by Jillian Neal
The Virginia Gifted Police force raced inside. Two minutes later, Dan watched a few middle-aged men exit. They looked extremely sheepish, along with the club owner and bar tender.
“I sent the girls home. What’s going on in there?” the owner demanded.
“Cuff them both, and put them in a car. I want them for questioning,” Dan ordered an officer standing nearby.
“We’re moving in on my count of three. I want two Elite teams in each battalion. I will lead one, and Officer Haydenshire will lead the other.” He pointed to Garrett.
“My battalion will enter the basement from the rear entrance.” Dan directed everyone towards the back of the club beside the dumpsters to a concrete staircase that led to the basement.
“The other battalion will enter from the top. Our focus is to overwhelm them with power. Go in with guns drawn and shields up! Do not lower your shield, ever, for any reason.”
“Sir,” rang from every officer standing beside him.
“Make me proud, gentlemen,” Dan ordered.
The End
~Rainer Lawson~
Rainer fell into line beside Logan and behind Vindico. They were backing Portwood and Ericcson up.
Terror surged through Rainer’s veins, though he tried to will it away. He set his mind on the goal. If Wretchkinsides went to Coriolis tonight in cells beside all of his men, then the Realm, his father had fought and died to create, would be safer. Good would have won out over evil once again.
Vindico nodded to the officers traveling as the point men. His phone vibrated in his hand.
Rainer read the screen.
“We’re in position. Just say when,” was Garrett’s text.
Vindico touched Garrett’s name and pulled the phone to his face.
“On three,” he ordered quietly.
The countdown began, and Rainer felt his heart pound in his ears in rhythm with the numbers.
On one, the officers at the front of the line kicked down the door, and hell rained down on them as they flooded into the room in a sea of green protective shields.
Round tables were folded against the walls, stacks of chairs were all over the floor, dancer’s costumes were in boxes in the corner, and a dozen metal poles were leaned against the concrete brick walls.
Thinking quickly, Rainer threw a bullet headed his way back towards the shooter, and then shot his own magnetic cast at the poles. He used the force to pull them onto the concrete floor in a deafening heap, bringing two Interfeci members down with a lethal groan.
The Interfeci members in the front room who hadn’t seen his cast were distracted long enough for four of them to be casted and taken out.
Gifted police had them cuffed and out the door instantly.
Logan and Portwood had two others down on their knees in the hallway, just beyond the doorway. Rainer drained one while Ericcson pulled the energy from his partner. They moved away, letting Gifted police take over as they made their way deeper into the basement of the Tantra.
~Garrett Haydenshire~
Garrett used all of his massive leg strength to kick the door leading to the basement from the back room of the Tantra open. With one brutal kick, he drove the hooks on the back of the door into Adrian Malacai, who was supposed to be standing guard.
Adrian crumpled to the floor, bleeding badly from the mouth and throat. His head hit the concrete block wall and then he slithered to the ground.
“Get him in a car,” Garrett ordered the police officer standing beside him. He was certain he was dead, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
Dan cannot get himself killed. The thought pulsed with every thud of his heart.
He’s gonna be a dad, and Fi won’t make it without him. Garret thundered down the steps, gun drawn and shield up followed by thirty of the best damn cops in the Realm, he reminded himself.
“Entry room cleared. Moving down the hall,” Garrett heard Dan call over the two-way radio.
“Took out Malacai on the stairs. Meet you in the middle,” Garrett answered. A bullet flew by Garrett’s face. He caught it in his shield and threw it back to the shooter, hitting him in the gut.
“Gunman down in the hallway to right of stairs,” he shouted into the radio, ordering half of his team to move to the left and the other half to follow him.
Suddenly Garrett’s heart refused him the next beat. He felt the blood that had been coursing through his body freeze as Dan’s voice shouted, “I’ve got an Elite officer down, repeat, Elite officer down! Bullet wound entered left shoulder. Medios move in immediately!”
Terror flooded Garrett’s entire being. He raced to another corridor and wrapped his arms around Menendez, whose back was to him. He threw him to the ground, but Menendez managed to chamber his pistol and take aim.
