Obsidian Butterfly - Laurell K. Hamilton [246]
Bristling with weapons, I listened at the outer door. Nothing. I opened it just a little. The hallway was empty. Better. I locked the door behind me so that when I shut it, people might assume it was occupied by more than dead people. The knives moved too much slung over my shoulder, so I set them down in a pile against the wall, being as quiet as I could. The corridor that had seemed so long, now seemed short because this was one of those plans that was either going to work really well or be a total disaster. In less than two minutes, I’d be at the door, and we’d see.
58
THE GUN HAD a short stock, but I braced it against my shoulder, and my arms were short enough that it was probably easier for me than the men I took them off. I was only steps from the open study door. Voices came out into the hallway.
“What do you mean that Antonio and Bandit are missing?” That was Riker. “I thought your men were good, Simon.”
Shit. Was Simon back in the room? It didn’t matter. It didn’t change the plan. But I’d have preferred that Simon be elsewhere, at least until Edward was safe and armed. But Simon’s voice came tinny and staticy. It was the intercom system. Shit, I didn’t want them to hear the shots. The best I could do was wait until I didn’t hear him using it. The longer I lurked in the hallway, the less chance the plan had. Someone was going to come up the stairs or out of the room or out of the study. If I lost surprise, it was over.
I was scared, really scared, not about killing or being killed, but about accidentally shooting Edward. I had an unfamiliar submachine gun in my hands. I’d never even seen one like this used. If you aim too high with a machine gun, more the full machine guns, but the subs, too, you can actually miss. If I fired into that room and missed everyone, I guess I deserved to get shot. I took the last deep breath and eased around the door frame. I know people always stand in the middle of the freaking door in the movies, but that’s a good way to get killed. Use cover when you have it.
I had a split second to see the room. Rooster and Shooter had Edward covered, still on his knees. Alario the Witch had moved beside Riker’s desk. I started firing almost before I’d finished looking. The sound was enormous, but the gun had almost no recoil. I had to adjust my aim because I’d been expecting to have to fight the gun, but it was smooth, for a sub gun. Shooter actually got a burst off, but it was angled wrong and took out the ceiling above me. Rooster turned, but that was it. Seconds for both of them to go down, seconds to move the gun in a continuous spray that took out the control panels and monitors, and Riker, sitting behind his desk. Alario was the farthest away, and he had time to dive to the floor.
I went for the floor, too, hitting on my stomach as I aimed for him. I was angled away from Edward. I didn’t have to be careful. I kept the trigger down and hit Alario before he could get a shot off. His body danced with the slap of bullets. There was something fascinating about the way the bullets shredded him, or maybe I just couldn’t let go of the trigger.
I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and rolled on one shoulder, gun pointed. I let off the trigger just in time. Edward was kneeling with a gun in his hand by the bodies of his guards. He had a hand out as if to ward off the bullets, as if he hadn’t been sure I’d remember in time.
We stayed that way for a frozen second, me on my side, the sub-gun pointed at him, finger still on the trigger, but not pressing down. Him with his hand out, the