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  Still, I gave them the run around.

  “There’s plenty of places I’d rather be,” I said, shivering violently. “Sicily, Majorca…and god fucking forbid, even Ibiza.”

  The Watchman’s expression held, but he had this tick on the outside corner of his left eye that gave away exactly how pissed he was, and if we were measuring things on the Richter scale…then he was tracking at a twenty. An earthquake that size would cause tectonic plates to split and swallow whole countries.

  He nodded to his BFF and the man grasped my shoulders roughly, hauling me up to the tank. My hair was twisted painfully and I was shoved under again. If it weren’t for the desperation my body felt to breathe, I would’ve enjoyed the silence of my underwater world.

  This time, they held me down for longer, and I couldn’t hold on. Right then, I wished I were a superhero with powers to burn them all into fucking ashes. My puny, weakling, human body needed air to survive, so, even though I fought, my natural reflexes took over.

  I breathed in.

  Naturally, I drowned about a minute after that.

  What was that saying? Third time’s a charm?

  Yep.

  Sweet fucking bliss.

  Who knew death would feel so…peaceful? Why did everyone fear it?

  The world snapped back into blinding clarity as I gasped and choked all at the same time. Coughing, I spat up mouthfuls of water, my desperate breaths rasping through the silent room.

  “Assholes,” I cried. “I’ll fucking kill you.” They’d drowned me, only to bring me back for more.

  I jerked, trying to move, trying to find something to fight with, but I was held tightly. I wasn’t going anywhere, and I roared my annoyance, thrashing like a wild animal. I wanted their blood.

  I was sitting in a chair. Some contraption that reminded me of the dentist, but this one didn’t have a light above, or a smiling nurse brandishing a paper bib and dorky sunglasses. I was in a dark, damp, concrete room.

  There was an industrial halogen light to the side, illuminating the horror that awaited me. Leather cuffs held my wrists in place on the arms, and my ankles were shackled. My gaze fixed onto a table beside me, and I sucked in a shaky breath, fear beginning to take hold. A tray of polished silver medical equipment shone in the light, menacing in their simplicity. Scalpels, clamps, pliers, drills, bone saws… I knew they’d torture me for information. I knew this would be my fate, but it didn’t make it any less terrifying once it had finally been shoved into my face.

  The drowning had been the easy part. This was so fucked up.

  There was movement beside me, and I turned my head as The Watchman stepped into the circle of light. I hissed at him like a wild cat, unable to form any words that did the hate I felt toward him any justice.

  He smiled, unperturbed by my reaction. “You’re quite pretty. I can see why he likes you.”

  I held my breath, watching his every move.

  His fingers paused over a scalpel. “You’re just as sharp as he was, too.” He glanced up at me before his gaze dropped to my exposed arms.

  “What do you want?”

  “You already know the answer to your question,” he replied.

  I swallowed hard.

  He smiled. “And now you know the extent of the danger you find yourself in.”

  My eyes widened, and I pulled harder against my restraints. I know I wasn’t getting free, but fear told me to try anyway. X would be so disappointed that I let it get to me.

  “What do you want with me?” I asked, pulling so hard the leather began to tear into my skin. “What did I ever do to Royal Blood?”

  There was a loud scraping sound and a blast of light. I turned my head, squeezing my eyes closed as I was momentarily blinded. It was day outside. That meant I’d been gone from the cottage longer than I said I would…that would mean X was searching for me. He had to be. He knew what he meant to me, no matter the things we’d argued about.

  Will he still want you once he realizes you were about to hand him over to British Intelligence?

  I shook my head, swallowing the lump in my throat.

  “You were right,” a new voice said. “She’s something to look at.”

  I opened my eyes and found myself looking straight into the eye of another man. I’d never seen him before, but he seemed to know all about me. His hair was dark but had a generous dusting of silver streaked through it. Unlike The Watchman and his apprentice, he wore a slate gray suit, no tie, his black shirt open at the collar. He was refined, almost businesslike, and was totally out of place in my torture chamber. Who was he?

