"Shit." he cursed silently. "Knew this would've happened one day."
"Who are they?" Haven's eyes darted from Zei to the side mirror once again, wondering whether these men were old-time rivals or had another motive in following them all the way to this empty, desolate road.
He remained obnoxiously quiet, trying his best to speed the car up and outrun them. Not knowing how many men were locked up inside those cars was a severe disadvantage. Survival through close combat would only be possible if the figures were less than four at the least.
The next thing she knew, both the vehicles made a sharp turn coming to a sudden halt at a distance in front of them, blocking their way out entirely.
Slamming the brakes, Zei released a ragged breath. Haven unconsciously gulped as he poked his tongue against his cheek and glanced at her for a moment. "Stay in here and keep the doors locked no matter what you see."
Pulling open the glove compartment, he withdrew his hand to reveal a small revolver which Zei then proceeded to stuff in his pocket hurriedly, keeping an eye on the front mirror at the same time.
The car doors of the two blocking vehicles swung open, and five imposing figures emerged, silhouetted by the faint glow of the streetlights. Each man exuded an aura of danger, dressed in dark suits that hugged their muscular frames. Their faces were obscured by shadow, adding an air of doubt to their presence.
"Don't tell me you're going to take them all on by yourself!" she exclaimed and Zei stared at her sudden outburst with a small frown. "Let me help, I'll act as a distraction—"
No!
"They'll find themselves in the depths of hell the second they lay a finger on you." the warning in his piercing eyes was enough to make her seal her mouth shut. "Still want to act as a sacrifice?"
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she shook her head. "Don't die."
Zei smirked. "You think it's that easy to kill me?" He pushed down the door handle. "Think again, wild cat."
Haven watched him walk out to the front of the car his hands in his pockets and his posture lazy as if he didn't give a fuck about the entire situation. Her heart felt like it was lodged in her throat but she didn't waste a second in excusing it as something else. He was bound to die by her hands, not anybody else. Nobody deserved to kill him more than she did.
"Hands in the air, Joker!" one of the men shouted, as soon as they felt themselves capable of human speech. The aura Zei was radiating had them holding their breaths, hands midway to the guns which were still stuck in their holsters. Underestimating him was the reason their Boss's dead body had floated up to them in a sewer of all places.
"What do you want?" he asked as his eyes carelessly traveled over each one of them, the shiver in their bodies not going unnoticed by him. "Whose men are you?"
"You better keep silent and walk to the car without causing any unnecessary trouble." the man flinched sharply at the sudden laugh that escaped his lips, glancing at each other nervously. They had been told that he was an utter half-psycho but this was completely out of left field.
The bravest one wasted no time in retorting, "Think about it, Wei. You're nothing without your squad of minions tottering behind you. Five against one? It'll end with your dead body floating in one of the sewers of the City."
"Wait, Ash." one of them raised their hands to point to the car. "He's not alone."
"She's got a nice face." the guy named Ash spoke up, squinting his eyes to get a better look at Haven.
"Guess we disturbed Joker's private moment," he smirked, looking at the car. "Maybe we can take her as a replacement instead."
None of them noticed the smile fading off Zei's face, his hands forming into fists in his pockets, his knuckles turning white with restrained anger. His jaw ticked with each passing second as he keenly observed their contemptuous gazes, his mind swirling with thoughts of retaliation, imagining the satisfying release he would feel by extracting their eyes from their sockets once he had dealt with them according to his own terms.
Haven swallowed when she gazed out the window, noticing their undivided attention on her while Zei stood there like a rock; unmoving, unrelentingly rigid all over.
"We almost never see Wei with women." the burliest one out of the group spoke, taking a step forward toward the car. "I wanna see what his taste in women is like."
"You better not take another step," Zei warned calmly, the storm brewing in his eyes hidden from their gazes.
"Does it look like you're in the position to be giving orders?" Ash asked, laughing out loud. "I'm having dibs on her first, boys."
"If you treasure Hell that much, go ahead," he said, his head still facing the ground.
Zei took out his gun and shot him in the head as soon as his right foot touched the floor when he took another step toward her. Haven's hand shot up to her mouth, her eyes widening in turn. She had seen and done her share of kills in the past but seeing him murder somebody in front of her eyes caused a completely different sensation inside her heart.
The man's companions scattered instantly at seeing their partner get shot. The small moment of confusion and dread was what Zei needed to step back and hide behind the car while they gathered their scattered wits at seeing the blood leak from the back of his head.
"Aven, get down!"
Heart pounding furiously against her chest, she crouched down inside the car the second his voice shouted the command and the men started aiming at the car. A crack formed in the bulletproof mirror shield and Haven pushed open the door to slip out undetected from their sight.
"When I start shooting, come here as quickly as you can!" he shouted over the bullets shooting almost in every direction possible. His hand shot out from the back of the car and this time the men hid behind their cars as he started shooting with impeccable precision.
Just as she joined him at the back of the car, she saw another guy fall to his doom at the bullet that left his gun.
Take.