The Assassin's Blood: The Confradia Assassins 3

Chapter 31: Going Hunting

Declan

Priest, and I arm up as Connor and Hunter attempt to hack into Perroni's computer system. Thankfully, whoever took Santana didn't disable her GPS, so we were able to track her. He must have not counted on the fact that Santana knew professional Assassins. And even though Connor is computer savvy, I'm sure they assumed he'd be lost or dead in the woods. Criminals can be so stupid sometimes.

Once Hunter had her coordinates, we made our way to upstate New York until we wind up in front of a mansion in the middle of nowhere. Using our binoculars, we scope out the structure. We watch as a vehicle winds its way up the driveway. A man in a suit steps out of the vehicle and approaches the door. "This is where they must be holding the auction," I mutter to the others.

Priest takes another look and nods. "Yeah, and the man who just stepped out of that vehicle is Christoph Kazik." I turn back to the house and take another look. Yep, it's Christoph. "There are four men in ops gear, holding weapons walking around the building.

"I'm not going to wait for them, Priest. Santana is in there, and every moment we waste can mean her life." Priest slips out his gun and nudges his chin towards the mansion's front door. "Fine, but we're going in stealthy. I don't want to take the chance that we'll get caught."

I stop when Connor falls into step beside me and slam my palm against his chest. "Where do you think you're going, kid?" Connor responds. "I'm going to get my sister." I shake my head. "No, you're not. You're going to stay here with Hunter. Priest and I will handle the rest." Connor shakes his head vehemently. "No, I'm going!" But I don't relent. "No, you won't. You're hurt, and you'll only get in the way. Let us take care of this, Connor. I promise you, I'll get her out." Connors' chin quivers as he gazes intently into my eyes. "Look, bro, I love my sister, and I'm going in there to get her. What if they hurt her?" I shake my head in reply. "I love her too, Connor, and I'm not going to let anything happen to her."

Connor is as taken aback by my admission as I am. I never meant to say what I did. I didn't even know I felt that way. But now that I've said it, I don't regret it. Holy crap, I'm in love with Santana! Before I can say another word, Connor takes a step back and smiles. "Took you long enough to admit it. Now, go and get her before I change my mind and follow you."

Priest chuckles but doesn't comment on my admission. Instead, he gestures for me to take the lead. Four uniformed men are pacing the perimeter, but they're easy to dispose of. Priest shoots two in the head, while I break the neck of one and stab the other one in the chest.

Not giving them a second thought, I open the front door and walk-in. We shoot two other men on the way in and stop another one who is coming down the stairs. We don't kill this one, though. Instead, Priest puts him in a headlock while I question him. "Where are Perroni and Christoph?" The man shakes his head defiantly. "Fuck you!" He sputters out. Nostrils flaring, I pull out my knife and plunge it into his thigh. Priest covers his mouth to stifle his cry, while I remove the knife and point it over the other thigh. "No! Please, stop! They're upstairs! They're upstairs! Third door to the right!" The man cries out hysterically. "Please, just.─"

His words cut off when Priest breaks his neck. We don't waste another moment. Rushing up the stairs, we both stop in front of a pair of doors. My blood grows cold when I hear a loud, female scream.

Not thinking about what I'm getting into, I kick the door open and run inside. My vision dims at the sight of Perroni straddling her, and an unconscious Christoph lying on the floor beside them. "Fucking bitch!" Perroni screams out, enraged. His face is scratched and bloody, and there's a knife sticking out of his stomach. Santana's face is bruised and swollen from being beaten. And that's what sends me over the edge. Rushing forward, I kick Perroni in the face. His body flies back, sliding across the floor from the impact. I don't give him time to recover before I rip the knife from his stomach and begin wailing on him. Throwing back my fists, I punch him in the face and pummel him. Blood and spit splatter everywhere, but I'm beyond reason at this point. This piece of shit hurt my woman, and I'm going to make him pay for it.