  “She makes a good match for Xavier, don’t you think?” the man asked The Watchman. “Strong, outspoken…feisty.”

  “And who the fuck are you?” I hissed.

  He glanced back down at me and began to laugh. “I have to stay and watch this,” he went on, ignoring me. “It’ll be better than a summer blockbuster at the cinema.”

  “Who are you?”

  With a growl, he grasped my face in a strong hand, his fingers digging into my skin. He held me firm, his cold eyes drilling into mine. “Who do you think I am, little girl?”

  Dreadful realization began to crawl across my skin and settle into my heart, twisting until I thought it might break. He didn’t have to say it.

  “Greggor,” I whispered.

  He smiled and leaned down, pressing his lips to my forehead. “We’re going to have so much fun, Mercy. Just you wait.”

  I twisted my face in his hand and managed to loosen his grip. “Get fucked.”

  Greggor straightened up, brushing a hand over his suit jacket and turned to The Watchman. “What did I say about fun?”

  “Try all you want,” I hissed at them. “You’ll never get anything from me. I’d rather die.”

  Greggor smirked down at me. “That could be arranged, but we have something a little more delectable planned for you, my dear.”

  I frowned, shrinking back against the chair. “I’ll never give him to you.”

  “Oh, but you will.” Greggor smiled like he was the cat who got the cream. He was an evil genius, after all. “And you will be willing to do anything to comply.”

  My blood ran cold, ice settling into my veins. No…

  “We’re going to turn you into the thing he hates the most.”

  They were going to take everything that made me Mercy Reid. They were going to take the thing X had fought so hard to save.

  They were going to condition me.

  I was going to become a monster.

  They were going to take my soul.

  And there wasn’t a fucking thing I could do about it.

  Fourteen

  X

  We’d almost canvassed the entirety of Exeter looking for signs of Mercy and Royal Blood when Vaughn got a call from Hawkes.

  “Talk to me,” he barked as we drove through an industrialized back street.

  “We’ve found a warehouse over on the west side of the city,” he replied, the call feeding through the car’s Bluetooth system. “Looks promising. Rhodes found the leasing agent and is currently having a chat.”

  In the bad guy glossary, having a chat meant beating the information out of the guy with fists.

  “Who the fuck is Rhodes?” I asked, glowering in the passenger seat.

  “One of mine,” Vaughn retorted, which meant he trusted the guy, so I had to if I wanted his continued help.

  “I’m watching the place,” Hawkes went on. “There’s movement outside, some guards, they look like Royal Blood to me. Concealed weapons, tough guys, you know the kind.”

  “Security?”

  “CCTV cameras are set on each entrance and corner. There’ll be blind spots, but it’s hard to say…” Hawkes trailed off, the phone rustling. “Wait… Someone is arriving.”

  Someone… It could be anyone. The Watchman? An associate?

  “Sending through a photo,” Hawkes came back with.

  “Have you been made?” Vaughn asked
, tossing his phone to me.

  I opened Hawkes’ message, and the photo appeared. Instantly, my blood ran cold, the scars on my chest seemed to flare with phantom pain.

  “The Watchman,” I said.

  “The Watchman?” Vaughn asked, glancing at me. “You know the guy?”

  I grunted. “He’s Royal Blood. If he’s there, then so is she.”

  “Who is he?”

  I shook my head. “Get as much intel on the building as you can,” I shot back to Hawkes. “I want to go in tonight.”

  “Tonight?” Vaughn scoffed. “We’ve got two hours to plan a full-scale tactical extraction… X, that’s fucking ballsy, but—”

  “We go in tonight,” I snapped. Slamming the button down on the call with Hawkes, I severed the connection and glared at Vaughn. “If The Watchman is there…she hasn’t got any time.”

  His eyes widened as he suddenly got it.

