The longer the night went on the more my body felt like it was internally disintegrating. The nausea pushing against my stomach was the least of my worries. I felt lightheaded and weak.
The last thing I could afford to be on a mission.
Even though I shouldn’t, I felt relieved to have Dmitri on the assignment with me. His dark presence assured me that if anything went wrong, he would handle it.
Even if it wasn’t for my sake, I’d take it.
Finally, a bearded man wandered in. When he approached the bar, I smiled at him and he immediately beelined it over. I thanked my lucky stars since if this went on much longer I might pass out in this random man’s arms.
Ice pierced through my stomach at the thought, but I wasn’t sure if that wasn’t just another side effect of this new poison coursing through my veins.
Dmitri silently left my side as the man approached. I refused to follow him with my eyes, but his presence wasn’t one you could easily ignore. You could be halfway across the room, and you’d justknowDmitri was there.
Our target sat down beside me, his eyes glued to my chest like it was the most interesting thing about me. He was so fixated on it that he didn’t even notice the rash slowly spreading across my arm.
While the man spoke about himself, I allowed my eyes to wander around the room in search of Dmitri. He leaned against the wall, a pretty girl to his right vying for his attention.
But his focus was entirely on me. His eyes drifted to her only for a moment, irritation sparking in his eyes.
My heart fluttered at his attention, but I had to remind myself that it was only because he was zeroed in on the assignment. If it’d been any other night, the girl would probably already be in the cloakroom with him.
Too slow, I realized my target was waiting for some sort of answer.
“What was that?” I asked, my jaw aching as I tried to smile.
“I was asking what your plans were for the evening,” he said, gaze still entirely focused on my chest. It was obvious what plans this man envisioned for me.
“Well,” I said with a flirtatious smile that he didn’t even notice. “Maybe we could have some drinks at my place…”
For the first time since he sat down, his eyes shot up to my face. I inclined my chin towards the backdoor that led into the alley.
He stood up immediately, and I would’ve laughed if I didn’t almost fall flat on my ass when I tried to get up myself. My target caught me around the waist, and I kept myself from flinching away from his sweaty touch.
“Too much to drink,” I lied even though he hadn’t asked.
The excited glimmer in his eyes made me feel zero remorse about leading him into the alley of death. Without even looking over my shoulder, I knew Dmitri was following at a safe distance. Just a little longer, and I could take the antidote to this stupid new poison.
I pressed my weight against the door and flinched against the freezing cold smacking into my exposed arms. Halfway down the alleyway, I heard the door quietly close again, and relief ringed through me.
My target didn’t even bother to turn towards the noise, too busy trying to get a supposedly trashed girl home. One moment the target had his hand around my waist, the next moment I heard the slam of his head against the brick wall.
I leaned against the opposite wall breathing heavily as Dmitri dispassionately snapped the man’s neck.
“That was easy,” I said, my voice raspy as I desperately searched inside my purse for the antidote. My legs were quivering now that the target was no longer holding me up.
Dmitri dropped the dead man who clattered onto some glass bottles.
“You okay?” he said, his eyes sharpening as he watched me desperately root around my purse.
My fingers wrapped around a small vial, and I sighed in relief.
“Fuck,” I whispered when I realized that I’d put the wrong one in my purse.
The last of my strength zapped out of me as I realized that I’d have to go home to get the antidote. My legs gave out, and I awaited the pain of broken glass greeting my bare skin. Before I could hit the ground, Dmitri’s muscular arms caught me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly. His face was a study in contradiction from earlier’s coldness.
For a moment I was distracted by the warmth of his hard body shielding me from the bite of the wind. Dmitri frowned and tipped my chin up.
