by Lea Griffith
How long he stood there she didn’t know, but eventually the tightness at the base of her neck disappeared. And still she struck the dummy until numbness crept up her arm and fatigue weighted her heart. The wood finally gave, splitting apart and falling in two solid pieces to the floor.
Then she stopped and began her kata.
Time lost meaning as the movements of her body brought her peace. Her mind calmed though her center remained in flux, turbulent and frothing with emotions she wouldn’t give name to. And it was her center that twisted and turned in the tumult of her interaction with Adam Collins.
Because Saya had no soul.
•●•
“Where is Arrow?” Bullet asked as she walked toward the workout room.
Adam couldn’t answer; his throat was clogged with rage. So he motioned with a sharp turn of his head instead.
“What did you do?”
He glared at Bullet. “What did I do? You know her right? Perhaps you should be asking her what she did.”
“She asked about Aziveh.” Bullet knew her sister well apparently.
He threw his hands in the air, frustration singing through his bloodstream. He wanted to bite her head off, remembered she was healing and besides, she wasn’t his target. The bitch beating her hand to a bloody pulp in the workout room was.
“We knew about all of you. Our research brought us many facts. You were our enemies according to Joseph and information is power. She used Aziveh as a distraction. So I’ll ask you again, Adam, what did you do to her?”
His vision blackened. “I didn’t do a goddamn thing to the killer,” he nearly yelled.
“Back away, Adam,” Rand said from the end of the hall.
Bullet turned to him, anger in her stance. “Let him come closer, Mr. Beckett. The more the merrier.”
It was all too much for Adam at that moment. He threw back his head and laughed at the ludicrous scenario. That a barely five foot tall woman would threaten him still yanked his chain, but he’d seen her reduce Ken Nodachi to his knees, knew she was capable of that and much more. As was the woman in the workout room. God knows she’d put him on his ass fast enough.
“You laugh at me, but I will kill you if you’ve hurt her,” Bullet bit out between clenched teeth.
“She drew my blood asking about a woman who is fifty times what she is—a fucking killer. How dare she? And how dare you think I would harm a woman weaker than me. I am not Joseph Bombardier,” Adam returned in a voice full of all the things he couldn’t act on.
The door to the workout room closed and the snick was loud in the sudden quiet of the hall.
He smelled her. Plum blossoms. Goddamn it.
“I don’t need championing, Bullet. Your Mr. Collins is correct, I baited him. Self-preservation apparently brings out the evil in me.” She laughed without humor and it cut Adam, made his lungs stop working.
“You are okay?” Bullet asked again.
“I am as I’ve always been, sister. Now go soothe your Mr. Beckett, he looks ready to chew nails.” Arrow’s voice was filled with soothing humor.
It grated down Adam’s spine.
“We will talk, sister. I’d like to see the babies if I could later. Then I’d like to form a new yumi,” Arrow said as she stepped around Adam and walked down the hall.
The sway of her hips made him close his eyes tight.
Bullet sighed. “She isn’t like me, Adam. She will crush you. There is no softness in her.”
“She may try, Gretchen. But I agree, she isn’t like you,” he bowed his head to her.
“Adam is a big boy, Gretchen. He can handle himself,” Rand said and his eyes promised hell should Adam say any different.
Rand and Gretchen walked off, disappearing into the kitchen leaving Adam alone in the hallway.
Her scent lingered and his muscles tightened.
Behind his closed lids he could only picture her upturned, heart-shaped face, rouged cheeks, and skin the color of cream. Her eyes pierced his memory. He felt so much when he looked into them.
And that’s what bothered Adam the most. That even when she taunted him with Aziveh, it wasn’t Aziveh he thought of. It was her. Arrow. Saya.
He’d wanted to lick her bruised and bleeding knuckles, ease the sting he’d known she was feeling, but she’d mentioned Aziveh and Adam’s heart turned to ice.
How fucking dare she?
How dare she make him feel something for her other than disgust? How dare her amber eyes replace the soft brown of his heart’s?
Yet, that’s what she’d done. And Adam hated himself for it.
Chapter Seven
Arrow showered and walked out of the bathroom naked.
“Uh—sorry about that,” a man’s muffled voice sounded from the door.
Dmitry Asinimov. Arrow didn’t respond, simply stepped into new underwear, bra, T-shirt and cargo pants. She wrapped her hair in a knot slowly, methodically. Her heart didn’t speed up, her breathing didn’t change. She was used to surprises and this didn’t rate on the scale.
“Why am I forever seeing you women naked?” His voice was strained but humor tinted the tones. He sighed. “Are you dressed?”
“Yes.”
