Suddenly, the man stands upright and drains his glass, then he tosses it aside into the arms of a waiting guard and strides into the depths of the party. While most of the guards around him melt into the crowd, a couple stick close. There’s a tall woman with long blonde hair that drapes around her shoulders like a silk sheet, and a broad-shouldered man with a scar down one cheek that cuts straight through his beard. They must be the personal bodyguards.
The man suddenly grabs a guest by the collar and starts drunkenly yelling at him about the state of things and how he’s had to cancel his entire month in order to come here and clean up a mess. Most of the guests don’t seem alarmed at this sudden outburst and my suspicion rises. The last glass of champagne is swiped off my tray, so I lower it and watch as the stranger suddenly pushes the man he’s arguing with. He stumbles back with a cry and falls onto his backside.
Then, before anyone can react, ‘Hawk’ whips a handgun out of his belt and aims it at the splayed man on the ground.
“Sorry?” he bellows. “You’re sorry? Sorry doesn’t fix things, does it! Sorry doesn’t get me back where I need to be!”
The gun goes off and a scattering of squeals and yells of fright dust through the crowd, but no one appears to be particularly alarmed as if this is a common occurrence and they’re happy not to be the chosen one.
Faina locks gazes with me across the crowd, and she nods just once.
Target acquired.
15
FAINA
Cian subtly winks at me and our plan moves into motion.
Our target, Hawk, steps over the body on the ground and strides toward the bar on the opposite side of the room with a few guards trailing after him. Those who stay behind deal with the dead body and within five minutes, it’s been dragged out of the room and the blood swiftly cleaned up. It’s alarmingly fast and would be impressive if I didn’t harbor so much hatred for this man and his organization. With Cian keeping an eye on Hawk, I switch to a freshly filled tray of appetizers and widen my smile while insisting it’s one per guest. They’re laced with strong laxatives, but any more than one and people will be shitting themselves in the ballroom rather than leaving for the bathrooms.
I pass Cian as he moves adjacent to me with drinks and we briefly touch elbows, a touch of comfort while praying that our cobbled-together plan is enough to get Hawk away from his security. Time ticks by painfully slow but one by one, guests start to leave the room with urgent panic on their faces. Even two ofHawk’s guards excuse themselves and bolt from the room while clutching at their belts.
This is our best chance. Cian disappears from the crowd toward the kitchen while I weave myself closer and closer to Hawk, keeping one eye on him while maintaining a natural circle of the room. When I’m a couple of feet away, the distinct scent of smoke tickles my nose. A second later, the ear-splitting shriek of the fire alarm blares to life through the building, igniting panic in the remaining guests. Cian darts out of the kitchen and flashes me a quick smile, signaling that the fire is well and truly underway and no one will be putting it out quickly. The crowd around me surges toward the exit and I make my move.
Hawk isn’t as panicked as the rest of the guests. If anything, he’s much more annoyed and it shows in the way he grumpily shoves past a couple trying desperately to reach the door. Slipping between them, I grab Hawk by the wrist and jerk him backward with all my strength. He immediately overbalances in surprise with a cry that cuts off as I slam the heel of my hand into his jaw. His head snaps back in the opposite direction of where I’m dragging his arm and he overbalances. Quickly placing one foot between his legs, I twist my body and drag his arm upward with me, then curl my other leg around his thigh and throw myself backward to bring him down hard.
He swiftly hits the floor with a grunt and as I fall, I twist my body and slam my knee into his face with my full bodyweight behind it. Dazed and disoriented, it’s then easy for me to drag him upward. Cian appears at my side and together we drag Hawk away from the surging crowd and toward the servers’ entrance. As we rush toward the staircase that leads upward, a warning yell rises from the crowd behind us.
“Shit,” Cian gasps. “That guard!”
“You got him?” I ask while tucking myself under Hawk’s floppy arm and supporting his bodyweight.
“Yeah, you take Hawk. I got this guy.”
Luckily, Hawk is disoriented enough that he doesn’t question my dragging him up the stairs and down a short hallway to the room we prepared previously. It’s not much but it’s enough to buy us some time. Once inside, I throw Hawk to the floor and deliver several sharp kicks to his abdomen to keep him there. He’s torn between hugging his guts and cradling his bleeding face.
As he curls in on himself, the door opens and Cian storms in with the unconscious bodyguard in tow. “Couldn’t leave him on the stairs. He saw our faces,” Cian mutters as he drops him by the foot of the bed. Then he immediately draws his gun, and I lunge forward to catch his wrist.
“Cian!”
“What? We have the fucker right here. Why even bother wasting time?”
His urge to kill, his desire for revenge, it’s all stronger than any logic I can provide, but I still try.
“Listen.” My voice shakes with how hard my heart races. “I know you want to kill him, but we need to confirm he’s the right one. Sure, he’s high up in Hexagon, but there’s nothing to say he’s the one who gave the order. You want to kill the right one, right? You want to cut off the right head?”
Anger blazes in Cian’s eyes as he glares down at the writhing man on the ground. Every muscle in his arms under my hands is rock hard like he’s coiled to strike, and his jaw is so tense that every sharp edge of bone is visible along his cheek.
“He doesn’tdeserveto live.”
“I’m not saying he does, but we have to be sure. Right? Look at me.” Placing my hand on his rigid cheek, I force his eyes to meet mine. “They deserve for us to send them the right bastard, don’t they?”
He glares at me like he doesn’t recognize me for a few seconds and a strange sadness settles in my gut at the sight. Then, very slowly, Cian nods.
“You’re right.”
“I know I am. So, we get him out of here and then we find out the truth.”
