50

I looked deep into Mandy's tear-filled eyes and hated myself for not being able to do anything more than raise my hands up in surrender.

"Let those two go!", I said loudly to Fiore and only got a deep, menacing laugh from him, without removing his weapons from the two even a second.

"Then what's in it for me? I don't want to kill you, Senan... I want you to suffer!"

I glanced at Odran next to me, who was still hiding behind the door frame and clutching his gun to his chest. I ran through every possible scenario in my mind, but no matter how I twisted and turned it, there was no chance of getting us all out of here alive.

"So, what now?!", Fiore pulled me out of my thoughts and when my eyes fell on him again, as he stood at the end of the corridor, only a few meters away from me, I suddenly saw the ray of light we were looking at everyone had been waiting.

My hopeful gaze fell to Chiara, who was shaking and crying with her hands in front of her face, and then again to Mandy, who looked like she was mentally out of her mind.

"You!" I yelled loudly and then picked up my gun again to aim right at Fiore, who in response now also aimed both guns at me, making me more than just happy.

They always say not to shoot or scare anyone with a gun because they might reflexively pull the trigger again and that's why I didn't want him to aim at the backs of the two women's heads...

"You don't pull the trigger!" Fiore smirked, still aiming at me as I did at him, unaware that Keeva was sneaking up the stairs behind him, a knife in her hands...

"Oh yeah?" I asked him loudly, just wanting him to keep concentrating on me and not noticing the ambush, because Keeva was our only chance. She was the only one he didn't see coming...

"Yes! You're not like your brothers! You don't have the balls for that! After all, even a woman managed to rape you and the only thing you managed to do is kill your own mother!"

I widened my eyes in disbelief at his words and felt my hands start shaking uncontrollably, knowing that if I shot, he would shoot too, but I couldn't wait for Keeva...wanted it neither! His testimony was too hurtful for that and I was thrown into such a hateful state that I couldn't help but hide anything but his fucking visage.

I would kill that bastard!

Without thinking further, I drew the oxygen deep into my lungs, keeping the gun pointed straight at him and pulling my finger back on the trigger very slowly, shivering, making me hot and cold at the same time. He was right. I wasn't an ice-cold killer and Mandy's eyes and mine met one last time, looking at me so differently than usual. Her eyes had no more hope in them and yet she gave me a wistful smile as if she were giving me permission to do so to blow that motherfucker's head off.

And then, as I brought my eyes back to Fiore, my gun rang out, while I heard Keeva scream, and after my shot, several more loud shots, surely coming from his pistol.

My body ached, my vision was blurry and it was only thanks to Odran next to me that I didn't fall to the ground...

Mandy POV

My mind was fuzzy and I watched Senan tensely while behind me Fiore drew his pistols and tried to provoke him. I just hoped Senan wouldn't respond, but when he suddenly moved away and I looked to my side in shock, the bullet hit Fiore in the shoulder, who immediately fired back, shattering my heart.

"No!" someone yelled behind me and I recognized Keeva, who suddenly jumped onto Fiore's back and rammed a long knife deep into his neck, causing Fiore's eyes to lose all life and him to collapse on his last gasping breath.

"Senan!", Odran's voice steered me out of my trance and, stunned, I turned back in the other direction, which made me cry desperately.

"Senan," I breathed, seeing all the blood on his shirt as he collapsed in Odran's arms.

"I called the police and an ambulance! Where's Rian?!" Keeva demanded excitedly next to me and when she looked straight into Odran's eyes, her gaze lost all luster and she immediately ran past him into the office while I was mine trembling legs and ran towards Senan and Odran.

"Hey," Senan immediately smiled at me and then gasped for air, which made me look up at Odran in panic.

"Look at me," Senan drew my attention back and I immediately wrapped an arm around his other side to help Odran support him.

"We have to get you out of here immediately!" I explained in a panic and looked at Chiara, who was leaning against the wall, absolutely terrified and apparently in shock. "Please go help Keeva," I spoke to her, but she hardly reacted and at that moment Senan suddenly collapsed unconscious in my arms.

"Geh zu Rian!"

Odran looked at me pleadingly and then took Senan in his arms to hurry him down the stairs while my heart threatened to die with pain. I watched them as the two and Chiara ran down the stairs and immediately made my way to the room next to me.

"Help me, please," Keeva cried, pulling Rian up by his arms, the sight of which made me freeze for a moment. His skin was pale, his white shirt soaked in blood and I thought he was dead when he opened his eyes and smiled faintly at Keeva.

"There you are at last, angel," he breathed and then wanted to close his eyes again, but Keeva lunged and punched him, so that he looked back at her, startled.

"Don't you fall asleep! I'm warning you!" she yelled, supporting him so he could stand up weakly and with a groan of pain.

I immediately ran towards the two of them with extreme heart palpitations and helped him on the other side, after which we slowly walked into the hallway and headed for the stairs.

"Just stay awake," Keeva sobbed, apparently building bear strength out of her fear and panic, because while I was reeling from holding this six-foot-tall man, I wouldn't have put it past her to sling him over her shoulders.

Rian didn't answer anymore. His head just lay forward and down and the feeling that he was dying made me cry again and I hugged him tighter too. We ran down the stairs at breakneck speed, while all I could hear was our sobs and our footsteps.

"The ambulance is already outside!", Keeva said suddenly and I also saw the blue light that crept through the door at the back on the bottom floor.

We walked down the long corridor where Odran suddenly limped towards us to carefully pick Rian up in his arms.

"Hurry up!" Keeva begged the giant and when we wanted to go after him, we suddenly heard a loud bark behind us in the silence, which made Keeva look at me pleadingly. "I have to stay with Rian! Please get Nero!"

I nodded and quickly wiped my tears away and even if I didn't want anything else than to see Senan, I quickly ran back down the hall to look for her most faithful companion.