Page 86 of Shai

“I told you. Shai doesn’t like people doing business on his streets

without his say so. Your days were numbered from the moment you first set foot here.”

He clutched at his gut, blood bubbling between his fingers. “You must

be Elijah.”

Hearing my name on his lips sent a jolt through my body. “And why

would you think that?”

He tipped his head back to meet my stare. “I don’t know. People are

talking, that’s all.”

I dropped to a crouch in front of him, genuinely interested in what he

had to say. “And what is it that they’re saying exactly?”

“That you’re Shai’s baby-faced assassin. That”—he paused to cough, a

trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth—“That you’re worse than he is. They say you killed McIntyre for Shai as some sort of declaration of your love for him. Is that true?”

I lifted the gun and notched it against his temple. “There are elements of

truth in it. Unfortunately, as to which bits are true and which have been embellished, I’m afraid you’re never going to know.”

He reached out, his fingers wrapping around my wrist and leaving

bloody fingerprints. “Wait! You could let me go. It could be our secret. I could be useful to you, both of you.”

I seemed to remember those same words on my lips a long time ago. It

didn’t change my answer. “You could, but you won’t be.” I pulled the trigger, and the man whose name I hadn’t even bothered to learn slid to the side, all life gone from him in an instant.

I T DIDN’T TAKE long to divest him of the contents of his pockets. No Void. Figured he’d been full of shit. It was perhaps just as well. Shai had made it clear that if I ever gave in to temptation, even my new status wouldn’t save me from a spell in the same room until I was clean again.

I straightened, taking a moment to study the corpse on the pavement to see if I’d feel anything. Regret? Guilt? Maybe even sorrow for a young life wasted? There was nothing, just the empty space where those emotions had once lived. I guessed the baby-faced assassin had struck again. I smiled as I walked away. As names went, it could have been worse.

SHAI WAS WAITING when we got back, his gaze skating briefly over Taylor and Wyatt before settling on me. “How did it go?”

The journey back had been as awkward as the one there, Taylor still insisting on driving like a maniac, as if he was trying to provoke me into telling him to slow down again. For that reason, I was done with him, my temper hanging by the thinnest of threads. “The job was fine, but don’t send me out with these two again unless you’re happy for them to come back in a body bag.”

Shai’s head tilted slightly to one side. “Is that so?” He turned his attention to Taylor. “And what exactly was the problem?”

A sneer appeared on Taylor’s face. “No problem on my part. I don’t know what Pretty Boy’s complaining about.”

He went to walk away, Shai’s voice stopping him mid-turn. “Pretty Boy?”

Taylor shrugged, heeding the note of warning in Shai’s voice. “Just a name. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Shai stepped closer to him, a coldness in his expression that I hadn’t seen for a long time. “What part of Elijah being my partner isn’t clear enough for you? Do you think it’s all one big joke, perhaps? Are you waiting for the punchline? Well, I hate to break it to you, but there isn’t one coming. And as such, you should be aware that pretty boy has my full support to put a bullet through your brain any time he feels disrespected.” He turned his gaze my way. “Did you feel disrespected at any point today, Elijah?”

I gave a slow nod, aware of how many pairs of eyes rested on us, an air

of expectant tension in the room. “Actually, I did. On more than one occasion, now that you mention it.” I pulled the pistol from my waistband and aimed it at Taylor’s chest. “He drove too fast, which was ironic really, considering how slow he was to do as he was asked. Oh, and he questioned our relationship as well.”

Taylor opened his mouth and then closed it again without speaking, his