Chapter 46
I gasped in a breath, glad to feel that the messed-up rips had been taken care of by my death. My brain was foggy, and I curled my hands into fists, feeling my mother's weapon still in my right hand, curled protectively to my chest.
The room was still filled with smoke. Quickly, I rolled up to the balls of my feet, glass crumbling beneath them, and took a look around. The smoke had begun to dissipate, and the gunfire had quieted. I pulled the bag up and dropped the strap over my head, the weapon across my back as my hand went to my other pistol still in its shoulder strap, pulling the weapon free and double handing it as I dropped to one knee to look through the dark. I reached up to adjust the soft fabric on my face. Okay, Katherine. You can do this. You've got this.
I rose to a crouch and began to creep forward, dragging my feet so the glass wouldn't crunch as I approached the left side of the room where I heard mumbling. The bank was filled with a pinkish marble, grand pillars lofting the levels above higher. I saw a pillar through the smoke and made my way to the large structure just as the smoke began to fade enough for me to see eight figures on their knees. I pressed my back to the cold stone, feeling the bag dig into my shoulders as I was slowly sliding down to sit on my heels, holding the slide of the gun to my forehead.
Fuck, fuck, fuck....
I tucked my head around the pillar. I could see it now. My team were on their knees with their hand behind their backs. Behind each of them stood another man, each holding an assault rifle. We'd lost. That was when I realized there was talking going on.
"... make sure they get tipped triple. I didn't see this coming, did you?" the self-assured and ecstatic tone came from the right where I could see a form pacing. I narrowed my eyes, but I couldn't make out exact features. But he was definitely wearing an expensive suit. "They attacked the warehouse and they knew about the bank?" the man stopped marching. "Why would they attack both?" he sounded quizzical then waved a hand dismissively. "Doesn't matter, I've got them."
"You fucking son of a bitch!" Kat's voice spat from somewhere behind me. In the smoke I could barely make out three men, one pushing the wriggling form of Katerina with her arms behind her back, James next to her being walked at gunpoint and a final from being dragged yelling and threatening bloody murder just like his mother. Fuck, the smoke was dissipating, they were coming up behind me and they had my team tired up on the other side of me.
I took three quick, quiet running steps across the room into the mist before I fell into a slide, so I didn't step on the glass and hoping that the din Matthew and Kat were creating would cover it. I slid up behind another pillar and breathed heavy, looking over my left shoulder. They hadn't seen me, too distracted by the fight Kat and Matthew were putting up. I looked over my right shoulder and paused. There was a staircase just to the left of the pillar, the guard facing the commotion. The smoke down here was dissipating fast, they'd see me soon. My only answer was up. The bag dug into my spine. Okay. I tucked my gun into its holster and rose to a crouch again, focusing my eyes on my target. What had Matthew taught me? Oh fuck. I snuck up behind him, quiet. One shot. Go!
I released the hardest punch I could, right where his head met his neck, causing him to fall to his knees and his entire system to lock up. Before he could utter a cry, I wrapped my arms around his throat, ripped back and up, and locked my arms. On his knees he couldn't kick me, and the strike had disorientated him. He tried to grab at my arms, but the leather of his gloves was slippery against the fabric of my outfit. He struggled hard, bruising my torso with his fight. But I was more determined. He fought for eleven seconds while I held him down before he went slack. I held on for another three before I let him go slowly – he thudded to the ground. I didn't have time to be proud of myself.
I stole up the stairs. The upper level was just offices on the perimeter of the room with a walkway surrounding the perimeter like a balcony. I peeked over the railing. There was another guard up here. I went up the second flight and found another guard across from me. The third level was blissfully empty. As I cleared the top of the stairs I looked out and up towards the hole in the roof and approached the railing. There, on the bottom floor, far side, all the guys in my team were lined up on their knees with their backs to my new position. Kat stood on the other side of them, James to her right and behind her. Lastly, Matthew was sat on the floor, his twisted leg looking helpless and like he'd been through a woodchipper.
I looked around. There, to the left - I winced. It was one of the members of team four next to one of their guys, probably the guard who had been up here, dead and on his back. I quickly made my way to him and hooked my fingers under his bulletproof vest, tugging with all my weight to get him as close to the railing as possible. Then I made my way to the member of team four, unclipping the harness from his body before clipping it around my own and tightening the straps just in case. The bag came off my shoulder and I did what I'd watched Amir do – pull a sniper rifle from its case and set it up. My mother's sniper rifle. I quickly knelt next to the corpse of their guard and, feeling super gross about what I was about to do, I lay down on the floor on my stomach and arranged the rifle across his chest as I'd seen Amir do. You're using a corpse as a rifle stand, my conscience screamed. I shut it down.
As I was looking through the scope, I twisted the nobs and dials to work on the rifle's focus. I pushed my glasses up my nose.
There they were; Kat, James and Matthew, facing my direction but giving their attention to Duncan before them, who'd dropped his phone somewhere during my escapade to wave a gun.
