The Cardinal Bird (1 of Cardinal Series)

Chapter 24

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Raven looked absolutely deadly. He stayed crouched down right where he was though, keeping an eye scanning the surroundings. The lethal black rifle looked comfortable in his hands, like a lion on the prowl, confident on its throne at the top of the food chain.

"Alright," Karl said, bringing my attention back to the situation. "Black belt, you're up first. See if you can find a safe way down. We're only one floor up."

I looked around. Who had a black belt?

To my slight surprise, Nathan stepped forward as Karl opened the window the rest of the way. They both waited until Raven gave them a nod before Nathan climbed up onto the sill. Karl kept a grip on his arm, as if to yank him back inside if needed.

Nathan was crouched and looking down to make sure he was clear to jump. For three long seconds, I was terrified that Raven had missed something. Nathan was a sitting duck up in the window like that. My heartbeat sped up, and my hands trembled. What if someone shot him, right there in the window? I was going to have Nathan's blood splattered all over my face, just like Kaz's had been.

Finally though, Karl released him, and Nathan shifted and disappeared from view. I didn't hear him hit the ground, but if he was a black belt, he would know how to deafen the sound of his landing.

Karl waited a second before nodding. "Silas."

Silas was up and out in about two seconds. It seemed much faster than Nathan's go, and that was probably because there was a breath of relief after Nathan made it safely.

Karl studied the hall. "Okay, Corey, you got your comms on?"

Corey gave a stilted nod.

"You're up then. Take Silas with you to secure the vans. Wait for us there."

Corey nodded once more and then soon he too was leaping from sight.

I was still in a mixture of disbelief that this was all happening. Were we really about to jump off the second story of a building into possible sniper fire? Granted, if there was a sniper they probably would've made themselves known by now.

Sounds boomed from above us, much closer this time. They must be checking on the other floor now.

"North," Karl said, keeping his eyes out and his hand up to his ear. He was probably listening for Corey on the other line for anything that we should be aware of. He motioned North to come forward.

North took a glance at Brandon since they were both watching the door. Brandon just gave him a nod in assent. North walked forward and climbed up. Like with Silas and Corey, there wasn't much time for me to worry before he vaulted himself out and was gone from sight.

Karl peaked down to make sure it was clear before he turned back to those of us that remained. He scanned our faces before coming to a decision.

"Okay, Sang," Karl said. "You're next."

Marc gave me a pat on the back. "Don't worry. The snipers probably aren't just waiting for you if there even are any. That's not how Ivanov works, right? You said so yourself earlier. Ivanov doesn't leave loose ends. They would've been picking all of us off by now. No survivors." He flashed me a grin that was probably meant to be reassuring, but it didn't do much to help since I was now terrified.

I felt sick. I hadn't even thought that the snipers could've seen the others jump and just been waiting on me before taking a shot.

Marc was wrong. That was exactly how Ivanov worked.