“Hey,” he growled, stepping up toward us. “Who the fuck—”
I pulled Amber along as fast as I could, sprinting all out. The game was up, and the guy raised his rifle to start firing.
“Wait,” a voice shouted from behind him. “Is that fucking Ren?”
Felix’s voice. I grunted in surprise as we reached the far staircase. I started down, with Amber right on my heels. Felix pushed past his guy and started after me, and all hell broke loose.
One of Dante’s guys down below opened fire. I didn’t know who, and if I ever figured it out, I’d kick the fucker in the teeth for it. Felix’s guy fired back, shooting wildly down into the boxes and shit below. Felix yelled something and kept running, covering his head as he moved down the exposed catwalk. More guys spilled out from the back office, firing down into the warehouse floor, and I pulled Ambeer behind me as she started screaming. I felt her panic go wild, and I knew she needed to get out of here before things got worse.
We reached the landing below, half a story above the floor. I pushed her in through a door that led into a loading bay then ducked around the corner myself. More firing and shouting, and I looked around, then pulled back as a bullet nearly smashed into my face. I peeked again and saw Felix’s guys falling back, but Felix himself coming down the stairs at breakneck speed. He’d been too far along when the shooting started, and the only safe option for him had been forward.
I knew I had one shot. If Felix got down here, he’d have an easy escape through one of the side doors. Dante’s boys were too busy shooting like idiots up at nothing, and they weren’t paying any attention to the only person that mattered in the whole goddamn place. I readied myself as Felix hit the bottom and came toward where I was hiding, moving like a freight train.
I steadied myself them slammed my forearm into his throat. I hit him perfectly and he gagged as his legs kept moving forward while his upper body slammed to a halt. He went vertical, hanging in the air for half a second, before smashing down to the concrete floor. His head bounced off the stone and he groaned in shock.
I knelt down on his chest and ripped a gun from his hand. I tossed it aside and checked him for more weapons, finding none, then rolled him onto his stomach and bent his arms up behind his back. He groaned and barely resisted, too dazed to do much more than bleed.
“Over here!” I yelled, then looked over my shoulder. Amber was okay: she sat huddled in the corner, hands over her head, freaked out but unharmed. “Fucking morons, stop shooting and someone come over here!”
The firing slowly stopped and one of Dante’s thugs lumbered over, looking annoyed. “We’ve got to go after them,” he said, sounding like a damn bridge troll.
“You’ve got to take this man to see Dante,” I said, moving my knee back. I lifted Felix’s face up by the hair. “This is the leader of the Dusters.”
The thug gave me a blank look until understanding slowly dawned. He turned and ran off, gathered the rest of the herd, and soon the idiots had Felix firmly in their grasp, tied up, smacked around a bit, and carted off.
I walked over to Amber and knelt next to her. “It’s okay,” I said, voice soft. “It’s okay. It’s okay, I swear, it’s over.”
Slowly she brought her hands down and blinked at me. “Was that really Felix?” she asked in a strangled voice.
“Really him,” I confirmed. “Dumb bastard came here himself.”
“Oh, god.” She sobbed once. “It’s over then, right?”
“For now,” I said, and pulled her against me.
I held her tight and let her cry. She earned it. Maybe things weren’t perfect, and we weren’t going to be able to walk away from this like nothing had happened, but Felix was in custody, and Dante would have something to show for my plan. That mattered, and now maybe they’d even turn the war in their favor.
I felt hopeful for the first time in a while as I held her tight and kissed her and told her everything would be okay.
21
Amber
It happened fast after that. I didn’t see what they did to Felix, but I heard the screams back in the mansion. They didn’t go easy on the guy, and I almost felt sorry for him.
Ren took care of me. He brought me back up to my room and took another shower with me, this time being gentle as he washed my back, kissed my neck, promised I’d be safe. I believed him, even if I should’ve felt like being around these men for a single second longer would cost my life.