Benny edited code—what was so important this instant, Cori didn't know—which took up two-thirds of the view. He worked about four times quicker than usual. Strange, she was under the impression it was a slow process. Under that window was the robot's POV, which had displayed its assault on the demonic sellers of children into slavery, drugs to the helpless, weapons to the wealthy, the list felt endless.
She shivered and wished she'd brought a jacket.
But the screen had blackened minutes ago. She squinted at it, and realized that it wasn’t quite black. A hint of light in the corner suggested Goose's feed still worked, that Goose either hid in darkness or had a blanket tossed over him.
Cori didn’t know what to do. On the most important day of her life, she took orders from foolish twenty-somethings. She thrived on collecting information and seeing patterns, but that talent was useless tonight. Even though the remaining fragment of her organization could die tonight, and she was barred from doing a damn thing about it, she could stay levelheaded. Certainly she could, in this lonely, cold forest in a foreign country. She rubbed her knees absentmindedly.
The darkness on the monitor, combined with the quick coding, suddenly unnerved her. After nothing changed for almost five minutes, she decided to calm herself via meditation. She closed her eyes and inhaled, focusing on her ribs expanding… and contracting. Expand. She repeated the cycle, and it didn't clear her overstuffed mind one bit, but forcing normal breathing into her tight chest helped.
Something shuffled behind her. Her mind was playing tricks on her, which was particularly cruel at the moment. Whomp! Her eyes shot open. This wasn't trickery. The back window exploded, and shattered glass tinkled into the cargo space and the forest floor. Cori's heart leapt into her throat, and she squealed and snatched the sawed-off shotgun Kaden had left for her, claiming it was perfect for close range combat for those who can't aim. Cori clutched it to her chest, put her head between her legs, and pressed her eyes closed so hard, her eyelid twitched. The cold, solid steel in her hands pressed against her chest and legs, serving as a mild comfort.
She heard a pattering, like a sudden downpour, for less than five seconds, but that could've been her ears reacting oddly to the explosion. For the next ten minutes, silence. She bolted upright, still clutching the shotgun. Through the rearview mirror, she saw the broken window. Her heart raced.
She peeked in the cargo area. The only things back there were Kaden’s empty supply containers and Benny’s equipment. Benny’s large, black plastic container that he had made a hullabaloo about bringing sat wide open, thin streams of smoke rising from the latches. The chemical stench of burnt plastic irritated her nose. What in the hell had just happened?
She glanced at the second monitor. Still blackness. She clambered around and perched on the divider between the front seats, facing the shattered window. The shotgun stayed in her lap, barrel toward the hole, and she sat, still as a stone.
Eleven
The bottom of Kaden's skull felt like pure death.
All around, metal clanged and tense voices murmured. Her hand throbbed with pain, and she eased open her eyes. The off-white room brightened an already bright space, and she sat with hands secured behind her. The people she'd been killing milled in groups and argued amongst themselves. Worse, Benny and Joy were across the pool, secured to chairs and gagged with blue cloths and eyeing the scene. Blood poured from Benny's temple. Joy was scooting toward Benny, a millimeter at a time, unnoticeable to the casual observer. Guards with assault rifles stood on either side of them, and Kaden.
It was over. This outcome wasn't the worst possible—at least vendors would surely think twice about dealing with Sub Rosa now.
They'd lost. A sudden block in her chest hitched her breath, and she went limp against the chair back and rested her head on a hard object behind her. She expected just as much mercy from them as she'd shown the pile of bodies.
"She's awake," yelled one of her guards. She turned and glared at him. He had a neat, white beard and round glasses, and he made eye contact and smiled back. Kaden’s knife was tucked into his waistband. She rubbed the chair with her fingertips. It had a noticable grain, meaning it was wood.
Edward squatted in front of her, giving a grin that was… foul. Her skin crawled. This man had transformed into ugliness since the amusement park. "Hi, Kaden. I warned you."
She blinked but said nothing.
