Two men stepped in front of them. One held Prim, the other held Grayson. Each of the girls had a gun to their heads. Suzanne and Xander raised their hands. Xander recognized one of them.
“It’s you again! Morgan, right? I thought you were dead.” Xander asked the burly, dark-haired man.
Morgan laughed.
“Oh, I didn’t die. But my friend did, and you will pay for it.”
“Put your gun down,” Suzanne said to him in Russian. He laughed.
“High priestess? What are you doing with this man? He killed Daan. You loved Daan like a brother. You worked with him for years. Now, you’ve gone rogue against the organization and are siding with the enemies? That’s pathetic!” Morgan said.
“We didn’t even know we’d find you here. The organization has ordered you to be killed. It’ll be an honor to be the one to accomplish that task. We’d kill two birds with one stone,” the other man said. He wore his blonde hair as a bowl cut with side-swept bangs.
“You have been lied to. The Ray of Hope will not give you the life you want. It will only be more crime for you. Aren’t you tired of this?”
“The High priestess has gone soft. Isn’t that interesting?” The blonde man said as he took the gun from Prim's head and pointed it at Suzanne. The man was beginning to irritate Suzanne.
“Hey, boy. You have my tablet, don’t you? Hand it over now,” Morgan said to Xander.
“Let the girls go first,” Xander said defiantly.
“How about this: you hand over the devices or watch the girls die one after the other? It’s up to you,” Morgan said.
“You’ll kill us all anyway,” Xander said, trying to be brave.
“Give him the devices, Xander,” Suzanne said. “There’s no use arguing with them.”
Xander looked at her, and she nodded at him.
Xander pulled his bag off his back and held it out to Morgan.
“It’s in there,” he said, and the men came closer.
Suzanne watched Morgan stretch his other hand to take the bag.
The blonde man was grinning. The mission was so easy.
Suzanne bent, using one hand to hold the blonde man’s hand so that his gun pointed elsewhere, and using her raised leg to kick Morgan’s gun out of his hand. The sound of bullets reverberated through the air, but no one was hurt. With the same leg, she kicked the blonde man on the head so that he fell, taking Grayson with him.
Xander pulled his bag back and rushed headlong at Morgan. Both of them got into a brawl. Suzanne kicked the blonde man’s gun away and kicked his head so that Grayson could get away from him. Seeing the tussle before her, she took the girls' hands and pulled them along as she ran towards the house in the yard.
Once they got to the patio, she let them go.
“Hide, cover your ears, and close your eyes. You’re too young to see what’s about to happen. If you don’t hear your brother’s voice, don’t come out, okay?” she asked quickly, and the girls nodded.
Turning from them, she pulled out the two guns tucked in her belt under her coat and walked away.
The blonde man had gotten up and picked his gun. Morgan was beating Xander, though he didn’t have the chance to get his gun.
The blonde man pointed his gun at Suzanne. She pointed her two guns at him and fired. He fell to the ground dead.
“Morgan, stop it!” she said, standing over him with her guns. When he raised his head and saw her, he froze and raised his hands. Xander was too beaten to move.
“Why are you doing this, Viv? Would you really kill me because of our enemies?” Morgan asked in Russian.
“You don’t understand. Daan didn’t understand either. But if you looked at those two girls as your daughters, you’d get a glimpse of why I’m doing this. If I don’t, this will continue. Spain will fall. The UK will fall too. So many innocent people will di-“
Morgan leaped at her before she could finish her statement, taking her to the ground. He punched her hard on the face, and she felt blood rush from her nose. She tried to reach for her guns, but they were beyond her reach. Another blow landed on her face. She felt consciousness leave her.