Now he was making that anger take a step back, removing the carrot he’d been dangling in front of it, telling it that the little ray of sunshine that was Indigo Yates was more important and it was going to have to take a backseat.
Without allowing the tiny little changes she’d already set in motion to grow, flourish, then revenge would become pointless. Clinging to the past would keep him angry and bitter. Dr. Gardner deserved to die, and he would, he and his team wouldn't rest until he’d paid for his sins. But it couldn’t be his priority, it couldn’t be his reason for existing.
The truth was, he finally wanted more.
Seeing what Indigo had survived, how she’d kept fighting even as the voices in her head pushed hard at her to give in and end it all, had been the wake-up call he needed. The final push to make him acknowledge that he wanted the same kind of future Steel, Dragon, and Blade did when they’d chosen the women who captured their hearts over everything else.
As he watched men approach Indigo, she fired off a volley of shots. Most went wide, but a couple hit their targets. It didn't do anything to change the inevitable, though. More cars were driving toward them, already called in by the remaining guards, too many men for him to be able to easily take out on his own.
Especially with Indigo in the midst of it all.
Which meant he had no choice but to watch as one of the men stuck a syringe into Indigo’s neck. Almost immediately, she swayed and then dropped, her body caught by another of the men who hoisted her up like she was a sack of potatoes.
The men were whispering amongst themselves, glancing around, knowing he was out there somewhere, but they didn't know enough toknow whether it was just him or his entire team, which one of the team was there, and what enhanced skills they had to be worried about.
Unfortunately, twenty men was too many for him to eliminate before the inevitable happened, but he’d seen the vehicles, memorized the license plates, and memorized as many of the faces as he could as well. He’d kill whoever remained behind, and then he’d track Indigo, join up with his team, rescue her, and bring the entire organization tumbling down, just like she’d told him to.
Nothing would stop him from finding and saving Indigo. She’d just sacrificed herself for him.
Shehad sacrificed herself forhim.
It should be the other way around.
He would burn the world to the ground for her, but she’d stolen the match before he could light it, and then run off with it so he didn't get burned in the process.
Piling back into the cars, half of the men left with Indigo, likely anticipating that they might meet an ambush along the way. They wouldn't, but as soon as he met up with his team, they’d track Indigo and kill every single one of them.
But for now, he was going to take great pleasure in killing the men who’d stayed behind.
They thought they were there to find him and capture him, too bad they didn't know they’d poked the beast by daring to touch Indigo, and all they were going to find was suffering and death.
First things first, with Indigo and the vehicles now out of sight, he didn't hesitate to make a big move. There was no point in trying to be stealthy when they already had the location and his girl.
Now he was just going all out to eliminate and destroy. He’d keep one man alive to interrogate, but the rest of them were about to meet their makers.
Before the men could disperse into the forest, making this much harder than it had to be, Voodoo lifted his weapon, aimed, and sprayed bullets at the clump of men.
Screams of pain immediately filled the air, and they were like music to his ears.
Bullets were fired back at him, but he didn't stop, emptying hismagazine as he moved his weapon back and forth, firing on the group with a relentlessness that left them with little options. They couldn’t find cover, they couldn’t accurately return fire, they couldn’t do anything but pray the bullets evaded them.
By the time he was done, Voodoo was breathing hard, but there were no more bullets coming at him, no more screams, just moans and groans of dying men as they lay bleeding out on the forest floor.
Anger sated for the moment, he made his way down the hill. Voodoo had no idea if Indigo had injured herself in the fall she must have taken to end up at the bottom of the hill, unfortunately close to a small road. While he’d been avoiding roads, they needed to cross this one to get to the place he was going to meet up with his team.
Indigo herself might not even know if she had any injuries, given her ability to not feel pain, but he didn't doubt that as soon as she was back in Dr. Gardner’s clutches, she would be tortured all over again. The scientist wanted to push her to her limits, find out if she had any, or if there was nothing she couldn’t handle.
Maybe these men had once participated in hurting Indigo, maybe they hadn't. They were going to pay for what had been done to her regardless of the role they had played. They were part of it, and that meant they deserved to suffer.
At the bottom of the small hill, he approached the ten men lying on the ground. Four were obviously dead, he could tell from the amount of blood, and the way their bodies lay. Another two lay still, but he could see chests rising and falling. Three were writhing in pain, and one was trying to reach for his weapon.
Pulling out his knife, Voodoo tossed it at that man, burying the blade in his neck, ending his life, because he didn't have time to waste fighting. He wanted more screams, wanted to know he’d gone a small way in righting the wrongs that had been done to Indigo, but he wanted her back more.
Retrieving his knife, he grinned at the three men clutching at wounds. He ended the lives of the two unconscious men, meaning seven were now dead, and three still alive but no longer presenting any threats.
“Who wants to buy themselves a pass to live?” he asked as he wiped the blood off his knife. None of the three men said anything,and he took a step toward them as he shrugged. “Guess you want me to choose.”
Killing the one closest to him, he felt no guilt over adding another death to his tally. Life was precious to him, but not the lives of people who oppressed, hurt, and killed like it was their right to do so. Was it his right to decide that these men paid with their lives for their sins? Maybe if Indigo wasn't involved, he’d say it wasn't, but they’d gone after his girl, which meant any morals he had were taken off the table.