He smiled wider and said, "You must be worried about your brother. We keep him happy, and you know what, he's fantastic at this work. He captured your boyfriend over there—" He flailed an arm, meant as a gesture toward her friends. "I left him outside though."
At the mention of Aaron, Kaden remembered how they’d caught her. Aaron had been mid-sentence, then she woke here. They'd exploited her little brother and tricked her, exactly why she avoided getting close to others. Affection became leverage, always.
Edward continued, "What did you think of him? He's grown up a lot in two years, huh?"
Rage surged, and she clenched her jaw and held her breath to stay rational. Edward had brought her baby brother into the underworld, made him a killer, and was now talking to Kaden like he'd helped Aaron. Rena was a parental whiz compared to this loon.
Yet Kaden could only glare, eyes practically burning holes in his corneas.
He looked away to suck in a breath, then said, "Kaden, I'm trying to have a friendly chat. You're being rude."
Kaden laughed. Unwise, but she couldn't help it—this guy was nuts. She'd seen this crap before. "You mean that, don't you?"
He cocked his head and said, "I enjoy intelligent conversations. That's how humans have always progressed. It's why we're beyond monkeys."
Kaden gave a loud, bitter laugh. Everyone else had fallen silent, staring, certainly itching to rip Kaden's limbs apart. She wouldn't get any backup against this awkward, strange man.
Fine. With a glance at her friends—Joy was scooting more, with the room's attention on Kaden—she said, "You have my colleagues tied up, you hid my brother, and you want to have a friendly conversation? Do people seriously put up with you?"
He leaned on his heels and gave Kaden a hurt look. She held back another laugh at the ridiculous self-consciousness.
He said, “I only found Aaron because of you. You worked out so well for Company that we sought him out.”
"That's disgusting," she spat. No other words existed for this man, who viewed every person and item as up for grabs.
He sighed and said, "Why are you so hellbent on destroying my free market?"
It took a moment to realize he didn't mean everything was available for free, instead that he was talking politics. She said, "Because, you idiot, it creates victims. You profit from people's misery."
"The victims are already there, girl. Everything available has existed much longer than either of us. Don't take your anger out on my platform. The platform is true freedom."
"I’m so jealous of people who haven’t met you. Listen, I'm not here to talk philosophy or economics. You create human trafficking rings, therefore, you are the supreme asshole. While that's a major problem, at this moment, my main concerns are all in this castle."
"I kept your brother safe. He was homeless when I met him. He has a kind heart and believes in the free market too."
When Kaden didn't reply, he stood, face getting serious. "Fine, we can get to the point. You killed many good people tonight."
Kaden rolled her eyes. His definition of "good" was very different from hers. "Shut up," she said.
He shook her by the shirt. When his palm came away bloody, he wiped it on his clean plaid flannel. He said, "You broke my heart. So, I'll break yours. I'm going to kill one of your friends. You pick which." Because he was desperate, angry, and in shock, Kaden knew he meant it. Plus, he needed to prove himself to those surrounding him.
Although she'd already accepted her failure, she dreaded bearing its punishment. It was her burden, not her friends', no matter what Joy said
. She took a deep, slow breath and said, "Kill me instead. See, you literally get to break my heart."
"Cute." He squatted again, bringing his nose half a foot from hers, his breath hot and sour on her face. He lowered his voice. "That wasn't an option. Of you three, one lives to give us all the information we want about your organization. You're dead regardless. If you don't behave, we kill everyone."
Oh no. The carelessness with which she held her life had always been a solid bargaining chip for her. But with everyone's head under the executioner's blade, that chip was worthless. Her breathing sped up, inching toward hyperventilation. For a long moment, Edward's face spun and blurred. She focused on his bumpy nose to stabilize her vision and remind her body that she wasn't moving. The dizziness left, signaling time to act.
Kaden pushed backward, but the chair was tied to something solid, and her hands to the chair. There was no way out.
She looked at her best friends, helpless and with assault rifles pointed at them. She loved them both. Her heart wanted to blow from her chest, and her gaze raced for an answer. Goose! Whatever had happened to Goose?