“Not in the mood today, asshole. This is for my brother.” Garrett unloaded two bullets and moved on.
Spinning, he brought his boot down on Ferratus’s chest, feeling several ribs crack under the weight. He drained him and cuffed him instantly.
Logan and Rainer’s faces pulsed constantly in his mind. They were only kids. How could they be down here in all of the hell surrounding him? Garrett couldn’t make sense of it. He couldn’t bury another brother. He couldn’t survive that.
“Officer Ericcson is headed to Georgetown. Looks like a surface wound, Dan,” an emergency Medio tapped into the line.
Feeling breath return to his lungs, Garrett continued his trek through hell.
~Dan Vindico~
Where the fuck do they have her? Dan methodically scanned the dimly lit spaces through a haze of smoke. He let his focus drift to Fionna and allowed the knowledge that if he got everyone out of this alive that she wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore drive him. He’d marry her tomorrow if she’d agree. He’d be a daddy. The thought made him reel. He turned the next corner, gun drawn high.
“Vin-di-co, you lost, man?” Shane Zacharian had a deranged look in his eye. His voice was haggard and guttural. “Nic’s waiting on you.” He was clutching his side, still trying to be tough in his slowly approaching death. Blood seeped under his fingers.
“I’ll find Nic. Don’t worry.” Dan kept his pistol aimed at Zacharian’s chest. He could put him out of his misery.
The flash in Zacharian’s eyes was Dan’s only warning. A massive force came around his back, squeezing his chest, trying to shut off his air supply.
“Fuck.” Dan spun and slammed the idiot on his back hard against the concrete walls. “Not today, Foster.” He spun and landed his fist hard in Foster’s face. He heard Zacharian’s pistol chamber.
Without need of more provocation, Dan fired once towards the man on the ground and another time at the man he’d thrown against the wall. He was walking away today, and anyone that tried to stop him would be meeting their maker in short order.
~Logan Haydenshire~
Bullet smoke and resonating casts filled the air. Logan tried not to breathe too deeply as he backed up to the wall to move into the next hallway. He nodded to Rainer as they spun and met with two pistols in their face and derisive laughter haunting the air.
Through the darkened haze, Logan could see Varenina and Xavier. Rainer had Xavier down, but Varenina pulled the trigger.
“No!” Logan shouted. Panic rocketed upwards from his soul. His heart stalled. He leapt in front of Rainer, adding his shield to his best friend’s. They watched as the bullet reflected and hit Varenina’s face, shattering his eye socket. They turned away. It was gruesome.
Gifted police moved in to cuff Xavier. “Nice work, Haydenshire,” he complimented.
Logan nodded, though bile blazed his lungs and throat. Tears stung his eyes.
“Thank you,” Rainer managed. His voice was harrowed and frightened.
“You’re not leaving my baby sister at the altar.” Logan’s words gave strength to his decision.
“Where could Bridgette be? That’s four rooms,” Rainer shouted over the whirring sound of bullets and the cold, atrocious g
roans of death. They coughed against the choking puffs of concrete being hit with cast after cast.
A fist appeared from the dark, and Logan ducked without thinking. Rainer threw a cast and then leapt over Clarence Pendergrath.
“What the fuck man?” Rainer screeched. “You wanted to be in this, well here you go. You can play with Daddy and all the big boys out at Coriolis.” He cuffed Pendergrath and shoved him out into the hallway.
Rainer and Logan took another guilt-ridden glance at Clarence’s terrified face as he was dragged off by another officer.
“Wait! Where’s my dad?” He sounded distinctly like a frightened child.
“Follow me.” Vindico raced by Logan and Rainer, headed towards the northwest corner of the club, down another darkened corridor.
“Logan, are you okay?” Garrett spun out from a hallway on Logan’s right, startling him, but he was quite certain he’d never been so thankful to see his big brother in all of his relatively short life. Garrett hugged him forcefully, and Logan allowed it.
“Rainer, look at me.” Garrett grabbed Rainer by the scruff of his neck pulling him closer to see him through the smoky mist.
