Arcanum Hominem (#1)

Chapter 45

"Just a few more minutes. I'm sure he'll come." I tapped my fingers on the dashboard nervously, leaning forward to get a better view of the entrance to the building. Killian sighed beside me, and I heard him shifting.

"Scarlett, it's been three hours. He should be at work already, which means he either took a sick day, or he got in the building another way."

I huffed, sitting back in my seat. "I thought you were sure that there was no other way for him to get in the building. Why is that an option now?" I asked, rolling my eyes. I knew I should've asked more questions or at least did a little more research on the building myself. Killian glance out of the window before looking at me.

"I've been in this building before. During another operation." His voice was low, and I leaned in to hear him better.

"Another operation? Were you after another target that working in the building?" I asked, taking in his facial expression and body language. He looked on edge.

"Not another target. The same target."

My eyes widened as I realized what he was saying. "The first operation wasn't successful, was it?" 

Killian huffed and shook his head, jaw ticking. "It wasn't. This means during the time we weren't after him, he could've had another entrance, a secret one, built so that people like us won't be able to just catch him entering from the front." He explained and cursed, punching the steering wheel. The horn blared, and I quickly looked around to make sure no attention was on us. 

"I get you're upset, but I need you to calm down so that you don't bring any unwan-"

The back window exploded, and I screamed, ducking down. 

"What the fuck!" I lifted up my head, but Killian yanked me back down.

"Stay down!" He yelled and looked up himself, an angry look on his face. He quickly started up the car, threw it in reverse, and mashed the gas. The car bumped into something, and I heard a grunt, and my eyes widened. I glanced up to see a hole in the dashboard—a bullet hole. Killian reversed again, and another grunt filled the air. 

"Are we getting shot at?" I yelled when Killian ducked, and his window shattered. 

"Yes! Stay down!" He shifted gears and peeled out of the spot we were in, speeding away. Shots were fired, and Killian kept ducking to keep from getting hit. I didn't want to just sit here and do nothing, so I slowly got up, taking out my gun. Before Killian could stop me, I hopped in the backseat, swiping the glass away with my feet. Most of the back window was shattered, leaving a gaping hole in place of the glass.

"Scarlett, what are you doing? Get down!" Killian shouted and swerved, making me lose my balance. 

"Ah, shit!" I fell to the side and pushed my hand on the seat to catch my fall, and sliced it on a piece of glass. I ignored the pain as I tried to pinpoint where the gunshots were coming from. There was a black SUV directly behind us, and I saw the guy in the passenger seat reloading. My eyes widened as I aimed my gun at him. I've never shot at a real person before. The guy was done reloading and pointed a gun at me, and I yelled, squeezing the trigger. The bullet sent straight through the window, and the guy's mouth opened, and he clutched his shoulder. 

"I got one!" I cheered and quickly ducked when the driver stuck his gun out the window. "Keep the car steady so that I can shoot the driver!" I yelled at Killian when he swerved back to back, and I couldn't get up to see anything. 

"I'm trying! How about you stop trying to shoot and come back up here!" he yelled back, swerving again. 

"No! I can do this!" I got back up and tried to steady myself in the unstable car. The wind was whipping at my face even more now, making my eyes start to water. I blinked away the liquid so I could properly see and aimed my gun at the driver. The passenger stuck his head out the window, and I fired two shots at him, and his gun fell out the window as he stilled. I quickly turned to the driver, but I wasn't fast enough. A shot rang out, and pain ignited in my right shoulder, reverberating in my collar bone. 

"Fuck!" I screamed, trying to catch my breath through the pain. 

"Scarlett! What happened? Are you okay?" Killian yelled, trying to get answers from me, but I couldn't speak. I clutched my shoulder, trying to slow the blood flow, and clenched my teeth hard to stop myself from gasping. "Scarlett, talk to me!" 

"I'm fine. I just need to get the driver." I gasped as pain shot up my neck from the shifting. Killian's protests were muffled as I zeroed in on the driver. He had a grin on his face, and I aimed for his head. Without hesitating, I shot my gun three times, and the SUV started to swerve. The driver's gun fell out of the vehicle, and I finally ducked down, hissing from the pain. 

"Scarlett!" Killian yelled, glancing back at me, and his eyes widened. "You're bleeding! Were you shot? Talk to me!" 

I felt woozy, and I blinked a bunch of times to keep my eyes open and not lose consciousness. The pain was so much. I've never felt pain like this in my life. "Um, I shot the driver. I think he's dead. And the other one." I wheezed, not able to speak at a normal volume. 

"Good job, love. Now, where's the pain?" he asked, glancing at me again. I groaned, leaning up against the door, my legs across the seat. I glanced down at my shoulder, seeing my hand coated in blood. My shirt was soaked with it, and I removed my hand to see what would happen. Blood leaked from my shoulder, and I just watched it as it soaked my shirt even more. Killian glanced back again and blew out a breath. 

"Okay, it's your shoulder. Thank god. Okay. Scarlett put pressure on your shoulder. You're losing blood, and you don't want to lose too much." 

I pressed my hand on my shoulder, but I couldn't press it as hard as I wanted to. I felt weak. "Where are we going?" I asked when we passed up the neighborhood to our house. 

"To a friend. She'll be able to help you," he answered, and the car swerved, making me slam into the seat in front of me. More pain shot through my shoulder, and I yelled out in pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to hurry." 

"It's fine. Just try not to kill us on the way." I wheezed as I clutched my shoulder. I wasn't sure how much time passed, but I was starting to get sleepy. I sat up properly and leaned back into the seat, closing my eyes. Killian was yelling something, but his words were muffled, and I finally succumbed to the darkness.