Seconds passed, then a few more. The bombardnt Matthews was eagerly anticipating never ca. Nothing happened. Frowning, she snapped her attention to the nearest Apache and demanded, "What's the holdup?"
But before the pilot could even open his mouth, sothing caught her eye—
The stationary rotor blades of the Apache suddenly moved rearranging themselves before coming to a halt. Then—boom!—a controlled explosion sent the hatch flying, and before the pieces even hit the ground, the pilot and co-pilot were ejected straight up.
And it wasn't just that one Apache. The sa thing happened to the others. One after another, their Jettisonable Hatch Systems triggered—launching their pilots and gunners out like discarded cargo.
Matthews' body tensed. What the hell was going on? She was about to rush toward the pilots when she heard Ace warn her with an unnervingly calm voice, "If I were you, I wouldn't move,"
She didn't need Ace to further explain himself as she felt it. The laser guidance systems from all three Apaches had locked onto her. And then—"Hahaha… Hahaha!"
Ace let out a low chuckle which soon turned into a full-blown maniacal laughter. Matthews stiffened, her grip tightening around Ace's throat as she finally put two and two together.
The Apaches hadn't malfunctioned, it had sothing to do with him. Sohow… this was all him.
"What the hell is going on?" Matthews demanded, tightening her grip around Ace's neck, forcefully cutting off his manic laughter.
But instead of answering, he just smirked. A slow, taunting sneer.
"You wanted a fight?" he rasped, his voice laced with defiance. "Now you got one."
Matthews' eyes darkened, her grip tightening even further, as she warned, "Don't think I won't snap your damn neck."
Ace didn't flinch. Didn't even hesitate.
"Go ahead," he challenged, locking eyes with her. "I dare you."
Matthews scowled unable to find a single trace of fear in his eyes. Understanding that Ace be was being damn serious.
"Have you lost your damn mind, kid?" she asked, baffled.
Her gaze flicked toward the six pilots who had crash-landed earlier. After struggling to free themselves from their seats they crawled out from beneath their parachutes. So were badly bleeding, their faces twisted in pain, while others dragged themselves toward their Apaches, ignoring their injuries. They were determined despite the fact that they could barely stand as their mission was not complete.
They only stopped when they heard Matthews say, "Stand down officers."
Ace noticed her shift in focus and concerned for the pilots and flatly inford, "If they don't get dical attention soon, so of them will bleed out. The rest? They'll have to cut off infected limbs and live the rest of their lives as cripples."
He tilted his head, his smirk deepening as he continued, adding, "Don't look at like that, Matthews. Whatever happens to them? That's on you. You're the one who wanted a fight, rember?"
"You dipshit," Matthews spat with her jaw clenched. "Why the hell are you butting heads with ? This is between and Janice."
She genuinely didn't understand why Ace was throwing himself into the middle of this. He'd been interfering even before she found out that Lilith might be the evidence she needed against him. So why was he pushing this so far?
"Get off your high horse and look around! Where the hell do you think you are?" Ace shouted, his voice raw with anger. "This is my property. My family lives here. They work here. You lost your shit because I involved your daughter—so tell , how mad should I be when you're the one putting my entire family at risk? Do you think your family is the only one that matters?"
His chest heaved as he glared at Matthews, his frustration boiling over, as he roared, "Mine matters too. And I'm damn sure going to make sure they do."
A tense silence stretched between them before Ace suddenly lunged forward, shoving against Matthews' grip, challenging her, "Either kill or let go."
Matthews blinked, montarily caught off guard. Then her eyes flashed with irritation.
"That's it? You dipshit—what do you think that barricade and those agents are for?" she snapped. "They're here to secure the periter, to make sure no civilians get hurt—"
"Shut the fuck up!" Ace cut in, his voice razor-sharp. "I was there last night, rember? I saw how much the C.I.B. cares about civilians. You guys could barely save yourselves, let alone protect anyone else."
Matthews clenched her jaw, but Ace wasn't done. His glare burned into her as he stepped closer.
"A single stray curse energy is enough to kill a mortal. My entire family—all the people I give a damn about—live just a few hectares from here. Can you guarantee they won't get caught up in your pointless battle?"
Matthews didn't answer fast enough. Ace exhaled sharply, then gave a single ntal command to Da Wasp, 'Fire.'
The three Apaches roared to life, their chain gun curse gadgets firing in unison.
Matthews reacted instantly, pulling Ace out of harm's way, shielding him from most of the bullets. But one managed to slip through—triggering one of his displacent talismans.
In an instant, Ace vanished. Matthews staggered, her grip tightening—only to realize she was no longer holding Ace. She was holding a log of wood.
'What the fuck?' Her eyes widened in shock. Then, before she could process what had just happened, Ace's voice rang out behind her.
"Don't move a muscle, Matthews," he warned, his tone almost amused. "They'll open fire."
Matthews swallowed hard, forcing herself to stand still. She knew better than to test her luck. The missile-type curse gadgets on the Apaches could lock onto their targets and hunt them down relentlessly. She wasn't faster than them, and her defenses sure as hell couldn't withstand twelve direct hits. She had no choice but to stay put.
From the corner of her eye, she watched Ace make his way to one of the downed pilots. With a flick of his wrist, he used a consumable curse tool of his to help the pilot recover—only to knock them unconscious right after. One by one, he did the sa to each of them, making sure they wouldn't be a problem before finally making his way back toward the house.
Matthews tracked his movents, then asked, "What's your plan here, Ace? You know this makes you a curse criminal, right?"
Ace smirked, completely unfazed by her warning.
"It's your word against mine. I'll take my chances in court against you any day."
Thanks to last night's incident, he wasn't the sa ill-inford country kid he had been before. He knew soone who knew the C.I.B. laws better than the damn founders who wrote them, Da Wasp.
Without wasting another second, he turned to the house, squared his shoulders, and yelled, "Janice, co out while I'm still being civil. Don't force my hand."
It was ti to put an end to this.
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