Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
The room goes quiet again. Colder this time.
“Millie discovered what the nunnery was hiding in Prague.” Melissa continues. “She ran. They hunted her. And when they found her—” Her voice cracks. She clears her throat. “They took her. And left me.”
She reaches up and touches her forehead.
“Why did they let you go?” Shelby asks near the front, arms crossed. “If they're as dangerous as you say, why not kill you both?”
“I don't know.” Melissa's voice drops. “Maybe because I wasn't their target. Maybe because they wanted to send a message. Maybe—” She stops. Looks at Beast. “Maybe you should explain the rest.”
Beast nods, stepping forward and in front of Melissa.
“The men who took them weren't operatives.” His voice is grim. “They were the Five Einherjar.”
Several people shift uncomfortably. Most look confused.
“The five Einherjar are a legend in the criminal underworld.” Beast continues. “Five masked warriors who answer only to Triple Zero himself. They're ghosts. Shadows. They appear, they take what they want, and they disappear. No one who's encountered them has survived to tell about it.”
“Except Melissa.” Frost points out.
“Except Melissa.” Beast agrees. “Which means they let her go on purpose.”
“Why?” Yana asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
Beast looks to me to finish the rest, and I push off the wall and make my way toward my girl.
“Because keeping Millie alive serves a purpose.” I say it flat. Final. “They don't waste resources. If they wanted her dead, she'd be dead. The fact that they kept her means they have plans for her.”
“What kind of plans?” Melissa's voice breaks on the words.
I want to lie. Want to tell her it'll be okay. That we'll get Millie back. That everything will work out.
But I can't.
“I don't know.” The words taste like salt. “But whatever it is, it's not good.”
Melissa sways slightly. Jada reaches out to steady her.
“So what do we do?” Phoebe stands from where she's been sitting with Blake. As soon as they found out about Melissa, they were here in less than three hours. If I do the math, little “speedy” was living up to her nickname and gunning it over one-fifty the whole way. “We can't leave her there.”
“That's the complicated part.” Beast's voice goes even grimmer. “The five Einherjar—they're not like other enemies. They're not even Vanguard. They're worse.”
“How much worse?” Ripper asks, eyes narrowing.
“Put it this way.” I cross my arms. “Vanguard trains kids like me and Beast. Either as a Soldier, Agent, or a Honeytrap, but everyone is trained for one purpose. To kill. They’re untouchable because governments need places like this. They see people on the streets as possible weapons, not as people who need help. Vanguard taught us everything we know about violence, death, and survival. And even they were scared of Triple Zero. Even they knew better than to cross him.” I pause, allowing the silence to be felt before I continue.
“But it wasn’t just street kids they’d pull in. That famous serial killer that gets locked up and then suddenly dies in prison? Yeah, nah, not dead.” It takes a minute, but when my words absorb into their brains, a range of murmurs rustle around the place. It’s not that we’ve ever hidden speaking about Vanguard, because Beast and I have always made sure to let our people know who they are, but speaking of them this in-depth does make me feel a little off.
“Wait.” Travis, bitch boy that we took off Westbeach’s hands, leans forward. “You're saying Vanguard—that has the fucking scariest motherfuckers alive on their side—was scared of this guy?”
“Terrified.” Beast confirms. “Triple Zero is the only person Vanguard could never control. Could never manipulate. Could never touch. Because he wasn't just deadly, he was smart. He built the five Einherjar without anyone knowing, flipped Vanguard on their ass and painted a clown face on them.”
“So they're untouchable.” Melissa's voice is hollow. “You're saying my sister is being held by people we can't fight.”
The silence that follows is answer enough.
“No.” She shakes her head. “No, there has to be—we can't—”
“Melissa.” I move to stand in front of her, forcing her eyes onto mine. Don’t give a fuck who’s all around us right now, she’s gonna hear me. “Listen to me. I've never seen the Five Einherjar. Never encountered them directly. But I've heard the stories. I've seen what they leave behind.” I pause. Let the words sink in. “In all the years they've existed, in all the operations they've run, no one has survived being on the opposite end of their wrath. No one except you.”
“So what?” Her voice rises. “We give up? Let them keep her? Pretend she doesn't exist?”
“You’re not listening,” Beast’s voice drives through Melissa’s anger the only way a president can. “They didn’t catch her to kill her. They caught her to keep her.”
I watch as realisation settles over her face. For a minute, I think the words caught, but she shakes her head, eyes flying back to Beast.