He should have fucking known better than to leave her behind. God fucking dammit; if anything happened to her before he got back, he’d hand over his gun and let her put a bullet in his head. It still wouldn't be enough to atone for his stupidity.
Edward had just found an exit when he heard her screaming. By the time he made it back to where he’d left her, she was gone. When her earpiece came back online, he nearly shit himself at the things he heard. Bile rose in his throat, and he hurried down the corridor, realizing the compound wasn’t at all what they’d thought it was.
Nothing about it resembled a Taliban compound once they left the tunnels.
It was a CIA black site.
And that meant he knew who’d set them up. He just didn't know why.
“Bella!” he shouted for the hundredth time. There were too many tunnels to choose from, and her voice echoed around him.
Bella's heavy breathing came back to him over his earpiece, but she didn't speak.
“I don't think I’m far,” he said. “Buy yourself some time so you don't pass out.”
She moaned, and he felt certain he would have to stop and vomit.
“Bella, baby, please hang in there for me.”
Finally, he heard her speak, weaving a tale he wondered if she believed to be true. Yes, he might as well be the devil. Then again, Edward didn't think the actual devil could experience the level of pain he was currently feeling.
After a moment, Bella’s voice came loud and clear through the communication devices they all had access to. "The devil doesn't extend his protection to just anyone, but for those he does, he absorbs their sins as his own."
Edward knew the entire crew was listening, including the mercs. Bella could throw him under the bus, reveal all their secrets, and tell the world she hated his guts. He couldn't care less by then.
"We've all got a limited amount of time on this earth. Yours less than mine."
"Go fuck yourself," the man said venomously.
"Now that's where you're wrong. The devil demands his due, and he never fails to satisfy me."
Edward snorted, spotting the weird warehouse built into the wall and creeping closer. He had to be certain no one else was waiting for him in the shadows before rushing into a possible ambush.
The guy screamed, "Whore bitch!"
Edward tuned them both out for a second, checking the door and making sure she was where he thought she was.
“Ah, but you've already condemned yourself, so it's too late to find out."
Breathing in deeply, Edward swung through the doors, his gun raised but pointed to the side. He saw the man on the ground where she’d duct-taped him to a pipe. He was completely lucid, but Bella sounded as if she was out of breath.
She said, "When the devil's time on this earth is done and he returns to the pits of hell, taking us with him, another will rise and take his place. You won't get the chance to meet his successor. Your sins are too many, too great, too goddamn hideous. Your time is up.”
Edward crept up beside her, his weapon aimed at the man on the ground. A thousand other ways to kill him ran through his mind, but he knew what he had to do. This man was sent by the CIA to kill all of them, including their family back in Seattle. He couldn't allow that to happen, and he didn't need answers. He had them all as soon as he saw the battered, bleeding face.
Edward put a hand on her shoulder, and Bella croaked, "Because the devil is here with us, and your life is the payment he demands."
She backed up into him, and he felt her chest heave with the effort of simply breathing. Raising the gun, he fired twice into the chest and once in the head. The silencer on the end prevented the blast from reverberating through their ears and temporarily deafening them. Instead, it was loud but tolerable.
And then Bella let out a blood-curdling scream, enough to scare the ever-living fuck out of him.
“Bella, I’ve got you!” Wrapping his arms around her as tight as possible, he held her while she struggled against him.
“Kill them all. Kill them all!”
Her screams sent a chill straight through to his bones. The situation left him absolutely livid, but even more with himself than anyone else. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
“No one is safe! He’s going to kill them all.” Bella nearly clawed his skin from his body in her effort to press closer, practically trying to climb inside his armor and hold on for dear life.
“No, baby. I heard him. I’ll take care of it, but I need you to be okay first.” Tilting her head back, he shoved off the infrared goggles and kissed her tear-streaked face over and over. “I’m so sorry.”
“He was prepared. Too prepared.”
“I know.” Squeezing her tightly, Edward muttered, “The agency targeted us.”
“For what?” Hiccupping, Bella pushed her hair out of her face and clung tighter.
“Because we’re the only ones who know what happened four years ago. Because every time they’ve approached me since then, I've turned them down flat.”
“That’s inexcusable,” she sputtered. “A child has to die for their secrets? Our grandchild?”
Holding her chin so he could check her pupils, he said, “We have to get out of here and make a plan so that doesn’t happen.”
“Fuck.” Squeezing her eyes closed, Bella sucked in air. “He nearly got the upper hand.”
“We’ll find you a medic somehow.” Running his hands over her body, Edward felt the large bump on the back of her skull. Without asking, he picked her up and walked out toward the exit he’d only just found.
“I can walk,” she mumbled, but she clung to his neck.
“I know, baby. Indulge me, okay?”
Especially since he’d been a cold fucking bastard to her lately. Now he needed to hold her close, to breathe her in and assure himself she was alive and in one piece.
It took some effort to find the correct tunnel, but Edward didn't set her down. He struggled to fit through the small crack in the rocks, and then he burst out of the cave walls and nearly fell to the sandy ground beneath them. At the last second, he slipped his hand into a crevice and prevented an ignominious arrival.
The mercs and the rest of the Cullen crew were nearby; Edward had tried his best to describe where they were headed so they could meet up. In greeting, Emmett took hold of Bella and transferred her weight to his arms while the others checked over Edward.
“It’s not me, it’s her. Check on her.”
Still, Jake gave him a bottle of water, and Jasper handed over a protein bar.
“We have a short hike, so let’s get started.” Ever practical, Dwayne strode off after that statement.
“I can walk,” Bella protested again.
And was ignored.
Flanked by his best friends, Edward realized he was fucking exhausted. A few stumbles were all it took for them to cup their hands under his elbows and half-carry him up the steep incline to the Humvees.
