A text flashes across the console.
Knight Ren
Set up on the rooftop of Structure A. Clear view. No sightings.
Bishop Seb
Called in a favor. Note had no prints. Not that I’d expect any.
“Shit.”
I swerve around a semi and gun the gas.
Five minutes to ten. I would’ve left earlier to scope out the place, but I had to check on Lana first.
Seeing her petrified with a vacant look in her eyes damn near killed me. She should be wrapped up in blankets, a book on her lap, laughing with friends and family.
Not hunted.Neverhunted.
“Stop it. You’re overthinking.”
I snap my gaze at Sofia.
Arching her brow, she smirks. “You have micro-tells. You do this thing with your nose—never mind.”
“She was fine before she married me.”
“She’d be dead if she didn’t marry you. Or worse. It’s fate or cosmic irony. You protected her the best you could.”
The exit looms ahead. I speed down the off-ramp. I’m getting my damn answers tonight.
“But I’m glad to see you like this…” Sofia’s voice trails off.
“Like what?”
“Warm. Caring.Human,” she replies, her voice bittersweet. She pulls out her gun. “I thought it’d be too late—revenge took too much from you, from us. But I’m glad I was wrong.”
The hospital glows like an ember of hope in the inky darkness. But my attention is snared by the twin buildings looming like sentries beside it.
The parking structures.
“Grab your second chance,” Sofia says when we swerve inside. “Lana knows what she’s doing, and she chose you. Don’t waste it.”
My chest constricts. I drop her off on level four. Ren holds Structure A, a sniper rifle at the ready. Sofia will find a place in this building to cover me.
“Stay safe, tiger.”
“Right back at you.” Sofia winks and melts into the shadows.
My breaths are thready as I roll up the ramp to the fifth floor. It’s mostly empty at this hour, with only a handful of cars left.
Nowhere to hide. No soul in sight.
Easing my car into a corner space, I wait, my gun loaded and ready at my side.
Fluorescent lights stutter. Fog creeps up the windshield.
Nine fifty-seven p.m. Three more minutes.