  “The Watchman was the man who conditioned me,” I replied.

  Sucking in a sharp breath he said, “Holy fuck.”

  Holy fuck, indeed.

  Sense and training told me it would be the case, but visual confirmation had made it all too real knowing the things Mercy was currently enduring. That was my fault. It was the denial to face my past that had embroiled her in this and I would die trying to save her from it. Her suffering…it was my fault, all of it.

  I would end this tonight.

  I sat huddled over the tiny electric heater in Vaughn’s office, trying to keep my head screwed on.

  “Hawkes should be back at any moment,” the man himself said. He sat across from me, his phone in his hand. “He’s got the blueprints.”

  “Good.”

  He didn’t say any more. He’d already said what he could, and repeating himself would only serve to piss me off. Short story, Vaughn knew what was good for him. I’m sure his thoughts were filled with Lorelei and The Watchman. In those days, the torturer was a man for hire, so there was a good chance that he was responsible for Lorelei’s demise as well as mine. It was only recently that he threw his lot in with Royal Blood. Either way, it didn’t matter who he pledged his allegiance to. The Watchman would still die.

  There was movement out in the distillery, and we both glanced up as a moment later, the door to the office opened. Hawkes appeared, a roll of paper underneath one arm. Getting straight to the point, he rolled the plans open across the top of the desk. “Courtesy of Rhodes via the leasing agent.”

  I raised my eyebrow before turning my attention onto the map. The warehouse was situated on the outskirts of Exeter, in the far west. The area was sparse, the buildings here spread out, whereas other parts of the city they were close-knit. It was the perfect place to hole up and construct a torture chamber on enemy territory. My mind began to tick over, formulating a loose plan.

  “I brought some guys along for the ride,” Vaughn said, placing his gun on the desk. “We’re going to need fire power.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “How many?”

  “Three. I know how you are with your identity,” he went on. “Just say the word and we go it alone.”

  I was pretty sure that I was beyond giving a fuck about my identity. I was on all kinds of radars these days. “Are they good?”

  “Fucking brilliant,” Vaughn said with a smirk. “They’re my men, after all.”

  “Cocky bastard.”

  “Need to be in this game, X.”

  I nodded. I wasn’t stupid enough to try this on my own. “Do it.”

  Vaughn nodded to Hawkes, who was lingering by the door, and he opened it, letting in three well-built men dressed in black. They looked the part, but did they talk it too? I appraised them with narrowed eyes.

  “This is Rhodes, Ludbrook and Charlie,” Vaughn said, pointing each one out. “We’re on a short timetable so listen up.” The men joined us round the desk, glancing down at the map and blueprints strewn across the surface. “Ludbrook, you’ll take care of the junction box. The security system will need to be wired so the image runs on a loop.”

  “I’ve got no dummy images to plant…” he interjected.

  “Then we’ll have to get inside and get this done fast,” Hawkes said.

  Vaughn placed a finger on the map. “The layout is fairly straightforward. Entrances are on all sides, so we will come from each.” His finger moved, pointing out all the entry points. “Neutralize any sentries, strike at once.”

  I peered at the map, then at the blueprint. They would be expecting an attack from the ground, going for the obvious entrances would be…too obvious. But what if there was another way in?

  “Here,” I said, pointing to the blueprint.

  Vaughn glanced up at me. “Smart bastard.”

  The others waited, sharing confused glances.

  “The ventilation shaft,” I explained. “I will gain access to the roof, repel down the shaft and make a grab for Mercy while you distract them. They’ll suspect it but will have their hands full.”

  “By yourself?” Charlie asked, looking skeptical.

  “What did I fucking tell you?” Vaughn asked with a roll of his eyes. “You thought you were the best? You’re looking at better. That fuck can do anything. He’s got a hit list longer than War and fucking Peace.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Vaughn.”

