The Deadly (Part 3 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 21- The Stairs

Allegra:

Room after room I checked for Scarlette. I had followed the exact pathway that she had described to me, the directions that should have taken us right back to Michail but I hadn't seen her since I told her to move ahead on the stairs. The longer that I went without seeing her, the more worried I got. She wouldn't have strayed from our plan unless something else got in her way. And in a house where there was currently a resounding firefight, I doubted it was anything good.

If the original plan had been derailed, I could work on the assumption that at least Scarlette had been intercepted en route to our previous plan. Retracing her steps would be my best option. I had long passed the room she should have been in, but it was hard to be sure where she went astray because just about every room showed signs of disruption or a struggle.

I paused, gripping my gun and hoping that even if Scarlette and I had been separated, that Eliana was able to get on with her side of the plan. With this whole wing being seemingly empty except for one or two Russian men, one who I realized was on our side and another who immediately tried to shoot me. The latter was dispensed of immediately, but now as I stood there deciding my next move, I knew that there was something off about so few people being around.

Scarlette most likely ended up where other people were, so I just needed to follow the sound. In these twisting halls, it was probably my best bet to find her. A quick succession of gunshots came from down the hallway. I immediately replaced the clip with a full one from my belt, ensuring that I wasn't going to be caught out of ammunition if I got caught in a fire fight.

I turned the corner and kept my gun raised to eye level, immediately taking aim at the men who stumbled around the corner at the other end of the hallway. The first was one of Aldrich's men, one that I had seen Daitan and Nyoka talking to quite often. He was bleeding heavily, but he also seemed to be adamantly moving away from someone. Right as he cleared the wall, shards of plaster flew from behind him. Whoever was shooting at him must have been right on his tail. I hurried about halfway down the hall, jerking my head as we made eye contact.

"Get behind me."

He followed my orders without question, obviously more focused on staunching the blood that was flowing from his wound. Shadows moved across the wall before I could even see the entire figure, but my finger was already on the trigger, ready to by the time I was sure they weren't our men.

I had always been a good shot. All three of them were down in mere seconds but I didn't take much time to look at my handiwork. I turned to the man who was leaning against the wall, "have you seen a young woman who's about my height with light hair? Who's not Eliana North?"

He nodded, pushing himself to stand again. "I saw a man dragging a woman like that down the hall. I tried to pursue, and then this...."

He gestured to the blood on his clothing. The man seemed to be gaining some of his senses back which made me believe that he wasn't in immediate danger or under threat of death. It eased my conscience a little bit that I didn't have to worry about leaving him to die.

I nodded my thanks and headed off to the direction he had pointed. If I listened closely, I could hear something roaring in the distance, and I was willing to bet that it was part of the building collapsing. Right before I disappeared around the corner, I turned back to the man who was still bracing himself against the wall.

"You might want to get out of here, I'm not sure this building will be standing much longer."

He looked at me with confusion, but another crashing sound removed all signs of doubt from his face. With a nod, he stumbled back down the hallway to the nearest staircase. I half sprinted down the halls again, only slowing when I was about to round each corner so that I could check before I stepped into the line of fire.