He turned then and she saw he was holding a kit.
“I’m here to take care of your hands,” he said in a firm voice.
“I don’t need you,” Arrow responded in a low tone.
He shrugged his massive shoulders and smiled. Something about that smile drew Arrow in. The huge Russian reminded her of someone…Bone. His easygoing manner reminded her of her deadliest sister.
“You may not need me but your hands do. They bleed still,” he pointed out with a look at her hands.
Arrow lifted them, glanced dismissively at her torn knuckles, and then she was the one shrugging. “I’ve dealt with worse,” she murmured.
His face hardened imperceptibly. Just a tightening of his mouth, but stubbornness radiated from the small movement. “But not under my watch you haven’t. Sit down at the desk,” he ordered.
For some crazy reason, she obeyed. He set his kit on the desk beside her and lowered to his haunches.
She shot him a look. “You do not scare me.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. “I’m not trying to.”
She nodded. “That’s good then. I’d hate to kill you because of a wasted effort.”
He barked out a laugh. “You have a sense of humor. Sadly, Bullet does not.”
He applied antiseptic then and the burn of it made her close her eyes. Then he did something remarkable, something she’d never had anyone do for her: he blew on the sting. She feared the man earned her loyalty for the act.
“Why did you do that?” Her question was harsh. She’d lost a bit of her control, was struggling to gain it back.
He looked up at her, blue eyes full of mischief, and yeah, Dmitry Asinimov could have been a person she’d liked had she not been raised a killer.
“Do what?”
She glanced at her knuckles, heard the door open, and smelled citrus-kissed cedar. “Why did you blow on my knuckles?”
“To ease the sting,” he answered matter-of-factly.
That was that then.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Oh, and Dmitry?” She called his name as he got to his feet and pulled out some ointment.
“Yeah?” he said as he applied the cream to her knuckles.
“I’m no funnier than Bullet. You should remember that,” she said with a smile.
“Sure.” He nodded. “Okay. I’ll remember it.” He wiped his hands on a towel, gathered his stuff together, and left.
Silence tore through the room with his departure. Arrow stared out the window, flexing and extending her fingers as she watched the sun setting. She longed for something she refused to name.
“Bullet wanted me to show you the grounds,” Adam said from behind her.
“In the dark?”
“It’s not dark for another two hours yet,” he res
ponded in an exasperated tone.
She stood and turned, searching his gaze, finding him closed down. She would do well not to forget he was a soldier in his own right. A force of nature and a worthy opponent when he wasn’t cheating. “You would show a killer the kingdom?”
“I wouldn’t, but Bullet can be…persuasive.” He winced as he said it and Arrow wanted to laugh. Genuinely throw her head back and let loose at the hilarity of his situation.
Bullet was persuasive. She imagined Adam may have felt her sister’s hands on his throat before he’d given in to showing Arrow around.
“I really don’t need a guided tour, thank you.” She turned back to the window and crossed her arms.
It was true the less time she spent with him the better off she’d be.
“Why’s that?”
“Because I saw everything before I stepped on these grounds. I’m not stupid. I know my enemies before I approach,” she said in a hard tone.
“Of course you do. Well, humor us all and walk with me?”
Anger rode her shoulders. It was hot and whip-like, lashing with a virulence she’d not felt in quite some time. She narrowed her gaze and his mouth flattened in a straight line. “What makes you so sure I care about anything you have going on here? Why would I care to see this place, hear your words, give you an opportunity to sway me to your side?”
He took two steps and was in her face. “This isn’t about goddamn sides, Saya. It’s about eliminating The Collective. Killing the head of the snake and burning its body. Now I know you don’t care about right and wrong, but the simple truth remains that your best bet to affect your revenge is in aligning with Trident Corp. If you choose not to, we are at cross-purposes, and believe me when I say we will do whatever is needed to eliminate you.”
She took a step toward him and their bodies were flush. “You would threaten me? When I have held your life in my hands?”
Her words were a match to kindling. Big, bad Adam Collins didn’t like being reminded she’d had the upper hand on him. Too. Fucking. Bad.
He straightened away from her, his height forcing her to look up. She hated that his big body surrounded hers, taking over her space and making her feel physically inferior. But at the same time her body craved that feeling, wanted to press against his and let him carry her weight.
“Fine. Do what you will,” he ground out and turned away. His hands tightened into fists at his side. He walked to the door and stopped before he opened it. “You are irrational. Your hate blinds you to reality. There are ways to approach the dismantling of The Collective that will not throw the world into chaos. If you want to meet with reason, I’ll be around.”
“Mr. Collins?”
He turned and stared at her over his shoulders. Her body sang with rage.