Sweat collects across my body and my head pounds with bloodlust. I'm a killing machine. "…stop. Declan!" Santana's soft female voice finally penetrates my rage. "Declan." Looking into her pain-filled eyes, I release Perroni's lifeless form and sit back on my haunches. My chest heaves from my exertions and my abraded fists sting. Priest is kneeling beside Christoph, checking his pulse. "He's alive." Looking back at Santana, I crawl to her and wrap her in my arms. "Santana, are you okay?" Santana leans her head on my shoulder with a clumsy nod. "He just hit me. He didn't do anything else." She slurs. Pulling her head back, I inspect her battered face. One of her eyes is bruised and swollen, there's blood on her nose, and her lower lip is cut. There's dried blood from a cut on her temple, and her neck has bruises shaped like fingers. The bastard tried to choke her.

Her fragile body shudders inside my embrace and her lower lip trembles. "Declan! You're here. Connor…" She stops and takes a few deep breaths. "Connor's fine. He's waiting for us outside." Tears of joy slide down her face. "Thank God. Thank God." She mutters with relief.

Santana settles back on her feet and points at the door. "Save them. Save those girls." Priest rises up and faces us. "Where are they?" San swallows hard and leans close to my chest with a sigh. "They keep them shackled to the wall and drug them. They're all drugged. She thought she injected me too, but I broke the syringe before she could drug me completely and…" She exhales again as her body sways in place. She must still be feeling the effects of the drugs they gave her. "…I injected Christoph and tried to inject Perroni, too, but he hit me." She touches her swollen cheek and points at the floor. Two broken syringes are lying near Perroni's unconscious body.

Priest and I frown in surprise. "Who is she?" Santana's face pales. "There's this Russian woman who drugs the girls and preps them for auction, we have to help them! Let's go, I'll show you." Priest cocks a brow. "Let's go help them then. We should be fine now that Perroni and Christoph are incapacitated." A fat lot of help he is.

"No, Priest. We have to take San back to safety, she's hurt." I croak out. Santana shakes her head and pushes away from my arms. "No, we have to help. I'm fine. Please!"

Just then, loud footsteps resound down the hallway. To our relief, Phantom and Heathen walk into the room. Their eyes search the room until they land on us. "Well, that was anticlimactic. Not cool, killing everyone before we got here. What are we supposed to do now?"

Priest snickers in response. "Sorry, boys, but we do have something you can do." He points at the two unconscious men. "Take these two into custody. Make sure they're locked up tight and call the Confradia. We have a group of kidnapped girls who will need medical attention."

Phantom nods and makes the call while Heathen silently waits for further instruction. "Show us where those girls are, San." Priest gestures for her to lead.

Before she can walk out the door, I take her hand. "Show me." Her hand squeezes mine as she leads me out the door. The men's faces are grim when they see the room the girls are being kept in. It looks like a hospital room except for the unconscious girls shackled to the walls. The woman San spoke of is lying unconscious on the floor. I can't imagine how horrific it must have been for her to wake up in this room, not be able to move, and know that she's going to be sold like livestock. I can't imagine how it would have felt for all of the girls.

San looks down at the unconscious woman's body with a cold glare. "That's her. She's the one that was preparing the other girls and me to be sold." The woman's eyes open at that moment, her face swelling with hatred as she sputters out. "Whore! I will kill you, whore!" Too bad that the impact of her hatred is lessened by the fact that she's unable to move. If anything, she looks pathetic. San squats down in front of her with an impassive expression. "No, you won't. You will never hurt anyone ever again."

Angry, the woman pulls back her lips and begins to curse in Russian. It's quite an impressive repertoire of curse words too. We all look down at her, unsure of how to stop her, but the problem is solved when Santana pulls back her fist and punches her in the face. Priest, Heathen, and I look on, impressed.

Phantom shows up a moment later, followed by several Confradia medics. "Santana!" Connor steps into the room with an ecstatic cry. "Connor!" Santana cries out as she runs into her brother's arms. "Oh, God, you're okay." They cling to each other as the medics release the girls and place them in gurneys.

There were eight girls tethered to the wall. We searched the premises, but there was no one else in the building. It makes sense because the auction was supposed to happen the following night.

Everyone is quiet on the way back home. Connor is sitting in the back of an SUV with Santana fast asleep in his arms. She was so brave tonight. I believe that even if Priest and I hadn't shown up, she would have still found a way to save herself. And after everything that has happened tonight, I've decided that I'm going to be brave too. I'm not going to run away from these feelings anymore. I'm going to ask her and Connor to stay with me because I know now that I can't live without them. I just hope they agree.