The strange warmth spread through his chest, but he ignored it. “Rae?” he whispered, fingers brushing down her arm, soothing. “Rae it’s –”
A beep, Titus jerking his head towards the centre screen of his computer.
This time he yanked on her leg, the movement jolting her awake. “Get up, we’ve got company.”
Her sleepy green eyes blinked up at him, his words taking a second to register. “Company?”
“Get dressed.” Titus slipped out of his jogging bottoms and quickly pulled on his jeans while Rae scrambled for her own clothes. Why the fuck didn’t he keep fighting leathers there?
“I thought you said this place was secure?” she hissed, pulling up her skirt.
Clicking a button on the keyboard Titus brought up the CCTV of the entire building, watching as one by one the screens went dark. “Recognise him?” A male dressed in black walked through the corridor, a sword strapped to his back. He seemed to be speaking into the collar of his jacket, which meant he likely wasn’t alone.
Rae frowned, nose wrinkling. “No, should I?”
Titus clicked a few more buttons, the screens running thousands of random letters and numbers as everything corrupted. “Step back.” As soon as Rae had moved, he punched through the computer tower, holding his fist inside as arcane melted what little was left.
“Was that really necessary?” Rae asked. “Who’s that man?”
He didn’t answer her, instead pushing her towards the kitchen. “Stay here,” he demanded. “Don’t move.”
“Stay here,” she mocked in a deep voice. “Don’t move.”
It took him seconds to grab the discarded t-shirt from the floor, pulling it over his head in one tug, and then yanking his boots on over bare feet. Rae had already laced up her own shoes, standing ready, her face no longer soft with sleep.
“Stand there.” He pushed her so her back was to the cabinets, concealed from view of the front door. Titus placed himself on the opposite side. He pulled out his phone, clicking the security measure Kace had installed.
Rae had scraped her hair into a crude knot, pulling it from her face. “I grabbed you this.” She held out his gun.
Titus eyed his front door, the wood trembling, straining against whatever was happening on the other side. “I thought I told you to stay there?”
“The correct phrase is, ‘You’re welcome.’” She didn’t blink at his glare.
“Fuck… here.” He reached into the bread bin, handing over her skeleton dagger.
Rae grinned, slipping it beneath her skirt. “You think they were tailing us?”
Titus pursed his lips, but grabbed the gun before returning to his position, hidden. “It’s possible.” Which made him a fucking fool. “When I say run, you run. Understand?”
A sharp nod, head turning towards the loud bang as the front door flew open.
“Three,” Titus counted down.
Rae tensed, but stayed where she was.
“Two.” A loud pop, directly above the kitchen’s doorframe.
He reached for Rae’s arm. “Run.”
A thick billow of smoke erupted, encompassing the entire space in a blast of white powder and sparks. The force smashed the assassin across the room and onto the oak table, the legs giving out to crash against the floor. His once black suit was entirely covered in the white, itchy powder, his face too as he wiped across his eyes. With a snarl he threw himself at Rae, catching her around the waist and launching them both out into the hall. Titus shot after them, fist landing hard on the attacker’s jaw.
Teeth clattering, his grip loosening on Rae as she twisted, the palm of her hand shooting up to break his nose. Titus grinned at the crunch, at the blood that turned pink against the powder before a knee knocked against into his side. Something had cracked, probably a rib from the ache inside his chest.
“Fuck’s sake.” Titus lifted his gun, letting out two shots.
A neighbour opened their door. “What the hell is –” Only to slam it closed seconds later.
“Titus!” Rae screamed, but he’d already felt the air shift.