"Pathetic!" he was saying on roaring laughter. "This is what they sent for you?" he waved at the remaining eight of my team who scowled at him. The smoke had dissipated to the point of almost gone. What am I going to do? I had no idea what I was doing. I fit the butt of the rifle flush up against my right shoulder in the curve between my collarbone and shoulder. I used my left hand to guide the body of the weapon, leaning forward into my arms, and pressing my cheek flush to the stock. My right hand instinctively went to hold the gun near the trigger, and I set my sights on the action. What are you going to do? And why does this feel... right? I breathed in deep, let it out. Yes, concentrate on your breathing.
In. Out.
"Your team is useless." he was roaring in laughter, waving a massively ostentatious gold hued gun around. I curled my lip in disgust.
"Stop it, Duncan." James snapped. He stepped forward. "Kill me, fine, but Kat and Matthew have nothing to do with this. This is about you and me, and nothing else." Duncan chuckled good naturedly, and then pistol-whipped James so fast I flinched, and he went down like a brick before rolling to his knees and spitting blood.
"I'm going to kill your son now." Duncan stepped forward. As if instinctively, the crosshairs in my sight found the back of his skull. I could do this, I could make this shot cleanly-
"No!" Kat screamed and launched herself to right in front of him and I jerked the gun away. If I'd pulled the trigger, the bullet would have torn through his skull into her - she was a foot shorter than him. Jesus, Kat. I quietly lined the shot up again, my skin crawling.
Duncan pulled a second gun as gaudy as the first and aimed it at James. I had to strain my ears to hear his next words. "I'm going to pull this trigger." He told her quietly, indicating the gun in his right hand on Matthew. "And if you move an inch, I'll fire on James too. So you're going to stay right in front of me, little Kat." If I shot at Duncan, I'd kill Kat. What could I do? Mother fuck-!
Duncan had his gun on Matthew, if I clipped him in the leg he could pull the trigger. If I shot him in one shoulder, the other gun would go off. My team were tied up, his team were in complete control and I had no one to help me. I was alone.
He chuckled and moved and inch closer to her. She flinched. "I want you to kiss me, Katerina." He purred. She hissed.
He cold-cocked her, and the gun was back on James in a flash before I could even try to pull my trigger. She winced, and I watched through the scope as blood poured down her temple. She shook her head and looked skywards....
... where her eyes narrowed and locked on me.
I don't know how she saw me in the shadowy alcove, but she did. Her eyes widened for a fraction of second before looking to Matthew then to James and back to me. Then her eyes whipped to Duncan, she was seeing that I couldn't do anything- the sight line was screwed.
"Kiss me, and I'll spare James." He purred. She shook her head as James and Matthew started spewing choruses of swear words.
"You'll just kill them anyway." She growled. He laughed. "Probably." he agreed. "But, here you have a chance to save one."
She looked down, and I saw glittering through the scope along her lash line. When she looked up, she was staring right at me, tears spilling from her silver-grey eyes.
"Kiss me." Duncan ordered.
She looked me straight in the eyes from so far away before she haughtily, loudly and with implication meant for me, declared "I would rather die." I didn't understand the emphasis of her words or why she was looking at me with such intensity. Then, suddenly, I understood.
My head was up and I was shaking it at her violently with horror on my face faster than I could think. "We don't have a choice." She assured me from across the chasm between us.
"Yes," Duncan said with a laugh, not knowing she was talking to me. "You really don't."
I was vehemently shaking my head, but she was nodding slowly, tears flowing freely, her expression breaking me. "If you don't do this, he'll die." She assured me.
"Yes." Duncan purred. "If you don't kiss me, James will die."
"James, Matt. I'm so sorry." She whispered, crying. "Matthew, I love you and I'm so sorry."
James' eyes were narrowed to her, seeing and hearing the way she was speaking, trying to follow what she was looking at, and then he saw me. I watched his eyes flick between my line of fire and Duncan, before seeing Kat's position in it. He stared at Matthew. His eyes widened, and he fell back onto his ass with pain in his eyes. He saw what Kat saw, and worse, he agreed with her. His shoulders slumped in resignation and he raised his head to look at me. "Do it." He said to me. "There's no other way." My mouth was open and it was all I could do not to shriek "Are you fucking crazy?"
"See?" Duncan snapped. "Even James just wants to live. Do it. There's no way I'm letting your son live, but I might let your boy toy free."
She breathed deep and then whipped a sarcastic grin at Duncan. "Do it." She hissed.
No, no, no, no, no, no-
He leaned towards her, his skull eclipsing hers. James wasn't watching them, he had his eyes on me. Matthew was going to die. Matthew was going to die. No, I cant, No.
"Do it now." James whispered, and Matthew looked at him before following his eyes to see me above them all. He roared - "Katherine, no-!"
But it was too late. I breathed in, breathed out. It's the only way...
When the last of the breath left my lungs, my finger curled and gently squeezed the trigger. The bullet fired with the sound of a whip cracking like thunder, echoing against the marble.
The bullet found its home. It struck the back of Duncan's skull, tore through flesh and bone and membrane and then found its way into hers. Duncan's body fell away from Kat's body. His hit the cold stone and hers fell straight into James' waiting arms where he curled himself around her and began to sob. I stepped from the shadows. They all stared up at me.
How had Viera known this would happen?
I felt hollow space where my soul used to live inside me.
I killed Katerina Veynox.
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I'd really appreciate comments though I know they're probably hate comments. This was how it was going to go from this books conception. I appreciate hate comments, too.
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