Olivia’s lips tremble, but she doesn’t pull away. Her fingers tighten around him, a gesture that seems to please him immensely.
The paralytic drug keeps me immobile and powerless. I can’t save my sister from this monster. I can’t even save myself. All I can do is pray that Hunter finds us before something truly unforgivable happens.
9
HUNTER
Blood drips from the combat knife in my hand as I step over the body of Jax’s guard. He won’t be the last to die tonight. Not by a long shot.
“Clear,” Penn whispers through the comm in my ear. “East wing secure.”
“South entrance locked down,” Grayson confirms. “Two guys neutralized.”
The abandoned pharmaceutical facility looms around us; a labyrinth of darkened corridors and equipment left to rust. Moonlight filters through broken windows, casting long shadows across concrete floors. The air reeks of chemicals and neglect.
“Movement ahead,” I murmur, signaling my team to halt.
The red dot from my laser sight dances across the darkness. Something glints in the corridor ahead—a thin wire stretched ankle-high across our path.
“Trip wire,” I gesture, dropping to one knee.
Blaze kneels beside me, his expression grim. “This isn’t random. They knew we’d come.”
The realization burns through me, icy and precise. Jax has been planning this war longer than I suspected. Each of these locations is a carefully constructed death trap.
I clip the wire with specialized cutters, the tension releasing with a soft ping. Behind it, pressure pads line the floor in a staggered pattern.
“They’re herding us,” Penn observes. “Forcing a specific path.”
“Straight into an ambush,” I finish for him, tasting copper on my tongue.
Somewhere in this city, Aurora is being held by a man who’s had years to plan my downfall. The thought of her in Jax’s hands sharpens my focus to a lethal point.
“Blaze, bypass the corridor. Create our own entry point through the east lab. Grayson, deploy thermal imaging. I need heat signatures before we breach.”
They do as I instruct, even as I catch the unspoken concern in their eyes. We’ve hit two locations already with no sign of Aurora or Olivia.
“Hunt,” Grayson’s voice crackles through my earpiece. “Thermal’s showing multiple heat sources in the sub-basement. Could be targets, could be a trap.”
“Could be both,” I respond, checking my weapon.
The rage I’ve kept contained since Aurora’s abduction simmers just beneath my skin. If she’s here, nothing will stop me from reaching her. If she’s not, I’ll tear through every one of Jax’s men until I find where he’s hiding her.
We breach the sub-basement with explosive precision, simultaneously through four entry points. The moment we clear the doorways, gunfire erupts.
“Take cover!” Penn shouts as bullets chip concrete inches from his head.
I pivot and put two rounds through a gunman’s throat before he can adjust his aim. Blood sprays across industrial piping as he drops. Three men appear from behind chemical tanks, firing modified carbines.
“Cover me!” I command, breaking left while Blaze lays down suppressing fire.
The weight of my rage propels me forward, each movement calculated and deadly. I slide behind a concrete pillar as rounds impact where I stood moments before. Without hesitation, I swing around the opposite side and eliminate two more of Jax’s men with mechanical efficiency.
“Hunter, your three o’clock!” Grayson warns.
I drop to one knee and fire upward, catching the fourth gunman as he attempts to flank from an elevated platform. His body crashes onto the equipment below.
“Clear this level!” I order, advancing through the space. “Find me something!”
