Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Men pour out from the Resort behind us, Enzo in their midst. They’re firing like crazy and start taking up defensible positions around the pool area. Medved’s people try to continue their charge, but the new influx of fighters manages to stem their tide.
Once it’s clear the center is going to hold, I manage to drag Gabe back inside.
He collapses against the wall, breathing hard. I stalk away and find Lucy tending to a minor injury on her leg.
“Make sure that idiot doesn’t get himself killed.”
“I’ll do what I can.” Lucy glances at the windows. Enzo and his squad are holding tight. “Medved’s not going to give up. He’s throwing everything at us.”
“We can hold out longer than he can keep coming. We’ll win this.”
As I stride away in search of where the fighting’s heaviest, I get a ping from Lady. I’m surprised to hear her voice in the middle of this. “I thought you were busy helping with the evacuation.”
“I’m an artificial intelligence, Massimo. I can do more than one task at a time. And I believe I’ve found Medved’s precise location.”
That brings me up short. “What are you talking about?”
“It was fairly trivial. There are cameras watching every inch of the island and I have a very good archive of photographs of Medved’s face. Using a very advanced machine learning algorithm of my own creation—”
“Damn it, Lady, I don’t care about the technical details. I just want to know where he is.”
Lady skirts right up against the line of sounding annoyed. I didn’t even know she was capable of feeling that emotion. “As I said, I can pinpoint him, but he’s on the move. Shall I feed you his location data?”
“Do it.” I check my weapons and grab a few soldiers loitering nearby. “He’s the only person that really matters.”
“Sending you the information now.”
ALLIE
Ilast all of a half hour waiting around the apartment. I wash, dress, and pace the living room, but that’s not helpful at all. The big windows give me a great view of the fighting down on the beach, and it’s terrible.
Guns flash. Explosions detonate. I swear I can see men getting ripped to pieces. I have to pull the blinds, but I can still hear it.
Mass is down there. So are Gabe and Lucy and all the other people struggling to keep this place going. They’re protecting me while I’m hiding here doing absolutely nothing.
Eventually, I can’t take it anymore, but I know I’m useless in a fight. I’d only make Mass’s life harder. Instead, I gather up Rosie and head down the elevator, wading out into the empty Fortress.
It’s bizarre. I’ve never seen it like this. The staff is all gone now. Everyone must’ve evacuated to the waiting ships. I hope they’re getting safely away. I walk the halls, flinching at every pop, crack, and explosion. I keep waiting for enemies to come pouring around every corner. But the building seems like a crypt. I wouldn’t even believe there was fighting if I couldn’t hear it in the distance.
I try not to think about Mass and the idea of losing him already, when we’re finally starting to build something real.
It’s too much, and I’ll be useless if I break down into tears.
Besides, Rosie needs me.
And so does the man in the west wing.
I reach Elias’s door and punch in the code. It opens swiftly. I head inside, finding it mostly dark. I expect him to be asleep, but instead he seems like he’s in a restless between-state, not quite lucid but still conscious. I settle into the chair beside him, trying to decide what we can do.
“I can’t just leave you here,” I tell him, not sure how much of this he can hear. “But I don’t think I can push the bed all the way to the beach. And I’m not sure you’re strong enough to survive getting moved in a wheelchair.”
His head lolls to the side. He looks at me, eyes unfocused. But it seems like he understands the sound of my voice at least.
I take his hand in mine. Another explosion splits the air. This one feels closer than the others.
“I’m just sorry we didn’t get to know each other better. You seem like a decent man. But you can’t be, can you? I mean, can a Dragon be good? Your whole life is founded on killing and crime. Can any of this mean something?”
Elias blinks at me and suddenly his eyes focus. His lips punch into a frown. “Family,” he whispers in a croak.
“What’s that?”
“Family,” he repeats. “That’s all… the good… we do.” He lets out a shuddering breath.
“But is that enough? Do the scales balance?”
“Damn… the scales… there’s only this.” His hand tightens on mine. His face slackens and he stares into the distance. “I gave up… so much… don’t make my mistake.”