Apparently Edward was a mind reader, because he said, "Oh, and if your robot comes in this room, you three die." He pointed up at the pair of snipers on the rafters. "If anyone else dies mysteriously, you all die. Now that my rules are clear, pick."
"Aaron knows you're going to kill me?"
"I'll tell him you wouldn't stop fighting, that your mind was rabid. He'll understand. Like I said, his dedication is unmatched. He’s a smart kid. So I'll count to five, then I choose. Ungag them."
One man wedged his rifle between his legs to untie both gags, buying Kaden seconds to think. Benny, her best friend with an honest soul, who had stood with her through everything. He remained silent once the gag came off, but his gray eyes bored into Kaden's. They were stuck.
As soon as Joy's gag came off, she said, "Let Benny live."
Benny looked surprised, but Kaden didn't, because Joy had been selfless since day one. She'd stuck her head out for Kaden time and time again, understanding the worst consequences. Kaden couldn't choose. At least Edward didn't say he'd kill all three of them if she refused to pick. Adrenaline dumped into Kaden's veins, but she had no use for it while bound.
Edward peered at her and counted quickly. "One, two, three." He paused and said, "fooour.... Will you pick one, you self-righteous bitch!"
So this was how it would end, with this egotistic, fearful man. Kaden trembled with extra soul-tearing energy, so much that it felt as if her limbs floated.
"FIVE!" he bellowed. "Kill the woman!"
The explosion of a sniper rifle echoed off every wall, smothering Kaden's scream as Joy's chair bucked and blood erupted from her chest. Her head rolled back, but the restraints held her in place.
Benny squeezed his eyes shut and yelled, "I'm sorry!"
Kaden kept right on screaming as she stood, still attached to the chair, and thrusted into the concrete pillar behind her. The wooden legs cracked apart. Another thrust, and the wooden back disintegrated.
Freedom.
She headbutted her guard, snatching her knife back, letting the blade tear through his torso on its way out. She took off, running close enough to the startled men so nobody would shoot, but stayed just out of their reach.
She slipped for a moment as she made a sharp turn around the pool. Incomprehensible shouting echoed off the walls, but she heard both "Shoot!” and “Don’t shoot!”
Arms reached as she leapt and rolled toward Benny, then kicked the AK that was shooting the tiles just behind her, grabbed the shooter's arm, and twirled forward to elbow him in the nose. With adrenaline-fueled might, she leveled another man reaching for her, then ran and leapt at Benny's guard, placing her momentum into a single punch. He staggered, and she shoved him into the pool. She sliced through Benny's rope, snatched the dart gun from his belt, and whispered, “Sink.”
He said, “They’ll be right in. Come with me!”
He’d lost his mind, then. She flipped him into the clear water, and in the same motion, she shot the two raging men between herself and the next target: Edward.
She sprinted, reveling that finally, nobody stood between them. But it also made her a shooting target. She didn’t expect to make it, but if she had a slim chance to hit her goal… something punched her butt—she’d been shot, but it didn't slow her. With the massive rush of adrenaline, only a headshot could stop her. Bullets snapped by her ears, and Edward reached for a sidearm. She shot his companion with the dart gun, and her vision narrowed around Edward, her final target as a professional killer.
A bullet hit the front of her thigh, exiting near her knee. Her finger stung. That one hurt, almost distracted her, but nothing could divert her because there was only Edward and obstacles to Edward.
She tackled him, seeing only red now that he was in her grasp. His gun clattered beside him, and they were behind the pillar, out of the line of sight of most shooters. Still, she had seconds. More yells erupted, and the shooting stopped. Edward appeared a different man, as if he too late realized the danger of gloating.
Someone ran up behind her. She turned, grabbed the man's outstretched arm, and yanked toward her. The man tripped over Edward's legs, and Kaden stabbed him in the jugular as he fell. She guided his fall onto her back to be a hefty shield.
Edward stopped writhing as blood flowed onto him. She moved to stab him in the neck before the snipers could get their head shot.
