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Which forced me to move, to do it knowing it might not work out. This was too important to hold back, to regroup, to wait. I slipped behind the man, not even the shifting of his gaze implying he noticed me at all. Then again, that was one of my best skills—my ability to get up close.
Some killers preferred sniper rifles, but not me. I tended to remain quiet, get close and end targets with my own hands.
I did that now, moved quickly into place, my actions precise. I grasped his wrist with my free hand, shifting the barrel just a few inches to the side. Sure enough, his finger moved, the kickback of the pistol strong.
I brought the blade up between his ribs from the back on the right side, the sharpness allowing it to slide in with little resistance. His hand opened, the gun dropping to the sidewalk, his weight pulling as his knees gave out.
Then again, piercing the heart through the ribs like this tended to end any fight in a person quickly, which was exactly why I preferred such methods.
I allowed him to collapse, reaching past him to take the gun from the ground. Any person used to dealing with people and weapons learned quickly to not leave guns on the battlefield. There was nothing worse than an opponent who I’d thought was done grabbing one. That sort of wound ended up horribly embarrassing.
I looked around, finding Hayden and Char headed over, all the enemies down. Vance stood beside Kenz, and after one big breath, he seemed to be okay.
Kenz, on the other hand, had the expression of a woman about half a moment from collapsing. Not that it was a shock—normal people didn’t tolerate scenes like this. Their minds rebelled against the sight of blood or death. The primitive parts of our minds didn’t like that, since it signaled danger.
Kenz may have lived a hard life, but exposure tothislevel of danger and violence was different. I reached out, reach to catch her when her brain shut down in response.
Except, she didn’t. She wavered just a bit, but before she went over, she pulled in a shaky breath and regained her balance.Tough woman.
“Vance, Char, get Kenz back to the house. Tor, let’s clean up here to ensure there’s no evidence left.” Hayden had that take-charge tone of voice he often used, the one that told everyone things would be fine.
I nodded in agreement—Hayden and I were the best options for taking care of the scene, after all. Even if I hated the idea, even if I didn’t want Kenz out of my sight after this, I remained still as Char slid into the driver seat and Vance got Kenz into the backseat.
The car pulled out quickly, leaving Hayden, myself, six bodies and a lot of blood.
“Well fuck,” Hayden muttered, the curse word uncommon but completely fair.
I nodded, then sighed. After such a nice day, dealing with corpses wasn’t the way I’d wanted it to end.
* * * *
Kenz
A knock on my door had me automatically calling for the person to enter. Honestly, it had taken longer for someone to bother me than I’d expected.
After Char and Vance had gotten us back, we’d all taken showers. Between the hiking and the fight, sweat, dirt and blood covered us all. After my shower, though, I’d yet to leave again.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around what had happened, around the way Vance had stood against that man and so easily picked a bullet. It caused a squeezing around my heart that hurt each time I moved, each time I breathed, as though a corset had been laced far too tightly around me.
The crushing loss and grief from my mother’s death, from grieving for my sister, even from the loss of my father, they all came back to me and threatened to pull me under.
The door opened, and Tor walked in first. His hair was wet and pushed back, telling me he’d showered as well.How long have I been in here?
Looking at a clock felt like far too much work, like spending energy I didn’t have, so I pushed the worry away. Whether it had been thirty minutes or six hours, what did it change? What did it matter?
My gaze dropped to Tor’s hands, finding them clean this time.
He tucked them into the front pocket of his sweater, and when I glanced up at his golden eyes, he didn’t look right at me. Clearly that was a sore spot.
On his heels, Hayden walked in. Char and Vance followed, suggesting they’d all been together, probably all waiting. I could almost picture them in the living room, trying to figure out how long they had to wait before checking in on me.
That might have charmed me before, but right now? Right now I couldn’t find it in me to like it, to feel anything positive at all. Instead, all I saw was that gun pushed against Vance’s forehead and the fact that he’d almost died.
They’dallalmost died, right before my eyes.
I lifted my hands and rubbed my palms against my face, trying to clear that away.
“Deep breaths,” Hayden said, a heavy hand coming to rest on my back that Iknewwas his. He rubbed gently, as though calming me. Hell, it might have worked at any other time. “You’re safe now.”
