He froze, chest heaving in short, angry bursts.
I stepped behind him and twisted his wrist away from the radio, pinning him against the wall with my forearm across his shoulders. “You took us hostage and were preparing to kill us,” I crooned in his ear. “Such poor hospitality. I expected more from you.”
He spat at the floor. “We needed leverage.”
“You picked the wrong leverage,” I said.
“You ruined everything,” he snarled. “Revenant will crush you for this.”
“Maybe,” Katya said. “Not my greatest concern right now.”
Katya hit him in the mouth with the butt of her gun, hard enough to split his lip, but not hard enough to knock him out. He cried out and sagged but remained conscious.
I dragged him away from the wall and shoved him into the chair by the main console. “Sit.”
Katya stood over him, weapon steady. “You’re going to explain every part of your plan,” she directed. “And then we’re going to walk out of here. Alive. I’ve yet to decide if you will though.”
Bashir’s eyes darted toward the door. He inhaled, chest expanding.
A new set of alarms blared overhead, so loud they rattled the monitors. Red lights flashed across the room. Doors slammed in the hallway. The entire compound erupted into panicked shouting and the thud of boots.
Katya glared at him. “Fantastic.”
I spun Bashir’s chair toward me and shoved the muzzle of my gun under his jaw. “Unlock the damn building.”
He grinned through bloody teeth. “Why would I do that?”
Katya leaned down until her face was inches from his. “Because if you don’t, we’ll make sure Revenant knows exactly what you planned to do with us. And I promise, they won’t send drones. They’ll send a whole strike team. They’ll burn this place to the ground.”
Bashir faltered.
He knew she was right.
Revenant didn’t tolerate threats, not even incompetent ones.
He lifted his chin, trying for bravado. “You won’t kill me.”
I leaned in close enough for him to see the decision already made in my eyes. “I don’t know about her, but I know how I’m feeling right now. I don’t need you breathing to burn this place to the ground.”
His expression finally cracked, the façade slipping.
Katya acted immediately. She flicked open the knife at her belt and drove it into the side of his neck, giving it a little sideswipe as she withdrew it. His breath caught and his eyes widened in surprise. Katya pressed her palm to his chest and shoved him backward as the blood spread rapidly down his shirt.
He gurgled, reached for something that wasn’t there, and then went still.
Katya wiped her blade on his shirt and shoved it back in her belt.
Several sets of pounding footsteps reached the door. I grabbed the dead leader’s body and shoved it into the corner, clearing our line of fire.
Katya aimed at the door. “When they breach, go right. There’s a second exit over there.”
The door blasted inward. A guard rushed through, rifle up. Katya took him down with two shots center mass. I sprinted forward, grabbed the next guard by the vest, and threw him into the console hard enough to smash a display screen.
More shouts. More boots. They were swarming us.
Katya ducked under the console and fired between the legs of another attacker, hitting a man in the shoulder. He screamed, fell, and dropped his rifle. I seized it, turned, and fired down the hallway, forcing the rest to take cover.
“There are too many,” I called to her.
