Oath Bound (Unbound) - By Rachel Vincent Page 0,148
Tower, rather than hired muscle. No one with any real training would have forgotten he was armed, even with a couple of broken ribs and a bruised ego.
I couldn’t see the window from the floor, but the fact that Julia hadn’t sent in more guards said that she and Lincoln hadn’t yet noticed what was happening, and my stomach churned over the thought of what would be horrible enough to hold their attention for so long.
My pulse whooshing in my ears, I rolled onto my knees, then stood—a challenge in equilibrium for sure. But the next part was an even bigger challenge. Balancing on one foot, I bent in half and tucked one leg to my chest, then slid my bound wrists beneath my own backside and slid that leg through the loop formed by my arms. I repeated with the other legs and my hands were in front of me, still bound, but now much easier to use.
Bending, I snatched the dead guard’s gun and aimed at Mitch, who’d finally made it to his feet. “Lift your gun from your holster with two fingers and drop it on the ground.”
“Fuck you.”
I took aim at his chest, and he swallowed visibly, then reached for his gun.
“Slowly.”
Mitch lifted his gun from his holster with his thumb and forefinger, then bent to set it on the ground.
“Kick it to me.”
He did, and I bent to catch it with my foot. “Does Julia have a Jammer?”
He answered without hesitation. “She did. You just kicked him in the face until he quit breathing.”
I wanted to shoot him. I wanted to shoot him so badly. But he was unarmed. That would be murder.
Julia was a murderer, if by proxy. I was not.
Instead, I crossed the space between us in four steps aiming at his heart. “You don’t have to—” he said when I got close enough to see the fear in his eyes, and I slammed the grip of his own gun into his right temple. Hard.
Mitch crumpled to the ground, and I kicked him in the head for good measure. Then I dropped his gun into my holster and knelt to dig his phone from his pocket. I dialed Kori from memory, but my finger froze on the last number when I turned toward the window to find Kenley’s room empty.
You can’t see the whole room, I reminded myself as I pressed that last button. She’s fine.
I hadn’t fired the guard’s gun, so the chances of them having heard the fight were slim.
I held Mitch’s phone to my ear, and Kori answered on the third ring. “Who the hell is this?”
“It’s me.”
“Kris!” Something scratched the phone, and her next words were muffled. “It’s Kris!” Then she was back. “Where are you? Where’s Kenley? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Julia’s around here somewhere, and I don’t know how many men she has, but I could use as many extra hands as you have. Kenley’s...in trouble. I’m going to find her. But I just killed the Jammer, so you should be able to track me.”
“Cam’s already on it,” she said.
“How’s Sera?” I jogged across the warehouse floor toward the panel of switches on one wall. “Is she okay?”
“Scared. Pissed off. Armed and dangerous. She’s something else, Kris.”
“I know. Tell her I’ll see her soon.” I hung up, shoved the phone into my pocket, then slammed my hand down on the bay of switches. The lights all went off at once, and the large room was now barely illuminated only by the light shining through the window into Kenley’s room. There was plenty of darkness through which Kori could bring in our allies, and just enough light to lead me to the door Julia had disappeared through.
I opened the door and aimed down the short hallway, but it was empty. Three doors opened into the hallway, but they were all closed. The first had a square window cut into it, glowing with light from within.
I peeked inside, and my heart stopped beating. Lincoln had my sister pinned to the wall, out of sight from the window.
When I opened the door, I could hear her sobbing. Begging. I crossed the floor in three steps and pulled him off her by one shoulder. He was huge, but I’d caught him by surprise. One more shove, and I had him against the wall. He shouted something inarticulate and went for his gun, but I was faster. I put the barrel of my .40 against his forehead and pulled the trigger.