“You okay?” He tried to sound soothing. Rainer nodded his lie. “No, you’re not, but it’s almost over. Just stay with me. I’ll keep you safe.”
Having no choice, there were too many officers down, so Rainer and Logan joined McCoy, Portwood, and Tuttle in a sprint to what Logan assumed must lead to the end.
“Where’s Barron?” Rainer asked McCoy.
“Took a ricochet to the shin. Looked bad. He’s out in the ambulances.” McCoy looked lost without his partner.
~Governor Haydenshire~
“Fionna, sweetheart, I cannot let you go in there,” Stephen demanded as Fionna flew from his Suburban out into the parking lot of the Tantra Gentlemen’s Club. One thing was for certain, the girl might’ve been pregnant, but she was in outstanding shape. Stephen suspected she could outsprint Daniel.
“Dan!” Fionna screeched as she took in the dozens of Gifted ambulances healing up the wounded, and the police loading man after man into squad cars until they were full and then leaving for Coriolis.
Stephen felt vomit swirl ominously in his stomach as he searched the harrowing scene, not certain who or what he might find. Three of his sons were either in an ambulance or were still in that club.
“Dan,” Fionna screamed again.
“Fionna,” one of the new officers, Barron, reached from a gurney and caught Fionna’s hand. A Medio held a cast on his shin and was trying to rebuild the bone.
“Shattered it. Took a ricochet,” Barron explained to Stephen. “Fionna, he’s all right. He’s in there. He led a team in. He’s with McCoy. Your kids are in there with him, sir,” Barron assured Stephen.
“I have to talk to him right now,” Fionna demanded of Barron.
“Hey, okay,” Barron shared a concerned glance with Stephen. “It quieted down a minute ago. I think they’ll be out soon.” He cringed and fought not to cry as the Medio intensified the cast on his leg.
Fionna jerked her wrist away from Barron’s hand defiantly as she sprinted towards the club. Emily and Adeline took off with her.
“Girls!” Stephen shouted, but they were much faster than he was. He watched in horror as Fionna threw open the front door and raced inside. He followed them in demanding that they stop, but no one listened.
~Rainer Lawson~
As the sounds of bullets and casts began to dissipate in the air, Rainer heard muffled pleas for help and someone thrashing around in the floor several feet ahead of them.
“That’s Bridgette,” Vindico hissed. He halted the advancing team before they turned the last corner. Suddenly a deep, menacing drawl with a distinctly German accent echoed around them.
“That's Wretchkinsides.” Vindico scowled. His eyes hardened with malice and hate.
They listened, “Well, Bridgette maybe you weren’t lying. It does appear that Vindico might not feel about you the way he felt about dear, Amelia. Maybe he has moved on like you told me.”
Vindico’s eyes goggled as he began to understand.
Since Wretchkinsides himself had taped Bridgette's mouth shut, he knew she couldn't respond. He was playing with her before he killed her. Disgust and fury swirled in the pit of Rainer’s stomach.
“Vindico thinks he can outplay me. I had men at the Governor’s Inaugural Ball despite all of the Receivers in the Realm that were there. I won’t be stopped, Bridgette. I have a hand in every single thing that happens, so don’t you forget that,” Wretchkinside’s sneered.
A harrowing slap echoed in the air, followed by a muffled scream. Vindico gasped; frenzied revulsion filled his features.
Wretchkinsides knew Bridgette was spying because he thought she was still dating Vindico, but she’d tried to tell him about Fionna. Rainer couldn’t process the information. His mind rejected it.
He wasn’t certain that Vindico could survive more innocent blood on his hands.
~Dan Vindico~
“Let her go!” Dan demanded as he spun suddenly, shocking all of his officers that had followed him to the end. Pendergrath and Pravus were standing before Dan with Wretchkinsides holding a gun in Bridgette’s face.
“I’m who you wanted. I’m right here. Let’s end this! Let her go,” Dan ordered, keeping his eyes fixed on the cold malevolent glare of Dominic Wretchkinsides.
