Badass in Disguise (Shadow) novel Chapter 295

Chapter 295

The early November air in Princeton cut through my jacket like tiny needles. I’d parked my car half a mile back, hidden among the trees, and made my way toward the mansion on foot. The sprawling estate belonged to a tech CEO–at least on paper. In reality, it was one of Shadow Organization’s strongest branch headquarters.

I paused at the edge of the property, studying the seemingly quiet mansion. No movement, no lights flashing between windows, nothing to suggest the place was crawling with trained killers. But I knew better. In the shadows, figures waited, watching, ready to strike at the first sign of trouble.

Too bad for them I wasn’t giving any signs.

The security system was advanced–motion sensors, infrared cameras, weight–sensitive pathways–but nothing I hadn’t bypassed a hundred times before. I moved like a ghost, each step calculated, my breathing controlled. The compound’s outer defenses recognized me as nothing more threatening than a passing deer.

I slipped past the first layer of security, disabling the motion sensors with practiced ease. My fingers moved automatically, muscle memory taking over as I attached a small device to the electrical box. Three minutes until complete darkness.

I counted down silently as I positioned myself near a side entrance. When the timer hit zero, the entire mansion plunged into blackness. Immediately, I heard movement inside–low voices, quick footsteps. The supposedly empty house suddenly came alive with activity.

The Shadow Organization knew I was coming. They’d been waiting, preparing for my arrival ever since I’d awakened from their control. Well, dinner was served.

My knife gleamed faintly in the darkness as I slid it across the throat of the first guard who came to check the power. He didn’t even have time to register my presence before he was choking on his own blood. I lowered him silently to the ground and moved deeper into the house.

This branch had been under Umbra and Silhouette’s control before they met their end on that yacht. I’d heard King of Hearts had been trying to bring them under his influence. Now, with new management in place, it was time to send a message to what remained of Shadow Organization.

They were ready for me–or thought they were. Silenced gunshots echoed through the dark hallways as they tracked my movements. I disappeared around a corner, and the shooter followed cautiously, his footsteps nearly silent on the plush carpet. He was good, but not good enough.

I appeared behind him like a ghost. He sensed me at the last second, his eyes widening as he spun around, raising his weapon. Too late. My blade opened his neck before his finger could squeeze the trigger.

More of them rushed up the stairs toward the third floor where I’d been spotted. I met the first one with a brutal kick that sent him tumbling back down to the second level. The sickening crack of his neck breaking was barely audible over the commotion.

I moved through the mansion like a shadow, collecting lives as I went. The metallic smell of blood filled every room, coating the back of my throat. In one hallway, I took down three men in quick succession–a knife to the kidney, a broken windpipe, a severed femoral artery. Their training was impressive, but mine had been forged in hell itself.

Time blurred as I hunted down every last one of them, leaving nothing but cooling bodies in my wake. The once–pristine mansion transformed into a slaughterhouse, blood soaking into expensive carpets and staining marble floors.

Then I walked out, stepping over bodies, my shoes leaving bloody footprints on the marble floor.

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