“Earpieces off,” Edward ordered as they reached the vehicles. He noted Quinn, Wilhelm, and the other men already seated inside with the doors closed.
Everyone complied, going as far as to drop them in the sand where he could see them.
“What happened back there?” Nigel asked.
“We’ve been set up. It was one of Blithers’ men back there.”
“I thought he looked familiar,” Bella said. “But I couldn't place him.”
Dwayne’s brows rose. “You’re telling me Director Blithers set us up?”
Holden stood motionless, his lips pursed and his arms crossed.
Nigel turned to him. “You got anything to say?”
Focusing on Bella, James asked, “Did he . . .”
“No, but he tried.”
Nodding, James tilted his head up to face the night sky.
Impatient, Edward wanted to grab Bella and run far and fast. It wasn't hard to decipher Holden's question, meaning his wife had nearly been raped as well as beaten to death by a madman sent from the CIA director himself.
“Everything has felt sketchy from the beginning, but I couldn't pinpoint why.” Scratching his jaw, Holden faced Bella once more. “I can only apologize. Sincerely.”
Sighing, Bella said, “It doesn't sound like it was anything you could prevent. But he threatened our entire family, and we have to act on that right the fuck now.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Edward said, “They’ll know we’re moving them and strike while they’re in transit.”
“No, wait.” Dwayne stepped forward, angling toward Edward. “Do you trust me?”
“Should I?” Edward returned. “You were hired by the agency.”
“We weren’t, actually. We were hired directly by Holden.”
“And the agency knows you’re here with us.” Emmett pressed his foot over the communication devices, burying them in the sand under his combat boot.
“But they planned to kill all of us, my men included. We were all sent in there to die.”
“Okay, what’s your point?” Edward demanded. “I don't trust anyone other than my family.”
Quinn opened the back door of the Hummer and stepped out. “What's going on?”
“Oh, my God!” Bella rushed forward, throwing her arms around her son. “Was this all a setup from the get-go?”
“Son of a bitch.” Holden looked around, between Edward, Quinn, and the rest of the men split between the vehicles. “Son of a fucking bitch!”
“Anyone wanna tell me what’s going on?” Quinn asked.
“It was their motherfucking plan, wasn’t it, Holden?” Pacing away, Edward felt pain lance through his thigh, but he didn’t stop to find the cause. “All of it. Every single second from the time we walked out of the PEOC four years ago.”
Looking bewildered, Quinn watched Edward wear a rut in the sand. “Dad, you’re limping. Come sit down.”
“My baby boy.” Stopping in front of Quinn, Edward clasped his hands on either side of his son’s head.
“You’re scaring me.”
Resting his forehead against Quinn’s, all Edward could think was that he was no longer a child, yet he was every bit his child. “Derrick Blithers recruited you for a reason.”
“Holden recruited me,” Quinn protested, patting his dad’s hands.
“No,” James said. “It was my director’s idea, and I ran with it. I thought it was brilliant; I mean, look at what a fantastic agent you’ve been.”
Dwayne put up a hand. “All this is great, but we still have to move your family.”
Backing up, Quinn choked out, “My family?”
“My plan is to send my men to your place and take them to a safe house no one in the agency knows about.”
“They’re at my house,” Jake said. “My wife, my daughter, and my granddaughter.”
Nodding, Dwayne said, “Okay, but do you have anywhere unlisted they can go?”
“No,” Edward said. “Technically, yes, but it’s too dangerous. I could come up with at least one house they’ve not heard about, but how do I know for sure?”
“You don’t,” Emmett answered bluntly.
“I have places all over the world for this very reason,” Dwayne said.
“We train at some of them,” Nigel added. “But we keep them from the agency so they can’t question our training methods.”
“What they don't know . . .” Danny said, trailing off.
“Is about to hurt them,” Edward finished. “Let’s get it in motion as soon as possible.”
Dwayne pulled a burner phone from one of his vest pockets. They watched him disassemble it, scrutinize each piece, and put it back together.
“Was Tito in on anything?” Jasper asked Holden.
“I can’t tell. He was too busy spouting off on all the unfair treatment he’d received to be of much use.”
Edward had tried to break into Holden’s room from the outside to find proof on him, but James had been in his room at the time. Leave it to Bella to work around him without even knowing it and find the answers by using the mercs’ brute force.
“It’s Nighthawk,” Dwayne said into the burner phone. They all fell silent as he spoke. “Site 389 free and clear?”
A faint voice could be heard on the other end.
“Prepare it for three, with more to come ASAP.” Hanging up, Dwayne said, “I trust you have an encrypted way of contacting your family members?”
“We’ll have to work on it.” Edward leaned heavily against the nearest vehicle. “And set up some kind of rendezvous with your men.”
Bella had been resting against Emmett’s side for most of the time, but she finally moved to Edward and dropped her head to his chest. “We have to get out of here before they realize their plan was busted.”
“Good point.”
“I have a parting gift,” Hollywood said as the others climbed in the vehicles.
“What is it?” Jake asked.
“It goes boom,” Hollywood answered.
“Epic,” Emmett said, climbing in beside the others.
With everyone safely in the Humvees, they sped off into the night. They had to collect Dara from the safe house and make new plans. They had to contact Leah and get her, Layla, and Aerinn out of harm’s way immediately.
As they veered off to the left, Hollywood pressed the button on the remote, and the compound behind them went up in a ball of flames. The concussive blast rocked the vehicles, the muted explosion reaching them seconds later.
The agency thought they were clever. They thought they could play games with people’s lives without consequences. What they hadn't counted on was Edward motherfucking Cullen. They’d underestimated the lengths he’d go to, not only to save his family but to make the agents pay for the threat they represented.
Now the devil had changed the rules, and he would force the agency to play by them.
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Love the pics.
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