Hate fueled every beat of his heart. Malice darkened his soul.
Dan hadn’t let such utter revulsion consume him since he’d first held Fionna in his arms on the dance floor at Anglington’s. She was the antidote, but that seemed like a distant memory in light of standing face to face with the man who’d ended Amelia’s life.
Pravus narrowed his beady black eyes. They twitched from Garrett to Logan in a derisive glare. “Come to avenge dear Cal, gentlemen?” He paced between Garrett and Logan.
Using the distraction Pravus was causing, Dan edged closer and closer to Bridgette, keeping his gun aimed at Wretchkinsides. But he was too close. He was hovering over Bridgette. Dan couldn’t get a shot off without hitting her.
“He was a coward, Calvin,” Pravus quipped with a hate filled chuckle.
Dan saw Logan flinch like he’d been hit.
“Shut up,” Logan demanded. Delighted that he’d gotten to him, Pravus filled the hall with contemptuous laughter. Dan took another step towards Bridgette.
~Rainer Lawson~
Feeling burning gall well in his eyes, Rainer swallowed down the hate that choked his lungs. Cal Haydenshire was not a coward, not by a long shot. The injustice and fury ate him as he watched Pravus spew out insulting lies.
Feeling McCoy elbow him, Rainer turned slightly, seeing what Portwood was about to do.
~Logan Haydenshire~
“He sobbed as I killed the girl he was out with that night. Kept telling me they’d only been out once, as if I cared,” Pravus chanted.
Garrett’s eyes goggled. Logan swallowed down vomit. “What a bitter disappointment to the new Crown Governor, that three of his many, many sons will not only be dead, but will have died cowards.”
Fury seared through Logan’s veins. His heart hesitated to beat. His breath caught painfully in his lungs. Confusion clouded his mind. He couldn’t fully understand what was happening. His mind and soul felt somehow separated for a long moment. Cal’s face swam in his eyes.
The roar of completed justice was the only sound he was capable of understanding. He felt the trigger of his gun pull, and he watched Vladimar Pravus crumple to the ground.
~Rainer Lawson~
Too many things had happened at once. Rainer couldn’t make sense of it all. He felt the reverb off of Logan’s gun. He saw Pravus, slunk to the ground, blood pouring from his gut.
Rainer leapt and drained Pendergrath on Portwood’s call, but there’d been another gunshot. And he heard an echoing scream of Vindico’s name.
Moving on instinct, Rainer kept his boot on Pendergrat
h’s chest as Portwood cuffed and cast him.
“Rainer,” the sound echoed off of the concrete walls. Emily? Rainer realized instantly whose voice he’d heard.
She couldn’t be there. It made no sense. As the broken fragments of present time began to seep through Rainer’s consciousness, he understood the second gunshot.
Wretchkinsides had killed Bridgette at point blank range. Her blood and body were splattered against the concrete wall.
Vindico’s guttural shout seemed to echo through the protective shield Rainer’s mind attempted to erect.
“Dan.” Rainer heard the desperate cry again. He spun to see Fionna and Emily following Adeline’s heels as they raced towards them.
Panic filled Rainer’s body. “What are you doing here?” he demanded furiously. Suddenly, some lackey for the Interfeci leapt in front of Emily.
“No,” Rainer screamed.
“Oh, get out of my way!” Emily spat as she summoned with the ring and threw the moron against the concrete brick wall hard enough to knock him out cold. His body lay limp at her feet. She stepped over him with an eye roll.
Governor Haydenshire raced towards them, gasping for breath. Rainer turned back, having heard McCoy scream, “Vindico! No!”
~Garrett Haydenshire~
“Fi, what the hell,” Garrett demanded.
“Dan!” Fionna screeched in a horrified peal.
Garrett spun back to watch Vindico, dazed and confused, as he lowered his gun.
“Dan! No! Stop!” Garrett pled.
A formidable orb of pulsing pink and grey energy spun in Wretchkinsides’ hand. He’d mind casted Vindico.
“Nic, she’s right there. Kill them and take the ring,” Pendergrath demanded of Wretchkinsides.