31
Tywin
The elevator was a few clicks from reaching the rooftop and everyone who held a weapon, including a few of the hostages, lifted them to the ready. The stench of body odor and stale blood inside the tight space made it difficult to breathe, but no one complained.
“All clear, up there,” Arjen stated, glancing back at us with a devilish smirk resting on his face.
Why did I get the feeling that he was enjoying this? Although he had called all clear, he and Khane maintained their defensive positions on each side of the shiny metal doors, their reflections distorted and warped.
Tywin crouched low in the middle with his back to the wall and not so much as a hint of fear in his gaze. When his eyes landed on mine, he winked before aiming his weapon straight ahead. The rest of us positioned ourselves against the walls, following their lead and preparing to fire.
“Our ride will be here in five minutes,” Khane announced in a low and clear tone that drew my attention in his direction to see if he was using a device to speak through.
Desiree had revealed to me that he was blind in one eye and usually wore a contact over it. She said he had lost the eye to his own father. Observing him and having seen him in action, he didn’t present any tell-tale signs. There was nothing about him that hinted at any disabilities.
Every time I looked at him, the spa scene popped into my head and played out like a twisted movie scene. The scene was running now and stopped on Khane aiming his pistol at a man’s mouth while another man had his dick inside it. Despite me having years of training and some action under my belt, I had seen more death and destruction hanging around the Vallins in the last month than I’d seen in this life and my past ones.
The doors parted and before they were fully opened, the Vallin men tossed something through the crack without breaking position. It took my wide-eyed gaze a moment to zoom in on three eyeballs rolling into the path we would take like marble-sized drones sweeping the area for trouble. If there was someone out there lurking, the sight should have been enough to make them rethink their actions.
When the doors were fully open and we could all see the passage to the helipad was clear, I breathed a sigh of relief, glad I was one step closer to getting away from this building. We exited the elevator, pointing our weapons in every direction like we’d been trained at the same boot camp. The few men without weapons remained in the middle of our deadly circle, keeping as sharp an eye out for adversaries as we were.
We kept our group close to the wall, trekking along the roof of one of the tallest buildings in this area. Staying close to the wall kept us from the view of the crowd we had been informed had gathered below.
“Are you sure we got them all out?” Arjen questioned.
Three sets of Vallin eyes glanced at the five men with us.
“Syndicate,” Tywin confirmed, answering a question that had been vexing me since finding out they were rescuing the hostages.
This place or more so the people who worked in it had a sick fascination with bringing down the Ferali Syndicate, making me better understand why they had wanted the information embedded in my tattoo so badly.
My face wrinkled at the sight of the smile that had appeared on Tywin’s face and disappeared as fast. He leaned in my direction. “Our guys in the basement are going to need a distraction to get past the crowd out front.”
“And why is that funny?”
Before I received an answer, Khane turned to one of the victims carrying a rifle. “Come and help me be the lookout until the helicopter arrives,” he told the man, but it had sounded like a command.
I didn’t know what Rhi was telling the Vallin men, but why would we need a lookout?
My gaze flashed to the big nicely painted helipad before I stared after Khane and the man’s back as they were walking away. Something was up. I sensed it.
Khane and the man stopped near the area where you would be able to lean over and see the front side of the building below. The helicopter was a distance away, no more than a black dot in the sky, but a dot that represented peace, freedom, and relief.
Khane and the man remained in place, away from the view of the onlookers below whose low murmurs faintly traveled the distance to be heard. What the heck were Khane and the man waiting for and why did the man appear nervous even with a rifle in his hands?
The boisterous sound of rotors churning was a welcomed one. The helicopter drew closer at a sideways glide, swirling hard gusts of dusty wind from the rooftop and forcing us to lean into the drafts.
Once the helicopter was set securely in place, Arjen took off first and secured the door before calling us with a wave. Once we were on the move, Tywin stepped off to where Khane and the man were standing at the roofline. The man appeared to be explaining something to Khane, all waving hands and wide eyes, the kind of firm anxiousness that indicated fear.
Arjen stood at the door while we boarded, and although a smirk was on his lips, his gaze was filled with a thousand devilish ways to make someone scream. Tywin was now standing behind the man who kept glancing back with terror in his eyes.
“Now,” Arjen said right before Tywin kicked the man in the back, sending his body over the ledge of the building, rifle and all. The rest of the survivors stared, stuck in horrified suspense, but I was sure that there was a reasonable explanation for their actions.
Khane and Tywin ran back and hopped onto the helicopter that began to lift off before they were seated and strapped in.
“Are you sure we got them all out?” Tywin questioned in a loud voice to compete with the helicopter’s strong whirls.
“Send the warning,” Arjen added.