My phone buzzes.
Again.
“You should answer that,” Emeric says, and now there's something else in his voice. Not amusement. Something sharper. “Before he gets worried and does somethingstupid.”
I wipe the blade on the towel and straighten, checking my dress for blood. Clean.
“I'm working.”
“You're done working. Target's eliminated. Now you're just standing there, staring at a corpse, avoiding your phone like it's going to bite you.”
He's not wrong.
I pull out my phone.
Asher: You awake?
Probably not. It's late.
Okay but real talk, if you had to fight a bear OR fifty snakes, which one and why?
The bear is regular sized btw. I'm not a monster.
Okay I'm a bit of a monster but in a fun way.
You good?
That last one lands different. Softer. Like he actually gives a shit.
My thumb hovers over the keyboard.
“Ivy.” Emeric's voice drops. “We need to talk about this.”
“About what?”
“About the fact that you're developingfeelingsfor someone who could compromise everything we've built.”
The wordfeelingssits in my chest like a tumor.
“I don't have feelings,” I say, stepping over Marcus's body. “I have objectives.”
“Then why are you standing there, wanting to text him back?”
Because I do. I want to tell him the bear, obviously, because at least with a bear you know what you're dealing with. I want to hear his laugh through the phone. I want to fall asleep to his voice like I have been for the past three months, pretending it doesn't mean anything.
I want things I have no right wanting.
“I'm leaving,” I say instead.
“Ivy—”
I pull the earpiece out and drop it in my clutch.
The hallway is still empty. I take the stairs, heels clicking against concrete, and I don't stop until I'm outside, cold air slapping my face.
My phone buzzes again.
Okay I'm going with the snakes because you'd probably speak in parcel tongue and recruit them. Strategic.
