heart.
Based on the landscape around me, I figured out I was in Morocco. The famous bazaar with the gathering of thousands of people told me where I was. Bones had just been in Morocco for a hit, and it seemed like the most likely destination.
Bones mentioned he killed the target and was discovered by the son.
That must be the man who took me.
So this was all for revenge, not money.
But if they really wanted revenge, the best way to do that was to kill the person Bones loved most…which was me. And if they didn’t kill me, they would torture me. Worse, they would rape me.
I closed my eyes as I sat in the back seat of the car, doing my best to remain calm in the most terrifying position in my life. This was far worse than Knuckles, a single man who only wanted me for one thing. This was an entire organization of terrorists, all carrying enormous guns and enough ammunition to destroy an entire city.
I was just one person—who was handcuffed.
I hoped Bones was one step behind me. He’d probably figured out what was going on. And if the tracker was still active in my ankle, he would be able to trace me right to the spot I was in. As long as that was working, I would be saved.
It was only a matter of time.
They drove up into the Atlas Mountains and along the windy roads that hugged the cliff. Nighttime had descended, so visibility became even worse. We approached a three-story palace on the left, the white walls up leading to circular ceilings decorated with bronze and gold.
Once we arrived, I didn’t know what would happen.
I had to prepare for the worst.
They yanked me out of the car and dragged me through the entryway. The first room was three stories tall, the staircase wrapped around the three walls. There were enormous pots and elegant furniture right in the walkway, along with huge paintings that took up all the space on the walls.
If I weren’t so afraid, I would find the place beautiful.
The men spoke to each other in their language, glancing at me from time to time.
I wanted to say something, to demand my freedom, but my sassiness wouldn’t help me this time. The best thing to do was be quiet, to seem as unthreatening as possible. Bones was coming for me, so there was no point in irritating them.
The two men eventually escorted me up the stairs and into one of the bedrooms. It had a single bed with nothing else in the room. It wasn’t elaborate like the rest of the palace, so I knew this room only served one purpose.
To house prisoners like me.
They guided me to the bed then handcuffed my hands to the metal bar at the top of the frame. They spoke to each other for a few minutes before they stepped out, closing the bedroom door.
It was the first time I’d been alone since they took me, and I immediately looked out the window that showed the mountainside. There were bars over the window, making it impossible to escape that way.
But it didn’t matter because I was secured to the metal bar above the bed.
All I could do was sit there—and pray Bones came fast.
I’d fallen asleep throughout the night, the quiet lulling me into a false sense of safety. I told myself to remain calm, that Bones would be there any moment. Instead of panicking for hours on end, sleeping was the best way to pass the time. There was no immediate danger, not while the bedroom door was closed.
But then I heard the lock click.
My eyes opened in the darkness, the moon shining a light through the window. I’d just been asleep, but since danger lurked around me, I was instantly awake. My eyes focused on the door and watched it move inward as one of the two men who were guarding the door came inside. His gun wasn’t with him this time.
That wasn’t good.
He shut the door behind him then slowly approached the bed.
His intentions were as obvious as words on a billboard. He’d come into my room in the middle of the night for one thing.
One thing he wouldn’t get. “Don’t.” I pulled my legs toward my body, my hands automatically yanking on the bar overheard even though escape was impossible.
He halted when he realized I was awake. He didn’t say a word before he started to undo his pants.
No.
I couldn’t let this happen.
I refused to let this happen.
“I’m warning you,” I whispered. “Don’t do this.”
Maybe he didn’t speak English, or he just didn’t care. He pushed his pants down along with his underwear, revealing a penis that was pathetic in comparison to Bones’s. Covered in dark hair, it was the most disgusting thing in the world.
“When I tell Bones what you did, he won’t stop with you.”
He halted, his dark eyes looking into mine.
“He’ll kill your wife. Your parents. Your kids. He’ll kill everyone—and I won’t stop him. You know what he’s capable of. He’s the biggest assassin in Europe, a man who’s killed more people than you’ve even met. If you do this, there’s no going back.”
Just when he seemed to be listening to me, he moved in again. He grabbed one of my legs so he could remove my jeans.
That was when I started to fight. I kicked him as hard as I could, hitting him right in the side.
He turned more aggressive, using his size to pin down my legs.
So much adrenaline. So much fear. “I’ll make a deal with you. Don’t do this, and when Bones comes, I’ll tell him not to kill you. I will protect you. He’ll kill everyone else in this palace just the way he killed your leader—but you’ll be the one to walk away. You’ll take the power. You’ll be the only one left standing.”
He kept his weight on my legs, but he stopped trying to remove my jeans.
I held his gaze, my heart racing so much that it hurt with every beat. “You know he’ll come for me. You know how vicious he will be. I will be the only person who can protect you. Spare me, and I’ll spare you.”
He stayed on top of me, his eyes locked on mine. An entire minute passed, and nothing but silent eye contact ensued. He deliberated to himself, obviously understanding every word I said.
