The Bastard's Guide to Overthrowing a Nation

Chapter 20

"ARE you ready to go sweetheart?"

I look up from my phone, finding Anden leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. I stuff the phone and a mask into my jacket pocket, strapping my knife to my thigh. Pulling the small pack containing the bomb over my shoulders, I walk over to him. "I'm ready."

"Not quite."

"You just asked if I was ready."

"I know," he smiles, "but we have a quick stop to make."

"Is it going to jeopardize our timetable?"

"Never."

"Lead the way."

We walk through the house, down all four sets of stairs. We advance down the basement corridor, we enter the wine cellar. He presses a brick on the wall, revealing a hidden door.

"I know this was a joke when we first met, but are you planning on killing me?"

He grins, "Never."

"Where are we going?"

"We're headed to the weapons vault."

"You have a weapons vault?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

"Liar."

We enter the passageway, he flips on a lightswitch, dimly lighting our way. A large gated doorway stands alone in the hall. He takes a key from around his neck, unlocking the gate then the door behind it. He pushes open the door, I take in the large clean paneled wood room. We walk into the room, I turn around taking in every surface. The vaulted ceiling of the underground lifts my spirits. Every surface of the walls is filled with every sort of weapon from the last three-hundred years. My eyes widen in awe and adoration.

"This is all yours?"

"Technically my family's but yes."

I walk into the room, looking at the dark oak table. I pick up a set of blades that look like dragons.

"Those are decorative."

"Just because they're pretty doesn't mean they're not knives."

He shakes his head, chuckling. He gestures to the room, "Have fun, suit up."

Walking over to the wall of guns I take a holster from the wall and strap it around my waist, tucking two handguns into the slots in the back.

I press the button on the drawer, it opens revealing rows and rows of daggers. I take an eleven-inch steel dagger out of the drawer, my fingers wrapped loosely around the black leather-wrapped handle. Turning around to Anden I gesture with the blade.

"I'm keeping this."

"As long as it's not on the heirloom wall you can keep anything."

"Are you serious?"

"As this mission."

"I'm staying here forever."

"No worries, my mother has already begun to keep a picture of you in her room."

Anden takes something from a drawer and walks over to me. He presses a medieval-looking stiletto knife into my hand.

"This looks like something you'd like."

"It's beautiful."

"Perfect for the life we're living."

"One hell of a ride, just like you said."

For a moment his eyes bore into mine, I'm swimming in dark hazel, forgetting about the blade he pressed into my hand. His face is inches away from my own. For a second I think he will kiss me.
He takes a step away from me.

"We should get going."

"Yeah. York won't like it if we're late."

I slip the stiletto into my belt next to the dagger and follow Anden out of the vault. He locks the door and we leave the house.

The voices of soldiers grow louder as we walk down the alleyway. We stop, ducking behind a stack of crates. Soldiers round up the people in the street. Protests can be heard, a small child cries out as an older woman is smacked across the face. As a man attempts to flee he is shot in the back. I move from our hiding place to help them. Anden's hands clasp my shoulders, pulling me back into the shadows.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping them." I hiss.

"You're not bulletproof, Alewyn."

"Neither are they."

As the words leave my mouth, soldiers begin to fire at the citizens. Anden wraps his arms around my chest, pulling against him so that I cannot break away. The sound of firing guns fades away. An emptiness fills me. Silence fills the street, the soldiers string up the dead on the buildings. They pile back into the trucks, leaving their murders behind them. When the trucks are out of sight Anden and I creep out from our hiding place. As we walk through the street blood coats our boots and drips down, pooling beneath the bodies hanging by short ropes. The smell of house plants that grow on the balconies is covered by the metallic scent of blood.

We turn down the next street, stopping in the alleyway behind Coyte. I slip the bag off my shoulders, placing it on the ground in-between my squatting knees. Deftly, my fingers unzip the bag, quickly locking the bomb into place, typing in the six-digit code. The timer begins to count
down.

Two minutes.

I throw the empty pack back over my shoulder and run. He holds his gun tight to his body, running as our lives depend on it. He drags me behind a building, our heads peeking around the corner. I turn my head to see his wristwatch.

30 seconds.

His fingers grasp mine as the bomb explodes. Despite the night air, his fingers are warm against mine. A siren carries throughout the air, we climb the walls of the alley, taking the roofs back to the mansion.

A/N:
Hello Loves!
Health is a bit better than last week so fingers crossed that we don't go back to being bedridden for a little while.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting.
Much love,
MorrigansFlight