Immediately, Hawk and the others, who had been on high alert, turned pale, and without thinking, they sprang into action, charging toward the room so quickly it was almost impossible to follow their movements.
Prince William, who had been guarding the door, seemed startled as well. He quickly turned and followed Hawk and the others into the room. The people inside were world leaders-no one could afford to let anything happen to them, or there would be catastrophic consequences for his entire family.
Everything happened in an instant.
Echo, too, was caught off guard and was about to rush forward, but before she could move, she suddenly felt a cold gust of wind from behind. She immediately realized something was wrong-there was someone right behind her, and the heavy, hidden killing intent was only noticeable because she was so close. Without even looking, she quickly drew her gun and dove toward the ground.
In a split second, her movements shifted, but before she could complete her move, the gun in her hand was seized from behind, the trigger held firmly in place, preventing her from firing. Before she could make a sound, a large hand clamped down over her mouth and nose, pressing so hard she couldn’t even breathe.
Silent, odorless-the only thing Echo knew was that her hand was twisted behind her back, and the barrel of her own gun, the one modified by Ryan, was aimed at her stomach. It was a gun designed for maximum silence, speed, and incredible explosive power.
Echo could feel the bullet tearing through her abdomen from such a short distance, passing right through her body and landing in the grass in front of her. The sound was so faint it was almost imperceptible, far too soft to attract anyone’s attention, especially not over the noise of Hawk and the others rushing into the room.
The person behind her kept their grip tight on her mouth and nose, and then struck the back of her neck with a hand.
Echo’s head spun, her vision went black, and she lost consciousness, but in the brief moment of clarity before everything went dark, she noticed that Edward had disappeared, and the lights in front of her suddenly brightened. Hawk and the others had entered the room where Ryan was, and just as her head lolled to the side, everything went black.
“Get out,” Ryan’s cold voice rang out as he glanced at Hawk and the others who had burst into the room.
Hawk and the others quickly scanned the room, seeing that the world leaders had all turned their heads away as they entered, leaving only their backs visible. But that didn’t matter-the real question was who had fired the gun.
A quick look revealed a handgun on the ancient wooden desk and a dead rat lying in the corner, a pool of blood forming around it. It seemed the gunshot had been meant for the rat. Hawk and the others immediately bowed to Ryan, said nothing, and withdrew.
From their intel, they knew one of the leaders in the room had a major weakness-an intense fear of rats. Seeing one would surely send them into a panic, providing a possible motive for the gunshot.
But the idea that such an important place, an ancient castle no less, would have a rat was almost laughable.
Hawk and the others quickly stepped out the door, following Prince William, who wiped the sweat from his forehead and murmured, “Guess we got lucky, nothing happened.” He couldn’t even imagine how they would’ve handled it if something had gone wrong.
Hawk and the others nodded politely to Prince William, then moved back to the stone table they had been at earlier, but their guard was up even more now.
“Where’s Echo?” Cobra, now standing in position, suddenly seemed to remember something. He quickly scanned the area, his face going serious as he asked in a low voice.
The moment he spoke, Hawk and the others immediately went on high alert, quickly scanning their surroundings with shocked expressions.
Echo wouldn’t just disappear at a time like this, and she wasn’t one to go off on some pointless wandering. If she wasn’t here, that could only mean one thing.
Tiger, who had been sitting, jumped up, and the others tensed.
“I smell blood,” Bill said, his sharp nose detecting something. He immediately moved toward the faint smell of blood.
“7NX bullets… it’s Echo’s gun,” Cobra shouted when he saw what Bill had found. He had been the one to get the gun for Echo, so he knew right away.
“It’s Echo’s blood,” Bill confirmed. He had studied her blood before, and even though others wouldn’t be able to tell, he immediately recognized it.
As soon as he said that, everyone else rushed into action.
In the dim light, Echo could only feel the sharp pain in her abdomen. Gradually, the pain brought her back to consciousness, and she realized her hands were tied behind her back, her mouth was gagged, and she couldn’t make a sound. Her abdomen was wet, blood flowing from the wound-it seemed like she was still bleeding. Her life was draining away.
That bullet wasn’t meant to kill her-if it had been, she wouldn’t be awake now. Echo struggled to open her eyes, trying to assess the situation. She wasn’t ready to die.
She couldn’t see anything. She was covered by some kind of cloth, blocking her view. She could only see a dim, half-light as the light from a lamp filtered through. Echo tried to move, but her limbs were bound, and she couldn’t even twitch. The pain in her abdomen was unbearable-the burn from the bullet wound.
“Boss, how could you let Dark Family’s boss get ahead of you?” a voice came from a distance.
“Why not? I didn’t have the time to negotiate with them. Ryan turned them down for me-better that way… I…” Kevin’s voice came through, but then it abruptly grew cold as he said, “Who’s there?”
A slight rustling and the sound of struggling made Kevin freeze, immediately sensing something.
“Come out, or don’t blame me for being rude,” one of Kevin’s men shouted as they closed in.
Echo, hearing Kevin’s voice, felt herself whimper in response, but she was losing too much blood to make any sound. She kept struggling, trying to signal her current state.
She knew Ryan and Kevin-people like them wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate any threat, whether real or perceived. They would never approach cautiously to check things out; they’d shoot from a distance, and that excessive caution was exactly what led to her current situation.
The sound of a gun being cocked echoed in the air.
Kevin wouldn’t care about killing someone from any family.
If you showed up on his turf without his permission, it was your own problem. That was Kevin’s rule-if you showed up uninvited, you were putting your life at risk.
Echo listened to the sounds coming from outside, her heart in her throat. She could almost hear the bullet ripping through her body again, death had never felt this close. It was suffocating, that feeling of it closing in around her, and this time, Ryan wasn’t there.
All she felt was fear-a fear she couldn’t even voice-but she still struggled and tried to make noise, clinging to the hope that there was still a chance to survive. Out of fear, she had to summon all the courage she could.