Libya Desert (Present Day)
Furious driving propelled the borrowed desert-camouflage Jeep down the makeshift trail toward Bible's fortress, Cassie white-knuckling the wheel as clouds of sand kicked up to coat the windshield despite the wipers' best efforts.
Charlie sat beside her in the front passenger seat, fingers clenched around the assist grip above the door, eyes fixed straight ahead. Behind them, Brute and the others held on to whatever they could grab in silence, confident her driving wouldn't send them flipping over some sand dune or crash into a ditch.
Bible's directions were guiding them through treacherous terrain, many times forcing them to slow down around sharp turns, to a location south-east of the coastal town of Torca, eating up more time than they had been given.
Almost an hour before, they'd landed safely at the airport, with the plan in place to lay low until the sun had set. However, the plane hadn't even finished taxiing to the terminal when the burner phone rang.
Cassie stared at the device in her palm. "Shit."
"He knows we've landed." Snapshot shook his head in frustration.
Charlie placed her hand on her sister's shoulder in support. "Answer it."
Drawing a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Cassie pressed the button.
"Welcome to Libya." Bible's distorted voice stated in a jovial tone. "You've made better time than I expected."
"Cut the bullshit." Cassie's snap came sharp and immediate. "Where do we go?"
"I'm sending a text message with the coordinates. I trust you followed all my orders. You came alone?"
The lie rolled smoothly from her lips. "We did."
"Good—I'll know if you're lying. I have eyes on the airport and your plane. If I see anyone else exit, even to kick the tires, Angel dies."
"You've made it crystal clear," Cassie clipped her words, "Now where the fuck do we go?"
"My base is roughly an hour from the airport," he hummed, as if suddenly struck by a flash of inspiration. "Since you've made such good time getting here, I know you're eager to get your brother back. Why not make this more interesting? I'll give you, say, fifty-five minutes before I let Samedi's pet demon have some fun with him. Again!" With a short laugh, he concluded, "Better get a move on."
Charlie's body shifted menacingly as she growled in response. "I'll tear your throat out if you touch him!"
Silence answered her threat.
"He hung up. So much for waiting until dark." Cassie threw the phone onto the carpet and smashed the device under her boot heel.
"Of course he would be tracing it." Snapshot's observation came matter-of-fact. "And you were right, he does have someone watching the airport."
"I'd have been genuinely shocked if he didn't," Brute commented, peering out the window towards the tower.
Panther shot a skeptical glance at Charlie. "So we're going with the teleportation plan?"
"Yes." Brute gave Panther a stern look, his voice firm.
Having come to terms with the idea in the last hour, Panther sighed. "It's a good plan, despite the variables. It'll ensure that Bible doesn't see anyone leave the plane. The advantage will be ours."
"I g-guess I'm game." Shrapnel stuttered quietly.
Fear shone in his eyes when Charlie walked up to him and grasped his shaky hands. The princess leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I promise to keep you safe."
Cassie hid a smile but admired her sister stepping up as team leader. She knew the Princess of Hell would not hold back tonight. Angel would be proud.
Shrapnel reddened from the attention, drew a breath, and spoke slowly, clearly. "Then I trust you, too."
"I've had women sweep me off my feet, but never across continents. I say, let's go for it!" Snapshot shrugged.
"Oh, Snapshot, you're incorrigible." Cassie shook her head and sighed.
He winked. "And cute as a button."
With a flip of her middle finger at him, accompanied by a smirk, Cassie stepped to the side door, twisted the latch, and opened it. "We're wasting time, and we still have to secure transportation. Come on, Charlie!"
Charlie turned quickly to the others as she stepped toward the door. "Be ready for me. I'll pop in as soon as we hit the road."
The four snapped to attention and saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"
"See you soon." Charlie returned the gesture with a wink and followed her sister out the door.
Now, as the Bible's fortress loomed approximately two hundred yards ahead, Cassie veered the Jeep off the road, just out of sight, and slammed on the brakes. Brute flung open the door before they had finished stopping and swiftly exited, holding it wide for the others to join him.
Once they were clear, Brute slammed the door shut. He leaned into the front passenger window, his voice low and controlled. "We'll set up just beyond the hill next to the west side of the base. Dusk falls in twenty minutes. We'll scout and plant the explosives then."