  Rhodes elbowed Charlie. “That’s the guy…”

  I thumped my fist onto the table, rendering the room into total silence. “Then you know what will happen to you if you don’t keep your fucking head in the game.” I began to gather up the intelligence. “We move in ten minutes. Get your shit together.”

  They stood staring at me, and it wasn’t until Vaughn clapped his hands and shouted get a move on imbeciles that they snapped to attention and began checking their equipment.

  “Are you sure this plan is going to work?” he asked once they were out of earshot.

  I glared at him, checking the gun I’d shoved into my left side holster. “Yes. It has to.”

  I didn’t trust anyone but myself to go after Mercy. There could be no mistakes, especially where The Watchman was concerned, and besides…I wanted to kill the fucker myself. I wanted to kill him for making me into a monster, and I wanted to make him suffer for hurting her. Rivers of blood… I pulled my other gun and checked the chamber. I’d tear him apart with my bare hands if I had to.

  “X?”

  “What?” I snapped.

  “Keep your focus,” Vaughn said, glancing over his shoulder at his men. “We’ll get her back.” Steering me toward the black cases that the others had brought in, he asked, “Now, what kind of rope do you prefer? Silk, or something a little rougher?”

  The night was abnormally clear, the stars shining down on my shoulders as I stood on top of the warehouse.

  The lights were on inside, and the sentries that had been wandering the yard were easy pickings for Vaughn and his men. I’d darted through the yard and up the scaffolding at the side of the building like a shadow, not once drawing the attention of the thugs inside. The others had scrambled to clear their positions, and I was waiting for the word to descend into the bowels of the warehouse. My gear was in place, the harness tight around my legs and waist.

  Once we launched, we’d have Mercy within ten minutes of entering the building. I’d have her back in ten minutes. Knowing that she could very well be right underneath where I stood, made every fiber in my body tingle.

  The tiny earpiece I wore clicked in my ear, and Ludbrook’s voice sounded. “Junction box is wired.”

  “North corner clear.” Hawkes.

  “South, secure.” Rhodes.

  “West, secure.” Charlie.

  “East, all good.” Vaughn.

  I leaned against the ventilation shaft and checked my harness. Everything was in place.

  “Roof is secure,” I said, pressing the button on my earpiece. “I’m going in.”

  “You’ve got three minutes, X, then we’re coming in behind you,” Vaughn reminded me. />
  “I only need two.”

  Climbing into the shaft, I positioned the rope against the edge and settled my weight against it. It held securely, and I began my descent into the warehouse. The blueprint showed an opening into the second floor twenty meters down, and when I reached the point, I found the grate and scanned the room beyond. It was empty, filled with murky light from an old halogen in the center of the ceiling. Satisfied it was clear, I began prying the grate from its housing. The moment it came free, I lowered it gently to the floor.

  Silence was key. If I were discovered before I reached Mercy, I’d have to fight my way through a shitstorm. If The Watchman knew I was coming, it would mean bad things for Mercy. He could kill her before I even laid eyes on them.

  Climbing into the room, I detached myself from the rope, then stepped out of the harness, discarding it onto the floor. I wouldn’t be leaving the same way I came in, and I didn’t give a shit about covering my tracks.

  Pulling the gun from my left holster, I cracked the door and scanned the hallway beyond. Clear. Pushing out, I raised my gun and tracked it the opposite direction, finding the blind spot behind the door clear as well.

  Moving down the hall, I placed my boots softly against the floor, making my advance as quiet as I could. There was no sound ahead or behind, and I began to have second thoughts. The first door I came across, I entered and scanned for hostiles, but it was dark. The same thing happened with the next and the next. The whole top level appeared to be deserted.

  Descending the stairs, I cleared the stairwell and entered the hallway on the ground floor. If she were here, then they’d have her below, well-guarded, secluded… There should be more activity down here.

  I peered around another corner then cleared another room, dread beginning to settle. Nothing.

  “Vaughn?” I whispered, pressing my finger to my earpiece.