Helicopter blades screamed louder above our heads.
I lowered into my seat and placed my gift on my lap.
His gaze never left mine. Without a word, he reached for my seatbelt first buckling the strap across my lap and then adjusting it at my hips. His knuckles brushed my thigh. “Too tight?”
“No. It’s perfect.”
“Good.” A hint of a smile curved his lips as he buckled himself in next.
The helicopter rose with a deep, guttural roar, and the floor vibrated up through the soles of my heels.
Outside, gunfire echoed in quick, cruel bursts
Among Kenji’s cologne and our sex on my skin, I caught the scent of burning fuel.
I leaned toward the glass. My breath fogged the window. Sighing, I watched as the rooftop dropped away from us.
Then, I saw it all.
Wait a minute. . .holy fucking shit!!
My whole body froze.
Below us, the compound had erupted into hell.
Over a hundred men battled. Guns flashed in every direction.Bursts of muzzle fire lit up bodies like strobe lights in a nightmare. Blades flashed. Flames erupted from the alley behind the building and then an explosion happened, sending one man flying backward into the air.
I couldn’t process it fast enough. There was just too much. I spotted a man dropping to his knees with a scream. Blood spurted from his neck
What the fuck?
This wasn’t just a few assassins slipping through back doors. This was a full-on army with one mission—kill the Dragon.
Had I not already been on the helicopter, buckled in and clutching my gift like it was a shield, I might’ve passed out right there—body shutting down from the sheer scale of it.
All this time. . .and this. . .was surrounding us?
There were so many dead bodies everywhere. Lined along the building. Sprawled throughout the road and alley. Twisted on top of cars. Some men still clung to life, crawling through blood.
I turned to Kenji.
Next to me, the Dragon lounged like a god—legs spread wide, arms relaxed, as if we were at the opera… not escaping a city on fire.
Shivering, I put my view back on the scene. Every second, the helicopter rose higher, I got an even greater view of the chaos.
Holy fuck!
The blocks further away from Hiroko’s building were in a panic too. Cars were jammed along the streets. Some had even gotten on the sidewalks. Horns blared. Tires screeched. People ran between lanes.
It looked like people were fleeing a natural disaster.
All this was going on earlier too and. . .I’d been moaning against Kenji. An entire battlefield had ignited around us.
Damn.
We continued forward and rose higher.
Neon signs turned to smears. Headlights to ghosts. The dark skyline bled into blackness.
