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God, this shit hurt. I'd lifted my head to evaluate the damage, but the sheer act of looking up was too much and I laid back down. I pressed my hand against my side to ease the pain but when warmth gushed between my fingers, I pulled back my hands to see… Oh, what do you know? Red. I was fucking bleeding.
Gray started to edge in my vision, but there was movement in the room, and I tried to lift my head again. This time I managed and saw a shadow in the corner. I didn't have much energy. The exhaustion was pulling me down, telling me it would be easier if I just closed my eyes, but I knew better. I had to stay alert and awake. My team was coming. I just had to fucking stay alert until they got here.
And even though my hand shook, I leveled the tranq at the figure in the corner. Just because I was laying there bleeding didn't mean I had to ditch protocol. The protocol was tranq first, and always shoot only when absolutely necessary.
My eyes felt so heavy, my lids pulling down, down, down. I just wanted to fucking sleep.
But as I forced my eyes to open, and saw a familiar face. And then I bloody wished I had shot him.
"Not a fucking word, Gabe."
"You're bleeding all over my shoes, kid."
"Fuck you."
He grinned. "Who shot you?"
"Nissa Montgomery. Apparently, she doesn't like being lied to."
Gabe's brows rose. "Nissa shot you? Shooting you over a lie seems rather extreme."
"She’s pissed because she found out I paid her sister to disappear and stay away from her. Hell, maybe she even still believes what her father suggested, that I killed her."
Gabe whistled low even as he bent down to lift my arm and wrap it around his shoulders. "Fucking hell. Do you have the ledger?"
I shook my head. "She does. But I have the cipher. It's in the house in the hidden passages. Nissa took the ledger.”
When Tabatha came in through the window, she winced when she saw me. "Oh no, pretty boy, she didn't shoot you in the face, did she?"
I coughed, the pain flaming at my left side. "Fuck, Tabs, don't make me laugh."
"Well, I mean honestly, that face, that body, that's the reason you're here running around looking like a young Brad Pitt." She turned her attention to Gabe. "Do we have what we need?"
He shrugged. "Only part of it. Tell her where the cipher is."
I directed Tabs to the cipher, and she helped Gabe get me on two feet. I wasn't steady, but I could shuffle. I heard shouting, and then… gunfire.
"I can't believe she fucking shot me."
Gabe chuckled. "Well, hell hath no fury and all that."
"Fuck you."
He chuckled again. "I tried to warn you. Focus on the task at hand. Mixing business and pleasure always ends badly."
"Like you fucking know."
I couldn't be sure, because my head wasn't exactly level, but I could have sworn he glanced back toward the tunnel where I'd sent Tabatha. Once we were outside, he handed me off to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. For once, King and Saint looked concerned. "Fuck, he's bleeding on my shoes."
Gabe shrugged. "He did the same to me."
Saint hauled me up against his body, and I coughed in pain. "Ugh, God only knows what Kaya sees in you. You're not exactly a gentle touch."
"Hey, you're lucky I'm holding you up, man."
On my other side, King held on tight. "Mate, getting shot doesn't seem very bright of you."
"Are you two taking a piss while I’m bleeding, or are we in a cuddle session and going to start making out now?"
