The maid has her back to me. She’s busy polishing the silver and humming a lackluster tune under her breath. I slither on my belly like a snake until I’m right beside her. When I’m close enough, I jump to my feet and clamp a hand down over her mouth.

She cries out into my palm. I just clamp down harder and draw her into my body.

“If you make a sound, you’re dead,” I warn her. “Nod if you understand me.”

She does as she’s told, shuddering the entire time. When I’m confident she’ll comply, I release my hand and spin her around to face me. She’s old, sixty or more, with limpid fear in her eyes.

“Where’s your boss?”

“U-upstairs, sir,” she stammers.

“Is he alone?”

“I-I-I… don’t k-know…”

“Take a deep breath,” I say. “Tell me what I want to know and you have nothing to worry about.”

She gulps and nods again. This time, when she speaks, her voice is mostly understandable. “H-he’s upstairs. I think he’s alone.”

“Did any unexpected visitors come by in the last few hours?” Her eyes go wide, and I take the tiniest of steps towards her. “Remember what I told you.”

“I saw some g-girls being brought in,” she admits. “B-but… that happens all the time.”

Yeah, I fucking bet it does. “Are they upstairs with him?”

“They were taken to the… to the rooms.”

“Describe them to me and you’re free to go.”

“Second floor. The ones with the red doors.”

I give her a nod of thanks and draw my gun. She clenches up in fear, but I jerk my head toward the window. “I’d leave if I were you,” I advise her. “Things will only get uglier from here.”

Then I turn to leave. Just before I go, I pause at the threshold, look back over my shoulder, and place a finger against my lips.

She nods mutely. It seems we have an understanding. If I manage to get to the second floor without a barrage of Adrian’s men raining down on me, then I’ll know she’s kept her word.

And promises are all I have to go on right now.

I slip out into the hall and up the staircase. The steps creak underneath my weight, but I keep going until I reach the landing.

I check my phone. There’s only one text from Knox.

We’re ready.

I send him back a thumbs up and count backwards from five. Right as I hit zero, I hear the explosions sound off close to the entrance of the compound, each louder and more terrifying than the last.

The first one is fireworks.

The second is lightning.

The third is the ground tearing itself apart and showing the world what hell looks like.

Once the alarm has been raised and all hands are on deck at the source of the bombs, it’s a cakewalk down the hall towards the rooms with the red doors.

The whole corridor is lined with them. I have no way of knowing which contains what, so I pick the nearest one with the alabaster gold frame, send two bullets through the lock, and then kick it open.