My lungs burn as I run as fast as I can down the hall.
The elevator is out of the question, not enough time, but there has to be stairs somewhere.
“Keep running, bitch!” the man shouts from not too far behind me. “This is my favorite part!”
A whimper catches in my throat.
I haven’t even seen the man’s face, but his voice is going to be burned into my memory.
Rooms blur by.
I just have to get to Hans.
I just have to find Hans.
He’ll destroy this man for me. I know he will.
The man laughs behind me.
I feel like he’s toying with me. Like he could have caught me by now.
I push my legs faster.
Just ahead, the wall on my left falls away.
Stairs.
I reach out with my left hand and, just as I pass, grab the railing that climbs up the wall.
My momentum whips me around until I’m looking down the stairs, straight at a woman with bright red hair, holding a gun pointed right at me.
“Down!” she shouts, and I let my legs collapse beneath me.
My butt hits the top step, and then she’s shooting.
The bullets fly over my head as I bounce down a few more steps, and I hear a gurgled cry from the man who’s been chasing me.
I duck my head, sliding down a couple more stairs, as the woman shoots once more.
My ears are ringing, but I still hear the thud of a body hitting the floor behind me.
I slide to a stop and open my eyes.
The woman is still standing on the landing, where the flight turns back to go down to the second floor, and from my spot on the steps, we’re nearly eye level.
She lowers her gun and smirks at me. “Cassandra, I presume?”
A noise between a laugh and sob bursts out of me, and I scramble down the last few steps and throw my arms around the woman.
Her body tenses against mine, and I quickly let go and step back. “Sorry. Sorry.” I brush the rogue tears off my face, forgetting and wincing at my bruised cheek. “You must be Karmine. It’s really nice to meet you.” I sniffle.
The intense woman looks at me like she isn’t quite sure what to do with me, then she lifts a radio to her mouth.
The noise of gunfire downstairs has intensified, but I still hear her words.
“I have the butterfly.”
CHAPTER 117
Hans
Karmine’s voice plays through my earpiece, and the world quiets around me.
Cassandra is safe.
I fill my lungs with air.
I won’t be okay until she’s in my arms. But that’s fine. Because I still have some people to kill.
A large man peeks out from around a doorway ahead of me.
Like this guy.
The big man who carried my Cassandra, kicking and screaming, onto that fucking plane ducks back into the room he’s hiding in.
He starts to shut the door like a fucking coward.
I take two sprinting steps, then drop into a baseball slide.
My boots hit the door just as it’s about to close, forcing it to swing open as I slide into the room.
These stupid marble floors are good for something.
My target staggers backward from the door slamming into his shoulder.
He’s holding a gun, but it’s not at the ready.
Mine is.
My first shot goes into his right shoulder. Where ball meets socket.
He drops the gun.
My second shot goes through his right hip. Again, exactly where the joint meets.
It’s a lot of pain for the body to stand against. Especially a body as big as his.
He drops to his knees.
Anger and disbelief contort his features.
I switch my gun into my left hand.
“You touched what’s mine.” I reach behind my back with my right hand.
“And now you’ll pay.” My fingers close around the grip of the katana secured to my back.
It pulls free from the sheath with a satisfying swoosh.
The man’s eyes widen. And his mouth opens. And then he helpfully holds his hands up for me.
My blade arcs down between us, and I sever his hands from his body.
Nobody touches my Butterfly.
The man screams.
And I breathe a little bit easier.
Turning my back to him, I step out of the room and shut the door behind me, but not before locking the handle.
He’ll bleed out soon enough.
CHAPTER 118
Cassie
Karmine pulls a second gun from a holster at her hip. “Here.”
I look at it and then at her. “Um, I don’t know—”
She shakes the handle end toward me in a hurry-up motion. “Just point and shoot. No matter what, it’s gonna work better than a chunk of fucking mirror.”