Alliance || 1 || ✔️ mature

52 | Eleven

Blood drips from my fingers as I finally step away.

• • •

The sound of Scarlett's body crashing to the floor is loud in the drowning silence, a shuttered breath leaving her lungs.

I push from the floor, hand holding my stomach, bruised and weak from the impact of the bullet hitting the vest, my gun dropping beside me.

My knees drop to the floor beside her, my hands reaching for her as her blue eyes look through me. She blinks slowly, too slowly as her lips begin to turn red with blood.

"Scarlett." I squeeze her hand, "Just stay awake."

"I don't want to." The words are whispered and hoarse, her fingers releasing mine as the fight leaves her.

"I can help you."

"Nobody can help me."

"I can, whatever my father did. We can find out the truth."

Scarlett's hand squeezes mine weakly, but her eyes focus for a second, the blue flashing with life.

"Find the girl."

My shoulders drop. "What girl?"

"Find her. Help her finish what I started."

"Scarlett-" I pause as she squeezes my hand tightly.

"Find her." She gasps out.

"Find who?" I lean over, grabbing her shoulders.

Her blue eyes swim with emotions, drowning in them and her lips open, but no words escape, air slipping past her lips, and it takes her secrets with her.

"Scarlett?" My hands grab at her shoulders, but she doesn't reply, her body only a vessel and my finger release her, her body slipping to the ground with a thump.

A scattered breath leaves my lips, "Goddamnit!" I grunt, pushing off the floor and turning to face my team, shaking my head.

Blood drips from my fingers as I finally step away, Archer moves forward, wrapping me in his arms. "She's dead." I mutter, my eyes finding my brothers over Archer's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

A scratchy laugh ruins the moment and my head snaps to the open door, back snapping straight at the sight of my father standing there.

"Well, isn't this a sight."

Archer's grip tightens on me, Clay stepping closer while Cleo walks quickly towards us, all of us looking at the man staring back at us.

Clay takes a step forward, his hard eyes on our father.

"What are you doing here?"

Director scoffs, his dark eyes lingering between Clay and me. "I should ask you the same thing, but I think I already know." His eyes swoop down to Scarlett's body.

"I could have used her, you know." He looks back to us, emotionless. "Nevertheless, She's dead now."

"What did you do to her?" The words slipped past my lips before I could hold them back.

Director's eyes linger over Scarlett's body, "I was making her stronger, better." He looks back to me, "She was a failure."

Clay steps closer to me, putting me slightly behind his back.

Director notices the move, "I see you know the truth."

"That I have siblings?" Clay mutters, scoffing. "Yeah, I know."

His eyes swing to me, accusing. "What have you done, Holland?"

"Something I should've done a long time ago." I answer and Clay rests a hand on his gun, in warning.

Our father smiles, the sight chilling. "I wouldn't, if I were you." His voice sends a disgusted shiver down my spine, and I feel Archer tensing beside me. "I have this place surrounded."

Director steps forward, a group of people moving in behind him, their hands on their gun, eyes on ours.

Ten more bodies join ours in the room, their gazes hard and blank.

I step forward, feeling Archer's hand latch onto my elbow, halting me from moving further forward.

Directors' eyes narrow on Archer's hand.

"You don't have the upper hand here." He says.

Archer moves impossibly closer, hand resting on my back, the imprint of his gun scorching my spine.

I reach back, hand closing over the gun Archer slips into my grip.

My heart beats too fast, palms clammy with sweat. "What are you doing, Samael?"

"You'll soon find out." Samael mutters, flicking his chin towards us. "Take them."

The people march forward, weapons drawn but not aimed at us yet. My eyes flicker from one person to the next, cataloguing their weapons.

"You should've stayed out of things you had no business messing with."

I step closer, pressing the barrel of my gun against his head, lifting a brow. His eyes widen just slightly, before they narrow.

"Tell me the truth." I hush, staring into his eyes.

Samael blinks, not responding before he smiles and shows his row of perfectly white teeth.

I hate him.

"What was the first thing you were taught during training, Holland?"

I tilt my head, narrowing my eyes.

Directors' eyes flick behind me, "Know where all your opponents are."

"Holland-" Archer's voice cuts off as I feel the barrel of a gun rest against the side of my head.

My eyes flicker over my father's shoulder, the door to the room slipping shut, a body moving in on silent feet.

"Maybe you should take your own advice." I smirk.

Liam looks delighted as he wraps his hands around the head of the person standing by the door, twisting. A sharp crack zings through the air and the man's body falls to the ground, neck broken.

"I've missed that noise." Liam smooths his shirt down, approaching slowly as he runs a hand through his strawberry locks and reaches back for a gun, holding it to anyone who moves. "Now where were we?" He grins, looking around.

Director doesn't react, only murmurs something under his breath before I notice one of his men press a button on a finger to their ear, speaking quietly.

"What?" I prompt, pushing the gun further into his head as the person behind me does the same.

"I said, I should've killed him when I had the chance."

The end of his sentence is punctuated with the door to the stairs slamming open.

My attention snaps to it, and it's all the time Director needs. His hand swipes the gun from my grip as he ducks, moving faster than I've ever seen him move.

Pain explodes at the side of my head as the person behind me whips their gun into my skull. The agony throwing me to my knees.

Archer's pained groan hits the air, my eyes swinging to him as he kneels on the ground, much like me. Guns pointing his way.

His eyes find mine before flashing to Director.

I follow his gaze, seeing the many guns trained on Liam, including the one I had against Director's skull that is now in his hand.

"You will be coming with us." Director booms, and more people approach from the door to the stairs, guns trained on Clay and Cleo, their marching steps echoing in my ears as I look at Archer, feeling dread slip into my bloodstream.

His hazel eyes linger on mine, mouth tight with worry before I feel something sink into my neck and darkness beckons.