Dying would be losing. Surrender. But there was a flipside to that question, and Kit had been shying away fromthatanswer for a long time.
“I don’t want anything.”
Blue Eyes cocked his head. A lock of soft brown hair fell over his forehead. “Interesting.”
“What are you, the world’s weirdest therapist?” Kit glanced around, resisting the urge to point.No sudden movementswas probably the best policy right now. “Did you do all this?”
“Who are you?” Blue Eyes asked instead of answering.
“Kit Byron.” No point hiding his name. Probably. “Whatever this is about, I’m not involved with any of this. Any of them.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Uh. Okay.”
Blue Eyes stepped closer, his gun still angled towards Kit’s head. There were ten blood-stained feet between them, but Kit could practically feel the heat of him filling the kitchen.
At least a head taller than Kit, and twice as broad, muscles clear even under his bulky jacket. Blue Eyes didn’t even need the gun to have Kit under his complete control.
A new shiver of emotion raced down Kit’s spine. A very different breed of inherent fear. His every stupid instinct told him to submit to the stronger creature.
“Don’t worry,” Blue Eyes said. “I’m not going to kill you yet. I like having a little more information before I kill people.”
“I’d rather you get it over with than play stupid games,” Kit replied, trying to match the man’s calm.
“Cute,” the man said. “How did you get in?”
“Through the door.”
“We’ve been staking this place out for a week, and we had every entrance and exit accounted for. You aren’t supposed to be here.”
“Then I’ve been here for two weeks.” Kit couldn’t remember the last time he left the house, so that sounded about right. Maybe closer to a month?
“Two weeks in Ed Addersen’s house.” The man raked his eyes down Kit’s body once again. The conclusions he drew were unmistakable. “What the fuck have you been doing in Ed Addersen’s house for two weeks?”
Whatever. Let him draw his conclusions. Kit lifted his chin. “Does it matter?”
“Guess not.”
His bright blue eyes flicked behind Kit’s shoulder, which was when Kit realized the point of these stupid questions.
Blue Eyes was stalling for time.
A new set of quiet footsteps stopped right behind Kit. A new warm body filled the space around him. And a new man’s touch ghosted along Kit’s cheek.
“How delightful,” the newcomer purred. His bare fingers traced the line of Kit’s jaw, brushing tantalizingly close to the corner of his lips. He leaned over, his presence overwhelming and his breath hot in Kit’s ear. “You found a cute one.”
“You must be James,” Kit said, his voice shaky. A physical sign of nerves he couldn’t quite feel.
Allegedly-James chuckled. The sound rumbled through Kit’s hindbrain in a mess of confusing instincts. “You’ve been talking too much, partner. Did you introduce yourself too, or are you dumping all the liability on me?”
“Don’t touch him,” Blue Eyes said coolly, though Kit sensed some deeper emotion lurking beneath.
“Ooh, feeling protective?” James laughed. “You hardly know the boy.”
Blue Eyes rolled his eyes. “You’re getting DNA all over his face.”
Both men were way too calm for the massacre surrounding them, which freaked Kit out more than anything else. With their cool demeanors, Kit couldn’t predict their actions. James could twist his neck at any moment. Blue Eyes could pull the trigger.
