“You know,” I pause for dramatic effect. “You talk with the confidence of a much taller man,” I say, fighting the smirk.
He gives me a look like I’ve lost it. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He stands up to full height, arms out. “I’m six-six. You want a measuring tape, baby? I'll let you measure something else while you’re at it. See how small I am."
I roll my eyes and head for the ladder bolted into the wall. He follows, grumbling under his breath about “short people slander.” I climb, hands sure, blood still drying on my knuckles. Below, he pauses just long enough to draw the gun, aims, and fires a single round into the elevator cable. The cable snaps, shrieking, and the box full of corpses plummets into darkness with a grinding roar.
“Overkill, much?” I say, still climbing.
“Cleanup,” he calls back.
At the next floor, I wedge my multitool into the crack between the elevator doors. It takes some force, but the lockgives and they open just enough. He gets his fingers in and pries them wide. “Could a short man do that?”
“Mm, probably.” My nonchalance is killing him.
We slip into a deserted hallway, cool tile underfoot, fluorescent lights humming.
I hit the button for another elevator, just two battered assassins waiting politely for the next ride.
“Hey.” I nudge his shoulder. “Think we’ll get a mime next?”
He snorts, wiping a bloody knuckle on his jeans. “Fuck you, Saint.”
* "I'm sorry, I don't speak any English."
* “Youfucking idot,”
Islam my door so hard the window rattles. She does the same—always has to match me, beat for fucking beat. My hands are still shaking. Adrenaline’s jacked too high, won’t drain. Too many bodies, too much blood, too fucking soon after the last fight. We can’t even make it to noon without someone in a mask trying to carve us open.
I shove the gearshift, throw my arm over her headrest, and reverse hard enough the tires scream. Don’t care who hears it. Let the whole city know we’re pissed.
Saint’s not saying a word, just breathing heavy, eyes wild. Her hair’s stuck to her cheek—someone else’s blood in the strands. I barely check the street before I cut left; an oncoming car honks, skids, nearly clips the bumper. I don’t even blink.
She finally cracks, voice edged and sharp: “Next time, don’t bother missing. Could use more fucking obstacles.”
It gets under my skin—everything does right now. The fucking clown. The idiots who thought they had a chance. The fact that it doesn’t matter what we burn, what we hide, who we kill—they always find us. Rage doesn’t bleed off; it just boils, looking for something to break.
My knuckles ache from clenching the wheel. I can smell her—sex, sweat, adrenaline, a hint of copper thatshouldn’t turn me on but does. She glances at my mouth. My dick’s already half hard and all I want is to pin her down until neither of us is thinking about the last hour.
She looks at me like she’d let me. Maybe wants it as much as I do. I almost miss the turn.
Fuck.
“How were we found so fast?” The question is an itch I can’t scratch, another wound that won’t heal.
She doesn’t even look at me. “Don’t ask me. I’m new to this exile shit… you’re the veteran.”
She’ll never let it fucking drop. I grit my teeth. “I told you—I was framed. Just like you. Unless the Washington Post started hiring psychics and sent one to the future to catch you gutting that politician two days from now.”
She fires back instantly, “Like you’ve been honest.” She tries to make it sound bored, but she wants it to land like a blade.
“And you have?” I snap. “Why does the Grim Reaper jump when you say? You whisper and the little asshole comes running.”
Her jaw tightens. “I don’t owe you a fucking thing. Not to a coward who walks away and disappears for two years like a scared dog.”
That’s the one that cracks something in me. Not the accusation. Thetone.Like she’s daring me to do something about it.
That’s when I whip the wheel, hard enough the tires scream.
I cut a savage U-turn, car sliding, bumper nearly catching the curb. Another horn, another missed collision Ialmost wished happened. I’ve not had enough spilled blood today.
