Suddenly, Ellery twists around and launches their butcher knife at a bush. A grunt meets my ears, and a man falls over, the blade sticking out from his chest.
“Fucking nice one,” Jax murmurs, and Ellery grins for a moment before it turns into a frown.
“I’m impressed I landed it. It was a long shot.” Their accent slips slightly, and for a moment, they sound less Bostonian and more Irish.
“You did well,” I tell them, and then point at it. “Better go get it before someone else does.”
Ellery hunches down and crawls forward to retrieve it. They reach out and stomp their boot on the man’s chest before yanking. The blade comes out with a crack, and Jax winces.
“Fuck. That’s nasty. I prefer bullets.”
“I prefer knives and saws,” I say.
“Diablo should be here,” Jax says.
“Right? It would be such fun.”
Just then, we hear atap tap tap,and our gazes move up to the roof of the gazebo. Kit is hunkered down there, his red hair almost blindingly bright in the sun. In his hands is a sniper rifle, men being plucked off in the distance with each shot. He does miss some, but I’m impressed. His aim is pretty good for a Craigslist assassin.
Jax must think so too. He lets out a small moan as he watches Kit continue his takedown, and I let out a muffled giggle.
“Hot, right?” I manage to ask.
“Fuck,” he murmurs as I turn to see Luca and Viktor on a balcony, guns in their hands, shooting anyone who tries to advance. Luca is out of his wheelchair, leaning forward as Viktor constantly tries to get him to sit back down, a frown on his face between rounds.
I know it irritates the fuck out of Luca, the stubborn asshole. He is having none of Viktor’s concern. He’d rather die with us than not fight.
Whoever this is, they caught us off guard, but they won’t make much headway. Anthony was prepared. He knew this was coming. After going for the Sirens and taking them down, it was bound to happen. Those women have friends, people who are willing to die for them. And they have money to spend, an entire payroll we know nothing about.
As soon as we get hold of the trespassers, they’ll regret ever taking this job. They’ll regret their loyalty.
Georgiy and I will take the leader apart. My mind latches on to that and I wonder where the fuck he is. Where is my man?
My eyes sweep around the men on the ground, but I can’t make him out.
Shots ring loudly around us, but it’s less than before. They’re failing. They’re losing.
But I’ll lose the most if Georgiy is hurt.
I turn to look at Ellery and see they’re wiping their bloody blade on the grass.
“I need to find Georgiy. Have any of you seen him?”
“No. Last I heard, he was with Anthony. They were discussing something.”
A shot rings out, and I see a man topple to the side in front of me. Someone took him out. Jax turns his head and mutters Kit’s name. Must have been him.
Ellery nudges me. “Think he’s still alive.”
“We should make sure he doesn’t die—” My words are cut off when Ellery bounds forward and slams the knife into the man’s frightened face. Nova jumps after Ellery, pulling them back to safety.
“That was fucking reckless,” Nova grunts as Ellery struggles and kicks out, trying to retrieve the knife from the man’s skull. “You could have gotten shot.”
“I have a thirst for blood!” Ellery cries out as Nova wraps an arm around their waist and holds on tightly. Ellery’s scrappy and could escape if Nova loosens her grip.
“I do too, but you have to be strategic about it,” I tell them, patting them on the arm.
Ellery rolls their eyes. “I’ve known you two minutes and I know you’re not strategic about anything.”