"How's Snapshot?" Charlie looked past Brute with sad eyes and spotted the photographer throwing up for the third time behind the Jeep.
"Not so boastful about getting swept off his feet, I assure you." Panther's quip came from behind Brute.
Charlie grimaced, mortified. "Tell him again, I'm sorry. By the time it was his turn, I was exhausted. It took everything I had to finish the final jump."
"You did good, princess. Now, go. Get our angel back." Brute slapped the Jeep's roof and stepped back.
Without another word, Cassie punched the gas pedal. They sped away, leaving the team covered in sand and dust.
"Ugh." Snapshot moaned and threw up again.
Cassie spun back onto the path and eyed her sister. "How are you feeling now?"
"Getting there." Charlie nodded while licking her lips, her voice steadying. "By the time we reach Kevin, I should be fine. It was just more power than I've used in such a short time, but I feel stronger the more I use it. I could probably teleport him right out of there."
"I wish it were that easy." Cassie sighed regretfully. "But Bible might order the children killed in retaliation, and we now know you couldn't get everyone out fast enough with your power drain."
Right. I didn't forget," Charlie sank into her seat and nodded. "I just want Kevin back."
Cassie reached out and gripped her sister's hand, squeezing it. "We're going to get him back, sis, I promise!"
"I know we will." Charlie pursed her lips, nodded, and stared ahead, her heart racing.
The security gate came into view as Cassie slowed the Jeep, noting how the metal structure gleamed dully in the harsh desert sun. Her eyes remained cold and focused on the soldier who stepped out of the shack, wearing a sardonic expression as he waved them over.
"You're late." He clipped disapprovingly.
"Fuck you." Equal snark colored Cassie's reply. "Bible knew we'd be late with his deadline crap. We're here. Let us in. I'm done taking his shit!"
The guard scowled, turned, and signaled someone in the shack to open the gate. "You'll be taking something much bigger than his shit, bitch."
Cassie refused to give the soldier the satisfaction of a reply and waited until the gate barely lifted enough to clear the Jeep, then floored the pedal and surged forward. The vehicle's roof caught the edge of the gates with a screech of metal on metal, bending them savagely as she raced through.
"HEY!" The guard shouted in protest.
His rage only served to elicit a grin from Cassie's lips.
Charlie giggled and turned around in her seat to see the soldiers flipping them off. In response, the princess shot her own hand out the window, returned the gesture, and shot a blast of demon fire from her middle finger, striking the shack. The wooden structure exploded into hundreds of splinters, causing the guards to scream and flee along the outside walls in terror.
"Wow!" Cassie looked in the rearview mirror with a grin spreading across her face. "Someone's feeling better, alright!"
With a look of a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, Charlie leaned back in the seat, her face flushing with a deep red blush. "I really didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to scare them by lighting the roof on fire."
Cassie shot her a sidelong glance and offered a faint grin. "Whoops?"
"Whoops." Charlie agreed with a shrug but didn't look all that sorry.
The tension in the cab eased slightly as Cassie drove the Jeep to the front entrance, where four soldiers stood uncomfortably, exchanging worried glances. Cutting the engine, she hopped out of the Jeep and stepped to the passenger side, her eyes daring any of them to make a move. Opening the passenger door, she broke contact and turned her attention to Charlie.
Giving her a brave smile, Cassie asked, "Are you ready for this?"
"I am. I'll do whatever it takes to get Angel back." Charlie nodded firmly.
"Even become theirs?"
She lifted her hand to touch the amulet under her shirt. "I know you won't let that happen, sis."
Although not completely confident, Cassie took a breath and let it out with a solemn vow. "I won't!"
"Hey!" One of the soldiers snapped. "No more delays. Move it!"
"Is everyone here misogynistic pricks?" Cassie spoke loudly as she took Charlie's hand and helped her out of the Jeep.
"Shut the fuck up and move it!" The same soldier snapped again, pointing to the large double doors that served as the main entrance.
Cassie kept Charlie's hand in hers and followed the first soldier through the door. The interior was noticeably cooler, though it carried the stale smell of concrete dust and diesel fuel. Two soldiers trailed behind them while two others took up flanking positions outside.
They moved halfway down the hall and encountered two more soldiers who halted them as they entered a large foyer. The new guards instructed the women to raise their arms for a thorough search. However, Charlie's demon growl made them hesitant as they searched their bodies, and they missed Cassie's GPS tag due to their nervousness.