Even now, Bones was protecting me. His power made lesser men falter, made them cower in fear.
The man moved back, pulling his weight off my legs. Then he pulled up his pants.
I almost started to cry because I was so relieved. Bones protected me. Even when he wasn’t in the room with me, he protected me. “You made the right decision. I give you my word that he won’t touch you when he gets here.”
Sixteen
Bones
We assembled on the ground and prepared to move out.
Crow ignored every phone call he received. It was probably Pearl wanting to know what was going on.
But he didn’t have the strength to tell her.
The tracker showed that she was in the palace I’d infiltrated just a week ago. She was on the second story in a bedroom.
I didn’t want to think about what might be happening to her at that very moment.
“I’ll move in with my team. The two of you stay back.”
Crow looked at me like I’d just said something incredibly offensive. “All three of us are going in there.”
There wasn’t time for an argument, but Crow and Cane wouldn’t blindly follow orders like the others. “The two of you stay back with the other men. I know the palace better than you do. I already researched the place before I hit it the first time. I know how the patrols work. I know where the guards are. I’m gonna hit them hard. But I need to go alone. Because if I don’t make it…then you need to move in. It’ll catch them by surprise.”
Crow still looked pissed, like he didn’t like that idea one bit. “We should give it everything we have.”
“This is my fault, and I’m taking responsibility for it. Vanessa is my woman, and I will get her out of there. I’m not going to risk either of you unless I absolutely have to.”
“Griffin, Cane and I aren’t concern
ed with our lives right now—”
“Trust me.” I held his gaze, needing him to back down. “Vanessa isn’t my wife—she’s so much more than that. I will get her out of there. They can shoot me as many times as they want. Those bullets won’t stop me. Let me get her out of there and back to you. You can take it from there.”
Crow still wore his enraged expression but didn’t say anything more.
“This is personal now. I want to slaughter every single one of those men until that palace is a graveyard. I don’t want to be worried about you behind me. I don’t want to be concerned with anything else other than murder. This is what I do best. No offense, but you have no idea what you’re stepping into.” I’d killed more men than Cane and Crow combined. I was half their age but had decades of more experience under my belt. “This is my fight. Let me fight it.”
Cane turned to his brother, allowing him to make the final decision.
Crow took thirty seconds before he gave his answer. “Get my daughter out of there, Griffin.”
That was exactly what I was looking for.
I turned away without saying goodbye and proceeded on foot with the team of six men. Most of them were snipers, and they would take their positions and cover me as I entered the grounds. Two of them would come with me, covering my back so I could focus on my front.
We moved through the darkness and approached the entryway to the palace, which sat on a cliff and overlooked the valley. I had a shotgun slung over my back, a pair of Uzis, and two of my favorite blades.
The blades weren’t for effectiveness—but for blood.
I snuck over to the entryway, moving through the bushes and getting past the front guards. They were on either side of the door, both wearing rifles and oblivious to the threat under their noses. They looked at the mountain, missing the brigade of men hiding to the left.
I pulled out my blades and stabbed the first one in the neck, making his throat fill with blood so he could barely make a shriek. His heavy body started to fall just as I descended on the second guard. He was quicker than the first, but not quick enough. He pointed his assault rifle at me but didn’t pull the trigger.
Because I sliced his throat so deep I hit the bone.
He crumpled at my feet, his gun clanking against the ground.
Other men heard the sound of their fallen comrades, and that’s when the war truly started. Gunfire erupted from both sides.
The men could handle the perimeter, so I dashed inside, coming face-to-face with more men who were prepared to blow my brains out. One man fired right at my chest, hitting the vest that protected me. The momentum of the bullet made most men jerk, but it didn’t stop me at all.
I pulled out my pistols and began the bloodbath.
I shot two men in the head, not wasting any bullets by missing my mark. Then I grabbed my shotgun and moved to the next group of men.
I dashed up the staircase and got into a gun battle with five men. They all aimed their bullets at me, but the bullets flew past, destroying the painting on the wall. I peeked over the rail and fired down in return, hitting the two idiots that were out in the open. I took them down with a few rounds and then proceeded to the last three.
When another man ran through the entryway, he had the best shot at me.
I shot him first, hitting him in the hand so his gun flew across the room.
He shrieked and gripped his wrist, holding his now-deformed hand. Blood poured from everywhere, and he moved to his knees, in too much shock to respond.
I took the stairs one at a time as I approached him, my gun lowered.
“Mercy…” He fell back as I came closer to him, slipping on the blood from his hand.
“Sorry, I don’t speak English.” I didn’t waste a bullet, and instead, stabbed him in the neck, killing him viciously like injured game that was being gutted.
His cries died away the second my blade sliced his throat in half.
I moved to the second floor as I heard the gunshots continue outside. Vanessa was down one of the hallways. I knew exactly where she was because I’d memorized the map. But there were other men here by now, men who would attempt to relocate her or ambush me.
