Blood and Bone | 1

5 | 9

The dark building looked even larger and more menacing than I remembered it. Tall enough to be three stories high, it blocked the moonlight from hitting the ground and cast long shadows.

My eyes dropped to the gangsters guarding the lair. Because we were hiding at a distance, they hadn't spotted us yet. Like the Club members we'd already taken out, they were heavily armed with weaponry.

"Hold them there, Traversa," Jake commanded Riley, gazing at the Club members.

      Riley's onyx eyes shifted from Jake to watch the soldiers as well. As she concentrated, thick vines cracked through the pavement and crawled towards the people. The ivy wrapped around their ankles and spread upwards. They all began to realize what was happening and attempted to shake off the growing vines, but the plants were too strong.

      "Fire on three," Jake told Gigi in a low voice.

      "One." The archer nocked the black arrow.

      "Two." She pulled the string and arrow back with her first two fingers and thumb.

      "Three." Gigi let the arrow fly.

      It went exactly straight, aimed with deadly precision. Narrowly missing one of the gangster's heads, the arrow's tip buried itself in the wall of the building. I waited for something to take place, for tear gas to erupt from the arrow or for it to electrocute the nearby people. Nothing happened.

      Then the arrow exploded, rocking both the building and even the ground we stood on. The distracted guards were enveloped in the fiery mushroom cloud. Smoke filled the area once the flames died down. I knew that we barely had any time before every single Club member came rushing toward the source of the explosion.

"Let's march!" Jake commanded the horde of people behind us and he began to walk toward the gaping hole in the building. The sounds of footfalls filled the air again as the army of criminals moved forward.

      I walked at Jake's side through the smoking hole and into the building. Rubble was splayed out on the floor from the explosion and a few patches of debris were still alight.

      Once we were inside, it was clear where all the other Club members had been. They were all gathering opposite us, ready for a fight. I scanned their numbers and a found few familiar faces from our time on the run. So many guns were aimed toward Jake and I that I couldn't even count how many there were.

      Adiago Hundsen himself emerged from the opposing army of criminals. The group parted for him like he was some sort of god. I looked into his obsidian eyes and even I was slightly unnerved by his intimidation.

      "Jake Evans," Hundsen's silky voice echoed in the warehouse-like building. "Is this what it has come to?"

      "It looks like it."

      The gang leader chucked. "It was a good effort, Evans, I'll give you that. But you know deep down that you won't defeat me."

      "What if I didn't need to defeat you tonight?"

      Hundsen raised an eyebrow, not sure what Jake was getting at. I wasn't sure either.

      Jake walked lazily forward as he spoke. "Hundsen, this has been a long war with casualties on both sides. I'm tired of it. What if there was some way that both of our desires could be satisfied?"

      "Meaning what, exactly?" Suspicion clouded Hundsen's face.

      "I want to make a deal."