Glass shattered everywhere, reverberating enough that it seemed like every window had shattered. Screams of agony sounded all around her, seeming far in the background—she must be hallucinating.
She thrust the knife into Edward's neck and twisted, then worked it out the front. Hot blood sprayed her front, shot up her nostrils, stung her eyes. Turning Aaron against her had cost Edward his life.
She believed Edward had started Sub Rosa as an idealist, naïve to the shortcomings of his philosophies. Then he'd tasted power, and difficult decisions followed to maintain it, leading him further into darkness. This ongoing cycle of death demonstrated the worst of humanity. The entire room seemed to be screaming, as if punctuating Kaden’s despair.
She stood with wobbling legs, ready to get snuffed out of existence, except the screams of pain had been real.
She couldn’t believe her eyes. Her enemies fell en masse, and little blurs zoomed around the room. Huh?
Goose. Many Gooses, yet some were bigger than her mouse. Benny's head bobbed above the water and exclaimed, “It worked!”
With her stolen moments, Kaden ran straight to Joy, stinging pain from her rear, leg, and fingers be damned. The adrenaline drained out with her blood though, so each limb weighed too much. By the time she reached Joy, the room was silent. She untied Joy's restraints and laid her on the ground. Her lifeless eyes looked into Kaden's, and Kaden's tears plopped into Joy's disheveled hair. She placed a hand on her friend's eyes and closed them. Joy’s skin was still warm.
"I failed, Benny."
He was climbing from the pool, water marked by tufts of deep red. "But we did it."
Kaden surveyed the scene, then finally understood her saviors. A Goose swarm, most sporting unfinished metal. Every single enemy lay dead. Kaden said, " I wasn't imagining that you were working on a bunch of Gooses."
He looked only at his laptop, Kaden, and the ceiling, as if avoiding looking at the carnage would remove its horror. He shook and said, " I wasn't sure it would work. When I got captured, I had Goose run a program where he programmed and debugged the remaining code. A robot programming robots was a last choice. Thank God they didn't attack us. Eleven Gooses, two cat Gooses."
So much bloodshed. The room reeked of blood and human waste. Without running, because the tiles were slick, she left to find Aaron. Pain would catch up soon enough.
Kaden’s first guess was correct. Aaron’s hunched form sat on the front steps, and he stared at the garden with an AK in his lap. She had envisioned this re
union many, many times since he disappeared, wondered about the circumstances in which they’d meet. Little about the scene, from the weapons to the darkness to the castle and bullet wounds, had made it into the hundreds of renditions. The garden had, though. Growing up, they’d often taken solace in the quiet of nature.
She never thought they’d be this far apart.
Her boots thumped unevenly as she limped toward him, because sneaking up on someone with a gun in their lap was never wise.
Without turning around, he asked, “Is he done treating me like a kid? I get booted for doing as he asked.”
Kaden’s voice came out in a whisper. “Aaron.”
His shoulders stiffened.
She asked, “Can you please put down the gun?”
“Edward talked to you?”
Kaden moved a hand to pull at her ponytail but grasped air without noticing. “Yeah, we talked.”
A pause. The tension tore at Kaden, but saying the wrong thing would ruin everything. Even if the conversation progressed like a snail, he was driving.
After a pause, he said, “He’s right, you know. We can help you.”
What in the hell delusions had Edward sold? “I don’t think you understand. Edward tried to kill me. He’s dead. Everyone’s dead.”
The gun clattered to the floor. In a flash, Aaron stood and faced Kaden. He was taller than her now, and his cheekbones protruded—must be from his father’s side. A scar blemished his light brown skin, and his face was ugly, contorted in anger. Even after all the misery they’d weathered together, she’d never seen him so upset.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe. Remember how we grew up just surviving, even when it meant hiding under the bed for three hours? We can keep on surviving together.” Kaden imagined his frown flipping into a smile, him crying and hugging her for two minutes flat. Reunited, finally.
Instead, he said, “I had a family that I was safe with, and you killed them. Everyone’s dead?”
Unleashed (End of an Assassin Book 3) Page 15