I was right. They ambushed me.
Three men came out with rifles. I picked up the grenade from my belt and tossed it down the hallway.
The explosion was enough to make the ground shake. It wasn’t close enough to Vanessa to hit her, but she certainly would have felt it.
One of them jumped out of the way before the explosion could touch him. He was crawling away, coughing as he reached for his gun.
I pulled out the knife again, preferring a clean death that saved my ammunition. I stabbed him in the back, right through the heart and lung.
He collapsed, slowly suffocating and bleeding to death.
I left him there instead of putting him out of his misery.
I turned down the hallway and proceeded to Vanessa’s room, so much rage in my body that I could barely think straight. All I wanted to do was kill everyone in that palace, kill their wives and children. I wanted to wipe out this entire organization, make their enemies laugh at them for the poor decision they made. “Baby, I’m coming!” I kept my pistol out, ready for anyone who might jump in my way. I didn’t care about giving away my position anymore.
I wanted them to know exactly where I was.
I found her door and tried the handle, but it was locked.
“Griffin!” Vanessa’s terrified voice shouted through the door.
“Baby, I’m here.” I pointed the gun at the lock and fired until the metal snapped apart. Then I kicked the door down, finding one of the men huddled in the corner, practically pissing himself. I pulled out my knife and came at him, watching him scream.
“Griffin, no! Leave him.” Vanessa tried to sit up, but she couldn’t move, not with the handcuffs that secured her to the bed. “Not him.”
I didn’t know why she was defending this man, but there wasn’t time to ask. I moved to the bed and tugged on the chains, trying to free them with my strength.
“I have a key…” The man from the floor pulled out a silver key and tossed it on the floor.
I kicked his rifle away and grabbed the key. I unlocked one handcuff then handed her the gun. “Watch my back, baby.”
“Okay.” She held the gun with her right hand, keeping her eyes on the door.
I worked the second lock until I finally got it free.
Vanessa pulled the trigger, and a body collapsed to the floor behind me.
I didn’t turn around to check. “Good shot, baby.” I finally yanked the cuff from her wrist, enraged when I saw how red both of her wrists were. There wasn’t time for kisses or tears. Pandemonium spread all around us. I had to focus on getting her out of there before I could celebrate.
I pulled her to her feet then unfastened my vest.
“What are you doing—”
“Shut up and listen to me.” I tied the vest around her and secured it, even though it was too big. I put the gun in her hand. “Stay behind me.”
“I’m the one with the vest—”
“Baby.” I burned her with just my gaze alone.
She shut her mouth.
I moved first into the hallway, my shotgun raised. “Crow, I have Vanessa. I’m gonna take her to the front. Pull up so I can throw her in.”
“Copy that,” Crow said, the sound of relief in his voice.
I led the way, my shotgun raised and loaded. I listened to Vanessa behind me; she was breathing loud but kept her gun up the entire time. I moved down the hallway I’d just walked along, and when I reached the entryway, I fired at the two men on the ground floor. I shot the first one dead.
Vanessa got the second one.
We moved down the stairs and out the front door. There were still gunshots everywhere. “Stay behind me, Vanessa. Crow, how far are you?”
“Forty-five seconds.”
I grabbed the loaded rifle from the dead man I’d killed earlier.
“We’re ready.”
“Approaching,” Crow said.
I saw the blacked-out SUV approach, and I knew we had to make our move now. “Let’s go. Stay behind me.” We moved out the front door, hustling fast so the gunmen wouldn’t notice us right away.
The SUV stopped, and Cane opened the back door.
I practically threw Vanessa inside. “Take her out of here.”
Vanessa turned around when she was inside, the blood draining from her face. “Griffin, no!”
“Get your ass in the car,” Cane said. “You got your revenge.”
“No. Not even close.” I grabbed the door.
Vanessa was about to jump back out of the truck. “Griffin!”
I slammed the door shut and turned away, heading back into the palace to finish this once and for all. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night until every man in that palace was dead. Only when every single one of my enemies was eliminated would I find peace. They all deserved to die for what they did—for taking my woman.
Every. Single. One.
The son was on his knees in the middle of the room, his guard of men dead around him. Brains splashed across the tile, and men continued to bleed from the holes in their chests. He was bleeding from the mouth where I’d punched his teeth out. His face was so discolored from my punches, he was barely recognizable.
I stood behind him, watching the life leave his body. “I’m going to slit your throat just like I did with all your other men. And when I’m done…” I circled around him, moving to his face so I could stare at his black eyes. “Your wife and two sons will be next.”
“Please…”
“If you wanted to keep them safe, you shouldn’t have touched my woman.”
The fight returned to his gaze. “You killed my father!”
“Who was a murderer and a terrorist. If I didn’t kill him, it would have been someone else. Vanessa was an innocent person. So don’t give me that bullshit.”
“Not my family…”