Brielle came up behind Asier first. He had the best angle on the door and was moving to get inside, leading the way. She snapped his neck fast, dropped him and was back in the tube, seeking her next target, a taller, swarthy man who trampled the pink hydrangeas on the right side of the stairs as he charged the door. She emerged from the shadow, gripped his skull and broke his neck fast, and stepped into a longer one that took her to their backup man.
She chose him because he had Raimondo pinned down. She could clearly see the angle he had on the inside of the house. The drive was circular. The SUV was parked right beside the stairs and their backup man was on top of the vehicle with his rifle. If they were going to get that door closed, locked and able to keep the others out, she would have to take him out, but she needed to do it fast. Already, her body was giving out, growing weak fast.
Blood was spraying inside the tube from her wounds. She had no idea how bad they were but she was functioning so she doubted they could be too bad. Still, the inside of the shadow appeared reddish-black with blood, all along the curves and even overhead, slick with it. Her stomach was inside out, ripped out of her now, one of the worst illusions she sometimes had, adding to the sickness in her mind.
Taking a firm grip on herself, Brielle transferred quickly into the small shadow that had a slick tube, one that would take her very fast beyond the SUV if she wasn’t alert and ready. As she sped past the large vehicle at breakneck speed, she stepped from one feeder tube to a narrow shadow she’d spotted running up the back corner of the SUV. That took her right to the roof.
She sent up a silent thanks to the universe that it was night and the clouds were dark because the moment she stepped out of the shadows, blood splattered across the roof. That wasn’t an illusion. The blood was very real and appeared wet and nearly black as it fell on her target. He started to turn, but she was fast, one knee planted on his back as she gripped his head in her hands and smoothly ended his life.
A bullet hit the body as she dropped it and she leapt from the SUV into the nearest shadow created by the yard lights, one that hopefully would take her up to the house. Still, she felt another burn along her ribs as she heard the spray of automatic fire.
Where was their backup? Who was it? She couldn’t remember. Her brain was glitching and her stomach was completely gone, left behind with intestines and entrails in a bloody mess in one of the tubes. She’d never find any of her insides and be able to put herself back together. There was too much blood in her eyes to see where she was going. She didn’t think she could make it back into the house. If she had to make an exchange, she wouldn’t be able to. She’d lost too much blood and was too weak.
Brielle could only hope she’d done enough and Raimondo could get the door closed. Hopefully he’d called for their backup and the Ferraro surgeon for Leone. She knew every rider family had them. There was no calling an ambulance, not with active shooters and dead bodies outside their home. And not with riders in the air when they were supposed to be home with their wives. Stefano and Elie had to be protected at all costs, including her life.
The tube spat her out just inside the house. Raimondo caught her arm and jerked her all the way inside, slammed the door closed and locked the house down. Covered in blood, Brielle tried to help him by crawling across the hardwood floor away from the door, toward Leone. She couldn’t see well enough to know whether he was alive or dead. He was so still.
Vaguely, as if a great distance away, she could hear Raimondo swearing. She knew she didn’t have much time. She was a female rider, one able to produce children. He would save her life before Leone’s. She wouldn’t waste time trying to argue.
“Veins. Both of us.” She managed a whisper. Her throat felt swollen. Maybe the tubes had managed to turn that part of her inside out as well. “Collapse.” She knew it was a possibility. She was going to crash soon. If Raimondo didn’t get a vein now, both she and Leone would be in trouble.
Her entire body was shaking uncontrollably. Raimondo was up and running across the room for the cabinet built into the wall where they stored medical equipment and arms. He slammed his palm against the hidden release and the door sprang open. Rushing back to her, he was on the floor beside her, swabbing the inside of her elbow and inserting a needle.
“Dario is backup. He’s already here and taking out the rest of those bastards.” They could hear the steady sound of gunfire. “God, Brielle, you’re shot all to hell.” He was inserting a needle into Leone’s veins as well. “Once Dario clears the way, we can get the surgeon in here. Don’t you dare die on me, Brielle.”