Flipping open the knife, I work the blade between the top hinge of the cage door. It’s not my first time breaking and entering, but I don’t have anywhere near the kind of lockpicking skills required to pull it off with only a knife. People always forget about the door hinges, though. Not all of them are easy to pry the pin out or break, but it’s a better chance of busting them than the locking mechanism in most mainstream animal cages. Once the blade’s wedged firmly in place, I use my body weight for leverage, heart racing as nothing happens at first. But another few seconds of pressure and it starts to budge.
“What’s your name?” I grit out.
A long beat of silence. “Y-Yukina.”
“I’m Kiara. Wish we’d met under better circumstances, Yukina, but we’re going to fast-track our newfound friendship, ‘kay? So here’s what we’re going to do. As soon as I get this door open, you’re going to sprint back up into that vent and get the hell out of here.Don’twait for me, understand?You’ll be faster and harder to catch on your own than if we stick together, so leave me and make a break for it; I’ll catch up. Take a left, right, then another left. There’s a man waiting for me outside the locked bathroom at the other end. Hot, mercenary looking dudenamed Stryker. He’s good people. He’ll get you somewhere safe, then come back for me if shit goes sideways.”
Probably. I hope.
But honestly… I believe it. Believe inhim.Stryker isn’t the kind of person to give up on someone, he’s the guy you trust to have your back. And right now? I’m really regretting not asking him to come with me.
“I can’t leave you,” she whispers.
“I’d be insulted if you didn’t.” A bead of sweat rolls down my temple and I grunt, the hilt digging into my palm as I push with all my might. “This isn’t exactly easy. Don’t spit in the face of my amazing rescue by not escaping.”
She starts to respond, but clams up so fast, I look up to check on her… only to find her staring wide-eyed over my shoulder. Before I can turn to see what spooked her, the sound of a gun cocking as it presses into the back of my head has me freezing in place.
“Well, well, well, what have we here?” A dark chuckle proceeds him plucking the knife out of my hand. “Stand up and let me get a look at you. Slowly now.” Gritting my teeth, I follow his instructions, reaching out to borrow his powers, but find him infuriatingly useless. Ability to mask his presence; fat load of good that does me now.
Greasy black hair is slicked back, patchy facial hair trimmed, and a wrinkled suit that doesn’t quite fit right, it’s easy to peg him as a grunt that was ordered to dress up for the event. Which begs the question; how many other people were already sold if Yukina is the last one on the auction block?
A slow smirk curves his lips as he leisurely runs his gaze over me from head to toe, assessing. “If I'd known the job came with these kinds of pretty perks, I'd have volunteered for warehouse duty sooner.” With his free hand, he grips my forearm hard enough to bruise and stows his gun, swapping it for the keys inhis pocket. “Looks like you've got a roommate, Foxy, and I’m in for one hell of a bonus.”
Yukina’s already shifted by the time I risk taking one eye off the threat, shrinking back in her cage, and I don’t blame her in the slightest. It’s the only protection she’s got from this creep, since the scumbags didn’t even leave her a pair of underwear before planning to parade her in front of potential buyers.
Before he can find the right key single-handedly, he catches sight of my inner wrist and pauses with a low whistle. “A center?”
I shudder as he licks his lips slowly, tucking the keys back in his pocket and drawing his gun from the holster on his hip. He holds it casually, not really aimed at me, but the message is clear. He has all the power right now, and even if he won’t kill me, I have no doubt he’ll shoot me in the leg if I try to run.
“On second thought, you're coming with me.” Behind him, a silver mist frames his silhouette, and I frown, wondering if my mimic ability is more damaged than I realized. “Price you'll fetch? I'll be set for lif-”
His eyes flare wide, the rest of his statement a wet gurgle as warm blood splatters across my face and chest. He drops my arm to clutch his throat, fingers drowning in a sea of red. Behind him, a figure breaks away from the silver mist, wiping the bloody blade on the man’s shirt sleeve before sheathing it at his hip. With a kick to the back of the knees, the man drops like a sack of potatoes onto the floor, gasping and feebly scrabbling at the gash on his throat, a growing puddle of blood spreading beneath him that I hastily step back to avoid.
The less evidence that puts me at the scene of a murder, the better. And I sure as shit don’t want to risk anyone that comes looking for this guy being able to track me down for revenge. It’s already going to be a challenge to get out of here without drawing attention to myself now that I’m wearing blood likebody paint. But as soon as I get a look at the person that saved my ass, all of those fears turn into white noise.
Vic looks nearly the same as I remember. Bright teal eyes that see far too much, a scar slashed across one that only adds to his appeal. He’s still wearing his trademark black t-shirt and military pants, the air around him radiating with deadly energy. The only difference is he cut his hair, and it’s completely silvery-blue now. It suits him, makes him look like even the assassins under his command call him Daddy Knight.
Why’s it always the assholes that get hotter with age? Pretty fucking rude, if you ask me. He could at least be considerate enough to have a mid-life crisis and get a bad dye job before showing his face for the first time in months. But noooooooooo, he has to be just as hot as the day we met, the jerk.
Because honestly… it hurts worse than I want to admit that I don’t affect him the same way he does me. Nothing on his face says he’s surprised to see me after all these months, let alone is happy about it. Oh no. If anything, he lookspissed.
Jaw clenched, he lifts my arm, manhandling me -albeit, carefully- to inspect the finger shaped bruises rapidly forming around my forearm where the guy grabbed me. His furious gaze snaps up to mine. “What thehellare you doing here? You're supposed to be in Mercy Ridge.”
Thatrestarts my brain, all of the white noise officially drowned out by a tidal wave of rage.Scowling, I yank my arm free and steal the dead guy’s keys, sifting through them for the one to Yukina’s cage.
“Isthatwhy this place looks different? Huh, who would’ve thought. Guess I’ll head back home, then. Out of sight, out of mind, before I ruin your day again, right?”
He frowns, head cocked, but shakes himself out of saying whatever was on the tip of his tongue. Heaven forbid he wasteany more time forced to acknowledge I exist. “Let me take you both home, we’ll work it out once you’re safe.”
Yukina skittishly scurries back, attention swinging nervously between the two of us, and my heart breaks a little at whatever this poor woman went through. Shoving Vic’s shoulder so he isn’t in front of the open cage door, I drop to a crouch and soften my expression.
“Hey, it’s fine, I know this guy.” Mumbling under my breath, I add, “Unfortunately.” Ignoring the‘seriously?’look from Vic, I hold my hands out in front of me, palms up, and crook my fingers in a ‘come on’ motion to coax her out. “He may look scary, but trust me, he’s nothing like the people that took you. You saw the way he slit that pervert’s throat before he even knew there was someone else in the room? That’s Havoc’s specialty; fucking things up and disappearing without a trace.”
I pointedly ignore the stare burning a hole in the side of my head as Yukina finds her courage and takes a tentative step, then another, and leaps into my arms. I let her cuddle against my chest as I rise to my feet, cringing as I realize my mistake. Her pristine white fur is stained red now, the blood darker than her ear and tail tips and too obvious to pass off. Anyone that looks at her will assume she tore a hunk out of someone’s flesh and think she’s feral. They’ll lock her up until realizing they read the situation wrong, and-
Nope, not on my watch. Yukina’s never setting foot in a cage again, precautions be damned. They’ll have to go through me first.
Taking a page out of her book, I muster up the courage to finally face Havoc head on and ask, “How’d you even know to look for me here?”
