Just when he seemed to be listening to me, he moved in again. He grabbed one of my legs so he could remove my jeans.
That was when I started to fight. I kicked him as hard as I could, hitting him right in the side.
He turned more aggressive, using his size to pin down my legs.
So much adrenaline. So much fear. “I’ll make a deal with you. Don’t do this, and when Bones comes, I’ll tell him not to kill you. I will protect you. He’ll kill everyone else in this palace just the way he killed your leader—but you’ll be the one to walk away. You’ll take the power. You’ll be the only one left standing.”
He kept his weight on my legs, but he stopped trying to remove my jeans.
I held his gaze, my heart racing so much that it hurt with every beat. “You know he’ll come for me. You know how vicious he will be. I will be the only person who can protect you. Spare me, and I’ll spare you.”
He stayed on top of me, his eyes locked on mine. An entire minute passed, and nothing but silent eye contact ensued. He deliberated to himself, obviously understanding every word I said.
Even now, Bones was protecting me. His power made lesser men falter, made them cower in fear.
The man moved back, pulling his weight off my legs. Then he pulled up his pants.
I almost started to cry because I was so relieved. Bones protected me. Even when he wasn’t in the room with me, he protected me. “You made the right decision. I give you my word that he won’t touch you when he gets here.”
Sixteen
Bones
We assembled on the ground and prepared to move out.
Crow ignored every phone call he received. It was probably Pearl wanting to know what was going on.
But he didn’t have the strength to tell her.
The tracker showed that she was in the palace I’d infiltrated just a week ago. She was on the second story in a bedroom.
I didn’t want to think about what might be happening to her at that very moment.
“I’ll move in with my team. The two of you stay back.”
Crow looked at me like I’d just said something incredibly offensive. “All three of us are going in there.”
There wasn’t time for an argument, but Crow and Cane wouldn’t blindly follow orders like the others. “The two of you stay back with the other men. I know the palace better than you do. I already researched the place before I hit it the first time. I know how the patrols work. I know where the guards are. I’m gonna hit them hard. But I need to go alone. Because if I don’t make it…then you need to move in. It’ll catch them by surprise.”
Crow still looked pissed, like he didn’t like that idea one bit. “We should give it everything we have.”
“This is my fault, and I’m taking responsibility for it. Vanessa is my woman, and I will get her out of there. I’m not going to risk either of you unless I absolutely have to.”
“Griffin, Cane and I aren’t concerned with our lives right now—”
“Trust me.” I held his gaze, needing him to back down. “Vanessa isn’t my wife—she’s so much more than that. I will get her out of there. They can shoot me as many times as they want. Those bullets won’t stop me. Let me get her out of there and back to you. You can take it from there.”
Crow still wore his enraged expression but didn’t say anything more.
“This is personal now. I want to slaughter every single one of those men until that palace is a graveyard. I don’t want to be worried about you behind me. I don’t want to be concerned with anything else other than murder. This is what I do best. No offense, but you have no idea what you’re stepping into.” I’d killed more men than Cane and Crow combined. I was half their age but had decades of more experience under my belt. “This is my fight. Let me fight it.”
Cane turned to his brother, allowing him to make the final decision.
Crow took thirty seconds before he gave his answer. “Get my daughter out of there, Griffin.”
That was exactly what I was looking for.
I turned away without saying goodbye and proceeded on foot with the team of six men. Most of them were snipers, and they would take their positions and cover me as I entered the grounds. Two of them would come with me, covering my back so I could focus on my front.
We moved through the darkness and approached the entryway to the palace, which sat on a cliff and overlooked the valley. I had a shotgun slung over my back, a pair of Uzis, and two of my favorite blades.