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“Please,” I beg.
Boxcar stares back at me and I recognize his eyes. It’s that same cocky glance like he has everything under control but he sure as hell doesn’t. He nods at me, but fear overtakes him as Elijah passes a glittering blade in front of his widening eyes and into Lilah’s outstretched hand.
“Boxcar,” Lilah begins again, “think about it. It’s just Fox Fitzpatrick.”
Boxcar shakes his head. “He saved my life.”
“And he really fucked up ours,” she replies. “Along with the lives of hundreds of others. He could have gone out quietly. Instead, he chose to sink the ship while he snuck off in a damn lifeboat.”
“Boo-hoo,” he mutters.
I inhale sharply as Lilah flexes her fingers around the knife. “Box…”
“No, I stand by it,” he says with even more of that damned cocky glance. “Why should we care about a bunch of assassins having a career crisis?”
“Because…” Elijah says, clearing his throat, “it wasn’t just a bunch of assassins who had their lives torn away by all of this. I can think of one innocent girl in Illinois who may never walk again and the reason why traces right back to Fox’s actions. Who knows how far out that ripple has traveled and how many lives have been tampered with because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.”
“Killing Fox won’t change any of that,” Boxcar says.
“No, but it’ll make our boss very happy. Believe me when I tell you that it’s better off for everyone involved, including the two of you, that she stays that way.”
“We’re not giving up Fox,” I say through my teeth, drawing Boxcar’s shaking eyes.
He nods back at me. “Do what you want. Cut me, kill me. I don’t care.”
“You’re willing to die to protect him?” Lilah asks.
Boxcar doesn’t hesitate. “Yes. He’d do the same for me.”
“Are you willing to watch her die to protect him?”
I can see it in his eyes. No. He’s absolutely not willing to watch me die at all. His tense shoulders submit down and his jaw flexes.
“Box, no,” I say. “They aren’t going to kill me. They’ve already told me that.”
Lilah smirks. “And you believed me?”
Her hand slips off Boxcar’s shoulder as she steps in my direction. He shifts in his chair but Elijah forces him back down with a strong hand.
“We were told to take care of Fox Fitzpatrick,” she says, calm as ever. “The reward is well-worth an extra one or two lives and I will bear that weight if I have to.”
She touches the cold blade to my neck and Boxcar pinches his eyes closed.
“Please, stop—” he says.
“Tell us where Fox is,” she says. I feel the sharp pressure on my skin and Boxcar’s resolve crumbles even more. “You have three seconds before I spill every drop of her onto the floor.”
“Box, don’t—” I cry.
“Three.”
He grits his teeth.
“Two.”
The knife digs deeper.
“One—”
