His fingers opened, letting the man fall back on the rooftop. The stubborn fool remained silent, so Dave steadied his breath and tried his new skill on him.
A shimmering shield enveloped Philip, and his eyes widened in surprise for a second, before bulging in horror when his next breath was cut short. He gasped, struggling to draw air, his hands flying up to his neck. A second more, two, and Dave shattered the shield, sending it back into nothingness.
Philip wheezed, drawing lungful after lungful of air, his face red, his eyes watering. “Screw… you,” he gasped. “It’s a shame… what happened to your girl. But we’re too close. I just can’t.”
“Close?” Dave said with a grimace. “They’re busting down your lab right now. You’re done. Give up, Philip.”
Genuine terror flooded Philip’s face. It seemed the news was even more distressing than actually suffocating to death.
“They’re what?”
“That’s right, they found it. Whatever it is you’ve been trying to do, not gonna happen. It was all for nothing. How many others died in your lab, Philip?”
He didn’t seem to hear Dave. His head shook violently, and he tried to get up, only to slip and fall back down. “No, you don’t understand. You don’t know about the things out there, you don’t know what happened to us, to my wife. You can’t screw this up, you can’t!”
This time, Philip did jump to his feet and tried to grab Dave’s jacket, but Dave swept him aside. Seeing this though, seeing him like that, was satisfying. It seemed the man was on the verge of tears, and Dave wanted tears. Wanted his despair, his pain; his very soul crushed before Dave’s eyes.
He smiled. “Let’s go there. To your lab. I want you to see it, see it taken from you, ’cause you clearly worked so hard on it. All those schemes you’ve created, with the jeeps and the warehouses and the army of civilians you used to do your dirty work. Victoria—she died, by the way, and that’s also on you.”
Philip shook his head, his eyes wild, maniacal. “They can’t. You have to… have to stop it. We’re so very close. It has to be done.”
Dave ignored his mumbling and checked his phone. His new phone, since the old one had to stay at headquarters.
“Can you stop it? Is it too late?” Philip asked, seemingly lucid again.
Dave scoffed. “Stop it? No.” He slipped the phone back into the pocket and zipped up his gear jacket. “Seeing how much you care about it, I’m gonna go and fuck it up while you watch. Looks like we’ll be right on time.”
Philip backed away with a shake of his head. “I’ll never show you the way.”
“No need for that. I know how to find it. And stop running from me, would you? You know you can’t.”
He reached for the man, but Philip jumped away, nearly falling off the edge. Dave rolled his eyes, grabbing the man at the last moment. This is gonna be difficult.
“Don’t—” Philip struggled against him, trying to break free, so Dave let him fall back on the rooftop and crouched over him.
“Tell me about your lab.”
This time, Philip dropped his gaze, finally accepting that he had no choice. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
* * *
“All right,” Pain said, raising her katana. “You take the two dozen on the right. I’ll take the other two on the left.”
Jane gave her a wild look and made her lower the sword. “Chill. Don’t be stupid.”
“What?”
Jane hushed her, watching the Beasts fan out into a half-circle around them. Seeing them, the sheer size of them, it seemed strange that just a couple of guns had kept them behind those flimsy bars for weeks. They’d been waiting for their moment—and the girls had delivered it on a silver platter.
One of them stepped forward, probably the leader. Looking at his shaved head, Pain wondered if he’d done it with a knife, considering how long they’d been there. If it was all they could do to pass the time in those dank, dirty cells with only a tap and a grate in the floor right next to a few bedrolls.
She noticed a small scar on his jaw, although aside from that, he really didn’t stand out among the others. Except for his eyes—dark, piercing, the kind of eyes that made people squirm.
Jane still hadn’t drawn her swords. She raised her chin, locking gazes with the tall Beast.
“You found them?” his deep voice rumbled through the room.
“We have,” Jane said.
“Show me.”
Pain expelled a quiet breath. This was their opening. Get the hell out of there and shake them off later, weary as they looked.
“Not so fast,” Jane replied. Pain shot her a wide-eyed look. “Let’s make sure we understand each other first.”
The Beast raised a dark brow, his eyes tired, emotionless.
“What do you want with the Commandos?” Jane asked.
Commandos, someone hissed. Whispering started behind the leader, and he raised a hand, silencing them.
“They took three of our brothers to their lab, one more unaccounted for. We’re getting them back, dead or alive.”
Jane nodded. “There will be no killing. No brawls with our men. You’ll come with us and help secure the building, but that’s it. Once we get to the lab, you can take your men and leave. No one will try to stop you.”
He just stared, as if she hadn’t spoken. Pain swallowed hard, thinking about how quickly it all could unravel once they’d actually gotten to the Commandos’ building. There are more of them than us.
But they had to be exhausted, and unarmed on top of that.