Cassie maintained her composure and inwardly smirked at their fear and the fact that Charlie could now conjure their belongings when needed, ensuring they'd be prepared for whatever came next.
Once the guards finished searching, they stepped back to let the others direct the women into the foyer. The room was sparse, with only two long white stone benches against each beige wall and a single-legged table in the center, featuring a small empty vase. Two sets of stairs climbed up the walls on either side and met at a central balcony, their concrete steps having been worn smooth by years of use.
Cassie followed the stairs upward with her gaze and noticed a large, burly military-style man dressed in a pure white business suit, tie, and shin-high leather boots. The man was chewing on a cigar and gave Cassie a familiar, lust-filled grin. "My dear Chatterbug, it has been a long time."
"No fucking way!" Cassie stopped short in shock, forcing the guard behind her to grunt as he avoided running into her.
Charlie eyed the man warily, certain this was Bible, but she didn't understand Cassie's reaction. "Sis?"
"It's been you this whole time?" Rage, pain, and genuine fear mingled in Cassie's growl.
Charlie sensed her fear, causing her eyes to shift into their demonic visage, which she turned on Bible, glaring at him with ferocious intensity.
"Indeed. Imagine my surprise when I learned it was you and Angel who'd been the ones fucking up my inventory all this time. I have to admit, it made things a little easier to accept, knowing my training was being put to such use."
Charlie tugged on Cassie's hand. "Sis? How do you know Bible?"
"Charlie, meet the devil." Cassie's eyes never left his face and remained fixed. "This is Colonel Robert Tag, our former XO, who is solely responsible for manipulating Kevin into killing all those kids."
It was as if she were back in the van on the night Angel found her, when he revealed what he did and what the Pry brothers planned to do to the two little girls. Along with that feeling was the despair she felt when he shared his past, what drove him to become a bounty hunter, and his seemingly unreachable need for redemption.
All of it swelled within her, and that shock turned to rage, igniting the demon inside her. Exploding outward, the fiendish being that hunted monsters in the night screeched a banshee-like roar, causing the soldiers standing guard to back away toward the exits, ready to run.
She snarled in a voice that haunted grown men's nightmares, "You're Tag!? I'll rip your fucking throat out!"
"And Angel will die if you do." His calm, smooth voice held no fear at the sight of Charlie's demonic form. "Or should I just have him killed now and let you have me?"
"Charlie," Cassie spoke under her breath, keeping her eyes fixated on Bible. "Stand down."
Charlie froze at the command and slowly retreated into her human form, shaking and clutching her arms. The only trace of the demonic horror left behind was her glowing crimson eyes, which shot a threatening glare at him.
"Amazing!" Bible clapped once. "Such raw power, such demonic force. You will be my right-hand girl, princess, bound to me and ready to serve my every whim! The world will bow before us!"
"Go to hell." Charlie's growl came low and menacing.
"Already there, darling, but you'll still be my little bitch."
"Enough!" Cassie snapped. "We're here. You said you'd let Kevin go. Where is he!?"
"Down the hall." Bible pointed below him. "Samedi has him in his altar room. Charlie will accept the binding spell, and you may take Angel and leave."
"No tricks?"
"No tricks. I see you came alone as I ordered, which, I admit, surprised me. However, my contact at the airport reported that you two departed the plane alone, so why not keep my end of the bargain? It's not like you and Angel can do anything but leave here in peace."
Cassie's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I don't believe you."
"My dear Cassie. With the Princess of Hell in my power? No one's going to be able to challenge me. Neither you nor Angel will ever be a threat to me. I can afford to let you go." Bible smiled. "Besides, I loved Angel like he was my own son. It would pain me to see him dead."
Cassie didn't believe him, and she was sure he knew that. However, confident that Bible was unaware of her team outside, she controlled her rage and played along. "Fine. You win. But I swear, if I ever find out you hurt my sister, I will come for you."
"Your threats are adorable." Bible shifted his gaze to the nearest soldier and pointed at him. "Kindly show our guests the way to Samedi's altar."
"Sir!" The soldier saluted, then motioned for the women to follow him.
After shooting Bible one last deadly glare, both women fell in behind their escort. As they stepped from the foyer, they heard him order the others back to the front entrance. Sharing a knowing look, the women clasped hands, aware that very soon, all hell was going to break loose.