The gunshot cracked through the smoke-filled corridor like the final verdict of a cruel and indifferent god, echoing off the concrete walls and ringing in Elena’s ears long after the sound had faded.
She felt the bullet scream past her ear, so close it seared a thin, white-hot line across her skin, leaving a stinging trail that made her gasp in shock. The heat of it was so intense she thought for a split second that her ear had been torn off.
She screamed, a raw, guttural sound that tore from her throat, and stumbled backward, crashing into Raven as the masked man stepped forward through the swirling smoke like a nightmare made flesh. His gun remained steady and merciless in his gloved hand, the barrel still smoking from the shot.
“Target acquired,” he said calmly into his comms device,
