Through blurred vision, he hops up spryly from his knees without the assistance of his hands or arms—and despite the fresh wound on his leg—surprising his two guards. He cracks his own skull with one of theirs, wrenching his gun from his grasp before the Nazi crumples to the ground. Bes shoots him for good measure.
Something moves out of the corner of my eye, and I open my mouth to shout out a warning as the other one raises his gun and cocks it. But Cec is quick—he sweeps the Nazi’s feet out from underneath him with his cane. He must hear where the gun clatters to the ground because he’s able to kick it away across the grass.
With one last surge of adrenaline coursing through me, I find the strength to do what I need to, what I should’ve done in Cairo: I use my good hand to pull my pocket gun from its holster on my right leg.
Ingrid shakes her head to clear it, taking stock of a rip in her nylons from when she hit the ground. I tuck in my injured arm and use my elbow to push myself up into a sitting position. Gripping the gun with my right hand again, I point it shakily at Ingrid.
My voice trembles violently, my vision spinning. “Tell me about my father, and I won’t kill you.”
She wipes the blood from the second head wound I’ve given her—fury rages in her blue eyes and purses her crimson lips.
“Even if you did kill me, it would serve no purpose except to anger the Third Reich. They’ll simply send others like me, and by then, they may not need you alive.”
“Why do the God Men need me alive now?” I demand, my adrenaline waning. “And what does it have to do with my father?”
She clicks her tongue, moving to reach behind her. “I’m afraid you’ll have to come with me to find out.”
That’s not going to happen.If they had Nonna, maybe. But I haven’t seen my father in years. If they think I’m loyal to him because he’s my blood, they’re sorely mistaken.
And there’s always the chance she’s bluffing.
“Don’t do it,” I warn Ingrid, her hand maintaining its path for what I can only presume is to reach for her gun again. “Iwillshoot you.”
She smiles. “Oh, I don’t think you will. You couldn’t do it in Cairo, and you won’t do it now. You’re too much of a coward.”
She cocks her head in the direction of Cec and Bes, who are still fighting the two men; Mara hasn’t moved, frozen in what I imagine to be self-preservation. Or, she’s at least weighing her chances of survival, depending on who gets the upper hand. Which is idiotic because she’s already made her bed—the order would never take her back. Not after what she’s done.
“You’re not like them, Miss Hawkins. You don’t have an inflated sense of morality or an irritating need to make the world a better place. You simply want to do your job and be compensated for it.” She grins. “We can help you with that.”
I grimace. A week or so ago, she might’ve had me pegged. Not that I’d ever join the God Men, or any other organization aligned with the Third Reich, no matter what they promised me. But Ididdesecrate an ancient temple to steal an amulet I expected monetary recompense for. This would’ve been followed by a quick trip back home where I likely would’ve never thought about it again.
I’m not that woman anymore.It’s not the order’s doing; though I’ll never admit it to them, Bes and Cec have helped me become a better person. Despite all the other expeditions I’ve been on, they’re the ones who have shown me that there’s more to this world than my own little corner of it, and I want to save it. Ineedto save it.
“At least I try to atone for my sins,” I say finally.
Ingrid sneers, seeing there’s nothing she can say to appeal to me. “You’ll never be able to make up for all the blood you and your family have spilled.”
My family.She must know of their involvement in the order.
Before I can consider this further, she whips her arm forward and I catch the glint of the gun in her hand—
I pull the trigger.
Surprise flits across her face a split second before her head snaps back. Her legs give out beneath her and she collapses to the ground, a bullet lodged deep into the center of her skull.
I fall back too, the last remnants of adrenaline leaving with that bullet. I can’t even expend effort to celebrate her demise as blood continues to leak out of me, unchecked.
There’s no pain anymore. Instead, a deep numbness envelops me, and I know I’m dying. I struggle to keep my eyes open, butit’s proving to be impossible. As much as I fight to stay awake, a part of me wants to give in. I don’t want to die, yet it would be easier than this. Than everything I’m about to face if I survive.
A voice calls my name, a hand cradles the back of my head.
I think it’s Bes holding me, but I can’t be sure. I open my eyes—I didn’t realize I closed them—and everything blurs.
Desperation breaks his voice. “Miss Hawkins, please.Please.”
In the distance, Cec calls Mara’s name, but no one else makes a sound—Bes and Cec must’ve dealt with the last Liechtenstein Nazi.At least they’ll be safe.
My sight clears for a moment, and I meet Bes’s gaze. His brown eyes are warm, and full of pain and deep concern. If I’m being honest with myself, I’m not deserving of his attention. Or of him.
