The night was heavy with tension, thick with the promise of danger, but there was no turning back now. Raven's heart pounded in her chest as she crouched behind the wall of the industrial warehouse, her eyes scanning the area. Everything was set—Lucas had the inside intel, Dante was ready to storm the front entrance, and they were all relying on Raven to do what she did best: create chaos.
"Are you sure about this?" Dante's voice crackled over her earpiece, calm but with an edge of urgency.
"Yeah," Raven replied, her voice steady, even though the adrenaline was coursing through her veins. "I'll get their attention. You two just focus on getting Valerie out of there."
"Don't get yourself caught, Raven," Dante warned. "That's an order."
Raven smirked. "Yeah, yeah. Orders, right." She'd heard that from him before, but tonight was different. Tonight, they had something to prove.
Her fingers brushed the sleek grip of her gun as she pulled herself into a crouch, eyes narrowed as she peeked around the corner. She could hear the distant hum of voices coming from the other side of the warehouse. The guards were on high alert, but Raven had already anticipated that. She'd been distracting their security all night, planting false trails and false alarms, drawing their focus wherever she could.
But now, it was time to go big.
She reached into her bag, pulled out the small explosive charges they'd planted earlier, and grinned. This wasn't just a distraction. This was an explosion.
Pressing the button, she felt the surge of heat and sound as the charges detonated, shaking the walls of the building. Immediately, alarms began to wail, and shouts erupted from the guards. Panic spread through the facility like wildfire. Raven darted from her hiding spot, weaving through the chaos, every movement fluid, every breath controlled. The guards would be too busy dealing with the explosion to focus on her for long.
"Dante, now!" she hissed into her earpiece.
Seconds later, gunfire erupted in the distance as Dante and Lucas stormed in from the other side. Raven couldn't help but smirk. She could hear the chaos starting, the cries of men who had underestimated them.
"Go!" Dante barked over the comms. "Valerie's in the back room. Move, now!"
Raven didn't wait. She ducked behind cover, making her way toward the heart of the building. Every guard that crossed her path was either incapacitated or distracted, but there were a lot of them. Too many. This wasn't supposed to take long, but as she pushed forward, something didn't feel right. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.
"Raven, what the hell are you doing?" Lucas's voice crackled. "You're supposed to be covering the perimeter!"
"I'm fine, Lucas," Raven replied through gritted teeth, her eyes fixed on a new set of armed men emerging from a door ahead of her. She quickly ducked into a shadow, waiting for them to pass. But as they walked by, one of them stopped, his hand jerking toward her hiding spot.
She cursed under her breath.
"I need a diversion, now!" Raven's voice was sharp as she stood up, letting her gun rest in her hands.
"On it," Lucas replied.
And then, before she could react, he'd blown a hole through the wall, and the explosion sent the guards scattering in every direction. Raven shot out from her cover, taking down the nearest guard with a quick strike to the head, before moving toward the room where Valerie was being held.
There she was—Valerie—locked in a small, filthy room, her wrists shackled to the wall. She was pale, her face bruised, but when she saw Raven, her eyes lit up with recognition and relief.
"Raven?" Valerie's voice was hoarse, but she was alive. "You—you're here..."
Raven quickly moved to her side, pulling out a knife to slice through the restraints. "We're getting you out of here, Val. You're safe now."
But just as Raven was helping Valerie to her feet, the door slammed open. More guards.
"Raven!" Valerie gasped, her eyes wide with fear.
Raven looked at her, then back at the doorway. There were too many of them. She knew they weren't out of the woods yet, and in the back of her mind, she knew that her role as the distraction was far from over.
"Go!" Raven shouted at Valerie, pushing her toward the window. "Get out of here. I'll cover you."
"But—"
"No time!" Raven snapped, her voice hard. "Go! We'll be right behind you."
Valerie hesitated, but only for a moment before darting out of the room, running toward the alley where Dante and Lucas were waiting. Raven turned to face the guards now storming into the room, and without a second thought, she threw herself into the fight. She took down one of the guards quickly, but there were still too many, and they were closing in fast.
She pulled a flashbang from her vest and threw it into the middle of the room. The burst of light and sound disoriented the guards long enough for her to make her escape.
"Raven!" Dante's voice cracked through her earpiece, urgent. "Where are you?"
"I'm fine," Raven replied, panting as she dashed down the hallway. "Valerie's out. Just give me a second."
But her heart sank as she glanced over her shoulder and saw the guards pursuing her. Too many of them.
"Come on, come on…" Raven muttered to herself as she sprinted toward the back exit. Her footfalls echoed in the hall, but she wasn't fast enough. One of the guards grabbed her by the arm, yanking her back.
Raven spun on her heels, kneeing him in the stomach before slamming her elbow into his throat. He staggered back, gasping for air, but it wasn't enough. She was already running again, but this time, there was no more time for second chances.
Her vision blurred with exertion, and the world seemed to close in on her, but then—finally—she saw the exit. Dante and Lucas were there, waiting for her, weapons drawn, ready to cover her escape.
"Get in the truck, now!" Dante shouted.
Without hesitation, Raven sprinted the final few yards, diving into the truck just as the guards fired one last round. The tires squealed as Lucas floored the gas pedal, and the truck roared out of the compound, heading into the night.
The adrenaline slowly ebbed away as they sped through the streets, but Raven's mind raced with a thousand thoughts. She glanced at Valerie, who was sitting in the back of the truck, still shaking but alive. They'd done it. They had her.
"I can't believe you actually did it," Valerie whispered hoarsely, her eyes wide with gratitude and disbelief.
Raven shot her a grin, trying to hide the exhaustion in her own voice. "You've got a way of making people fight for you, Val."
Dante, his face still set in determination, glanced back at them. "We got out. We're not done yet, but we're closer."
Raven leaned back, breathing deeply. The cost of the distraction had been high, but they'd saved her. And that was all that mattered now.
"Yeah," Raven muttered under her breath, "closer."
And for once, that was enough.