Page 357 of Immune

Remove.

I breathe.

No.

Not distance.

Not gone.

Here.

I. Am. Here.

I lift the knife and the leader’s eyes widen.

“You need me alive,” he says, almost like a warning.

“Nah,” I mutter, brushing him off. “I mean, your files might be pretty useful, but you? You’re nothing. And I don’t think there’s a soul left on this earth who’s in need of nothing.”

And I drive the knife down. Not into his heart, though. I slam that fucker right into the thick flesh of his thigh, blade sinking in deep as it slices through muscle and flesh. I make sure to stab away from the artery because, unfortunately, I am trying to make strategic choices rather than plainly decorate the floor with his innards.

He howls loudly and Kaito moves in the same breath, striking the back of his head with the hilt of his blade. The leader collapses unconscious.

Alive.

Ruined.

Really annoying.

A very satisfying combination.

My hand shakes around the knife and I stare down at it. At the blood that seems to be everywhere. At my own fingers gripping the hilt of the blade tightly. At the black polish cracked and chipped on my nails. Skin torn, knuckles bruised, and veins popping along the back of my hand.

Mine. Still mine.

The cold inside me settles. It’s not gone, simply settles into a quiet lull at the back of my head, waiting and watching but not driving. Not wearing my skin like a fancy coat.

I exhale slowly just as the outer wall blows. The whole room shudders with the force of it, and dust rains from the ceiling, coating everything close by in a thin sprinkle of white.

Fletcher grabs my waist and pulls me back from falling debris. “Time to go.”

“No shit, Scar.”

His grin flashes, savage and relieved. “There she is.”

Ewan’s voice crackles through a stolen radio a second later. “All Vector units, containment breach in medical. Repeat, containment breach in medical.”

Maine stares at him. “Why would you tell them where we are?”

Ewan looks up. “Because we’re not going to be here.”

From the hall comes the thunder of feet.

Guards.

Then another sound. A faster sound that comes with wet snarls and high-pitched screams.

Runners.