pulling it out and blood flowed freely from the wound. I was going to have to make a move soon, or I wouldn’t have the strength.
I saw movement again, and my instincts told me there was someone watching us.
Swain turned his attention to Giorgio for a second, and I studied the door, which was open a few inches. Someone was looking in through the crack in the hinge side, but I couldn’t tell who. I prayed it was someone X had sent. Giorgio and I were due to check in ages ago, and I was sure he was worried about us.
31
Ezra
I fought back tears as I stared at Leo’s beaten, bloody body through a crack in the door. He was alive, though. That was what mattered. Giorgio hadn’t moved since Niall and I had found him and Leo, but he finally stirred. A second later, his eyes flew open.
“I see you’re ready to join our games,” Swain said.
Giorgio looked over at Leo, and Leo nodded. Was that a signal?
Niall turned to me and pointed to his wrist. When I tilted my head, I could see that the ropes around Leo’s wrists were frayed. He could get himself free, but he must be waiting for something.
Niall turned to me again and mouthed the word distraction. He pointed to his gun, then to himself. Next, he pointed at me and opened and closed his hand to indicate speaking.
I nodded, and he shifted position like he was about to move into the room. I hoped to hell I understood the plan.
I held the gun Niall had given me, but my hands shook, and I doubted I could make a shot.
As soon as Niall stepped into the open, I stepped behind him and yelled, “Leave him alone.”
What happened next took place so fast I wasn’t sure I’d really seen it.
Niall raised his gun, aiming at Swain. Leo burst from his chair with a roar. His legs were still tied, but he managed to gripped Swain’s head and wrench it to the side. A horrible crack echoed in the room, and Swain slumped to the floor, his head at an impossible angle.
“Leo?” He looked up at me, and I raced toward him. He hit the floor before I reached him.
Giorgio was struggling to free himself. “Leo will be fine. Hold your gun on him,” Niall pointed to Swain. “If he twitches, shoot him.”
I didn’t think there was any chance Swain was alive, but I did as Niall said while he worked to free Giorgio.
Before he’d cut through Giorgio’s ropes, a man burst through the door. He roared when he saw Swain on the floor and raised his gun, aiming for Niall. I shot him in the center of the chest. His mouth dropped open before he crashed to the floor. I looked down at my gun, then back at him, then back at my gun. My hand seemed alien, like it was connected to someone else’s body. “Oh my God. I…”
“Saved us,” Niall said, laying a hand over mine and taking the gun from me. “You did exactly what you needed to do.”
A larger man raced down the hall, and I tensed. “It’s okay,” Giorgio called. “That’s X.”
There was a smaller, thinner man behind him who didn’t look much older than me. Was that Emilio?
I focused my attention back on X and sucked in a breath. No wonder Leo had said I’d recognize him. Was he really the leader of Vigilance?
I glanced back down at Swain, expecting him to leap up like some kind of movie monster. Giorgio shook his head. “He’s very dead.”
Leo had killed him in a split second with his bare hands, and I’d… The world started to spin around me.
The man I thought of as Massachusetts royalty wrapped an arm around my shoulder, steadying me. “Let’s check on Leo.”
“Oh God. Leo… Is he…”
The man I was struggling to think of as X encouraged me to kneel at Leo’s side as he checked Leo over. “None of his wounds look serious. He’s lost a decent amount of blood, but not enough to really make me worry.” He turned to Giorgio then. “What happened?”
Giorgio looked like he was struggling to remember. “We were shot with tranquilizer darts before we reached the house. After that… I don’t know. I’ve been out of it. I think they used the fucking dose for a bear.”
“Jesus. At least you’re all right now. I’ve got men on their way to clean this up.”
“How… how are you going to…”