Chapter 40: Heartbeat

When she heard Erica's scream, Ririna couldn't help but feel startled at least before she was forcefully pushed aside by Jerry, who happened to be right behind her. That was when she realized, to her horror, that they were being ambushed by someone within the room.

Her body hit the ground hard, loud enough that a 'thud' was heard throughout the room. Her arm ached beneath her, and when she looked up, she spotted a figure behind the large couch, which was near the balcony.

She quickly rolled to her right, taking the gun from her right hand and passing it hurriedly to the left. She pointed the weapon at her target and unleashed three consecutive shots to counter his attacks. She was right-handed, but it appears her accuracy with her left hand wasn't as bad as she thought.

The enemy fell dead behind his cover. She then quickly turned her attention to her team and spotted Erica injured on the floor. The poor girl had gotten hit on her right shoulder when the first salvo of shots had been fired against them. If they had been a second too late to react, the three of them were positive that they wouldn't have lived to see another day.

"Erica!" Ririna exclaimed as she stood up. She quickly moved to help her friend and took a look at her injury.

"I'm fine, Ririna. It isn't as bad as you think it is," Erica said.

Erica wiped the sweat from her forehead using the back of her hand. Her eyes were filled with relief upon the realization that they had survived yet another unexpected attack.

Her black button-up shirt was tainted with blood. It's a good thing that she preferred to wear light bulletproof plates underneath her clothes for extra protection. If she hadn't, she might have been suffering a fatal blow by now.

"Are you sure?" Ririna asked with a frown.

"Yes. Now, let's move. We can't waste another minute in here."

Ririna's communication device beeped, informing her of an incoming call. Eli's devices were specifically used for these kinds of missions as they gave enemies a difficult time trying to jam or hack their line. The team has also managed to turn off the electricity on the whole floor, making it hard to see the reinforcements of their team. Rooms only got its light source from the daylight outside.

"Yes?" Ririna answered as soon as she pressed the button on her earpiece. She followed Jerry and Erica's trail, and she looked around her surroundings to try to figure out where they had taken Sky and Jiro. The darkness made it hard for them to see the way properly. While the tracker she attached to Sky kept on moving randomly, she doubted if the children were together.

"We have cleared the Western Wing of the seventh floor. They aren't here. Where are you?" Eli asked on the other line. Ririna checked her tracking app again and noticed a green dot moving in the eastern part of the floor.

"We're on the Southern Wing. Sky's tracker is moving ten o'clock in the East Wing section. Let's meet there," Ririna said before checking the rounds still left in her magazine.

"We will block the North Wing first. Ririna, don't go alone. We aren't sure how many intruders we're facing right now. They have managed to hack the surveillance within the past hour." Eli explained as he motioned his team to move forward towards the North Wing.

Ririna cut the line and put her phone in her side pockets. With all the remaining wings of this floor being covered quickly by Eli's team, her team must finish mapping the southern wing and follow Skyler as soon as possible.

If only she could go ahead and follow the signal, but she knew that they had to check every room to make sure that the children weren't being hidden separately by the kidnappers. Ririna knew that she wouldn't hesitate for a second to kill again if something wrong happened to her child.

After making sure that the Southern Wing was clear, the trio made their way to the East Wing. Ririna felt her blood rush through her veins as she hoped nothing wrong had happened to the children. When they met Eli's front team on the threshold of the pathway to the East Wing, they split into two groups. Ririna's team took the right corridor while the others went on towards the left.

The tracker stopped moving at the second room near the staircase. Jerry and Erica both decided to check on the situation first before Ririna could see what's inside. She was left alone in the corridor, but not before she noticed slight movement to her right.

A silhouette of a man carrying something registered on the opposite wall. Even in the darkness, she could sense that the man was trying to escape from her team. Was he one of those intruders? Since both Jerry and Erica were busy checking out the other room, she decided to go slip out and follow this suspicious man.

She had a hunch that he had one of the children. Her footsteps were silent, each one of her movements calculated to ensure minimum detection. She had to see what this man was up to. The man went to the presidential suite, and Ririna's eyes narrowed when she saw her child being carried up by the man. His small body lifted like a sack of rice.

It seems like Skyler had been drugged and put to sleep. Ririna could only hope they didn't poison him with something she was not familiar with, or else she wouldn't know how to save him. She silently followed the man into the room, at least until the door creaked slightly, alerting her target of her presence.

He was standing on the other side of the bed, looking down at his phone with an arm wrapped around Skyler's torso. When he heard the door opened, he threw his phone onto the bed and immediately took the gun from the bedside table. Then, he pointed the weapon right at Ririna almost instantly.

Their eyes met. One was filled with killing intent while the other with confusion and fear. Ririna's only thought was that this man had to be inexperienced with this style of criminal activity. She could see him trembling with fear. Could this man have any semblance of knowledge that she was a former assassin? He frantically pulled Skyler's body in front of him, using the child as a human shield to protect him.

Ririna furrowed her brows. Was this guy serious? Was he really going to use Skyler as his shield?

The man wouldn't surrender to the witch. He knew that he was already cornered when he couldn't reach for help from his comrades. It really was bad fortune that he had to endure the demon and the witch's wrath for abducting their child. If it wasn't for his huge debt in the casino, he wouldn't have even dared to agree on kidnapping someone's child, especially if that child was the son of the devil and witch of the Underworld.

He didn't want to kill anyone, but that doesn't mean he wanted to be killed. The plan was supposed to be simple: take the kid, drug him, and deliver him to the man waiting outside the hotel. It was just bad fortune that they were found far too soon by the devil.

Like a prey being cornered by a wolf, he tried to fight back. He shot Ririna, who was hiding behind the door. He moved backward, trying to figure out if he could use the fire exit to escape. He quickly looked back to see if the witch followed him, and he was surprised and horrified to see her cold eyes staring back at him, holding a gun aimed right at him.

Before he could react, she shot twice, hitting both of his eyes with dead-on precision. His body fell backward, his grip to the child loosened while his blood splattered all over his face and ran down his neck. Skyler then fell down on top of his dead body.

It was over. She had prevented another tragedy. Or, did she?

Quickly holstering her gun, she made her way directly to Skyler and took his body off the ground. His skin was deathly pale, his body unresponsive. These signs sent alarms blaring within her mind. Was it too late for her to save the child?

Ririna took his hand and checked his pulse nervously. Her mind went blank as she felt nothing from the child.

Skyler didn't have a heartbeat.