Ryan's mother, Sera Slade, had been lying in the corridor that led to Corvin's office. She'd been shot multiple times, and there was so much blood around her that Matt had known immediately there was nothing he could do. Sera had been strong, had been fierce and capable and one of the best fighters in their organization. Seeing her like that, lifeless on the floor, had been like a punch to Matt's gut.
He'd stepped over her body, his mind screaming at him to keep moving, to find Corvin, and had run the rest of the way to the office.
Corvin had been in the last room, slumped against his desk with two bullet wounds in his chest. He'd still been alive when Matt had found him, but he was dying. His breathing had been shallow and wet-sounding, blood bubbling at the corners of his mouth with each exhale.
