The Gender Plan (The Gender Game #6)(84)

“I know. But this needs to be done too. I’ll be there.” I fired at the men again, two falling while the other two made it out of my sight. Switching over to the team channel, I pressed my fingers together. “It’s going quiet down there. Anyone have visual on any targets?”

“No,” replied Cruz over the comm, which was good, considering he was two apartments down. Even with the thin walls, I doubted I could hear him over the sound of continuous gunfire. “They are dead or have fled.”

“Not quite yet,” I said. “Alejandro’s heading down to handle the people in front of the building.” My eyes returned to Mags and her team, huddled down low behind the brick half-wall that surrounded the park.

“I’m already down here, boyo,” Alejandro replied in my ear, and I heard the pop pop pop of the guns below suddenly pick up and increase. Through the goggles, I saw Mags and her team start firing, the sound rising to a steady cadence for a moment, and then falling silent.

“Street’s cleared,” Alejandro said, and I relaxed a little, watching as Mags and her team raced for the glass doors below me and out of my sight. I pulled off the goggles and set them down by the window. “We got a few scrapes and bruises,” the older man continued, “but nobody’s been shot.”

“Resupply with ammo on the second floor,” I said, pressing my fingers together. “I need four volunteers willing to stay behind and defend the position. I’m not just leaving a group of unarmed women in a city that’s tearing itself apart, so we’ll free them, find them some clothes, and arm them. For the volunteers, that means missing out on the showdown at the plant, but hey—this is the first taste of battle, and it’s okay to admit it if you can’t handle it. Now, hopefully that doesn’t mean all of you will race to take one of the volunteer positions…”

I heard Harry give a loud laugh in the other room, glad that it could ease the tension a little, in spite of what had just happened. I hoped other people who had heard it laughed as well, because that would help soften the blow that followed. “We have no time to rest, people. I’m sorry for that, but everyone is waiting for us at that plant. Once we get there, things are going to start immediately, and it’ll be a lot like this, possibly even worse. And I know it’s scary. I feel it—we all do. But we have a chance, a very real chance, to save this city, and show Elena that we are no longer running! This is where we make our stand. This is where we show her we can stop her. Let’s put a little fear in her heart for once.”

It was hard to tell how my speech went over, considering I was all alone in the room, but as I came out into the hall, Cruz was lounging against the doorframe to his room, one foot planted on the wall, his rifle balanced over his knee. “That was some speech,” he said with a twisted grin. “Very motivating.”

The way he said it made me suddenly doubt myself. I stared at him for a minute, and then moved downstairs, the compunction to immediately free those women overriding everything else for the moment. I’d ordered Gregory to help find the volunteers needed to hold the building for a few hours before we could come back for them. Hopefully.

Margot was exiting the corner room, pulling the door closed behind her, when I came down. She gave me a small smile. “That was a good speech,” she said softly. “It almost makes me feel bad about volunteering to stay behind.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” I said. “This has been…”

“A very different experience than I thought it would be,” Margot elegantly supplied, her mouth warm but her eyes grim. “And I can apparently give a repeat performance.” It took a second for her meaning to sink in, and when it did, I sighed. She’d killed again, probably in the street when they were running across the open space toward the apartment building. Licking her lips, she looked at her hands. “I’m a mother, Viggo. I have given life, and now I’ve taken it away.” Shaking her head, she met my eyes again. “It’s not right.”

I sighed and closed the distance between us, capturing her slim hand in between mine. “I meant what I said, Margot. There’s no shame in staying behind. I presume Cad will be staying?”

“He will. You know how hopelessly in love with me he is.”

“Well, we never said he was the brightest bulb in the—yow!” The sting from the palm of her hand on my shoulder was… impressive, and I rubbed the spot, trying to soothe away the pain. “Just kidding! Mercy!”

Margot chuckled, and I let go of her hand, glad that she’d gotten a laugh out of it. The smile chased away some of the darkness lurking in her eyes. On impulse, I pulled her against my chest and gave her a quick hug. She clung to me tightly for a moment, and then let me go, sniffling. “Please take care of yourself,” she said, reaching up to smooth down my shirt. “I have such a good wedding planned for you and Violet.”

I chuckled, then nodded. Glancing at the doors in the hall, my smile slipped, and I sighed heavily. “You need any help with the women the Porteque guys were… keeping prisoner?”

Margot gave me a look—one that told me I should know better—and shook her head. “Viggo, a man going into those rooms is not going to be well received right now, even if he is setting them free. Some of them are so drugged up they can barely speak. They’ve all been tied up and…” She trailed off, her eyes drifting down. “It’s just better if you go. We’ll handle it—stop wasting time with me.”