“Perhaps you need to go sit in a corner somewhere and come to grips with the fact that I don’t care if my purpose aligns with yours or Trident’s. All I want is my objective met, and I do not care if the world is thrown into chaos by my actions. Do you know why that is?”
He didn’t answer, just continued to regard her over his shoulder.
“Because I can survive in chaos. It’s all I’ve ever known.”
•●•
Her eyes were alive with the fire of her thoughts, her words biting deep into his mind and refusing to let him go. Adam had no choice but to walk out of the room. If he stayed he would grab her up, attempt to soothe the pain she refused to acknowledge.
Because there were no two ways about it: Arrow hurt. It was ocean deep, and he figured not many people would recognize anything beneath her cold façade, but it was there and it called to him.
It was another mark against her, he thought. That she could make him feel after so many years of nothingness pissed him off. His hand tightened on the knob and she called out.
“Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Collins?”
He made the mistake of looking back. She was so lovely it stung to look at her. He raised an eyebrow at her summons.
“My name is Arrow. Use it.”
He slammed the door behind him and decided he needed to run, sweat out the aggression that kept prodding him to go back in her room and demand she accede to what was right.
He ignored the little voice in his mind, that little devil on his shoulder, that complained what Trident wanted may not be what was right for everybody. And he needed to come to grips with the fact that it bothered him she would place herself in danger so easily.
Because going after the President of China was a suicide mission. He passed Ken who called his name. Adam ignored him, heading to his own room and gathering up his hunting knife and a second pistol. A demon was riding his back right now, and he needed to purge the anger or go crazy with it. She may have no soul, but he sure as hell did and being around her sucked the life right out of him.
“Adam?”
He was transported to a different time with the sound of that voice. For a brief second, the woman calling his name sounded like Aziveh. But she wasn’t.
He sighed. He was losing Aziveh, and in her place stood an ebony-haired killer.
“Bullet, I don’t need you to run interference. I’m not going to hurt Arrow. I’m not going to engage her at all.”
“I came to make sure you were okay. I know when Arrow mentioned Aziveh it hurt—”
Adam held up his hand and turned toward the tiny woman who’d captured his friend’s heart. “I also don’t need to talk about this with you. Now,” he drew in a deep breath, grateful that it wasn’t filled with the smell of plum blossoms. “I’m going to patrol. Tell Rand if he needs me he can reach me by SAT phone.”
“Be careful, would you? If what Arrow said is true, Damon Hunstall is out there. He’s one of Joseph’s greatest hunters. He’s also a killer. Not on par with us, but close. Arrow and I should have already been hunting…”
Long moments passed as Adam finished strapping on his weapons, and when he looked up he was caught in Bullet’s gaze.
“She is the hardest of us all. I used to think I was, then maybe Blade or Bone, but it’s Arrow. She has killed so many, and for so long she is lost. She would say she isn’t bound by the laws of right and wrong, but she is. Her humanity has its roots in loyalty, and she would do anything to protect those she considers hers. She has killed righteously but in the process has become deadened to the act of taking life.” She turned away from him and ran a hand over her head. “She walks in darkness but is afraid of it. And Arrow would not share that with you unless she considers you hers. But I would hope, Adam that never happens.”
“Why did he do this?”
She shrugged and turned back to him. “Joseph has always wanted power. He began as a young man and once he tasted it, craved more. He exploits weakness and what is man’s greatest weakness if not woman? We are the ultimate tools of destruction.”
“You have said that you will not break, yet the woman upstairs is, by very definition, broken. Would it not be merciful to put her out of her misery?”
Bullet growled at him, her stance loosening, arms falling to her side. Warrior. He wouldn’t fight her. He wouldn’t. But Arrow was a different story.
“We are not animals, contrary to your assertions otherwise, to be put down. Though, if you think to take your eye off her for even a moment she would make me a liar. Wild she may be but Arrow is the smartest of us all. Doubt it and you’ll wake up with one of her arrows through your throat. I thought to give you deeper insight into her. I have seen you watch her when you think the rest of us aren’t looking. But you are no better than Joseph, seeking to put down what you consider weak after using all the strength she has left.”
She turned away once more and walked to the door.
“I thought better of you, Mr. Collins. I hope you prove me right.”
Chapter Eight
Bullet left so quickly Adam didn’t realize she’d gone until she simply wasn’t there anymore. He left his room, anger pinging through his body. Someone, maybe Raines,
called his name but again Adam kept walking, his pace increasing until he was running through the trees.
He ran until his breathing became labored and then he ran some more. The entire compound they’d established around Rand’s house was safe. There was no sign of interlopers yet the hair at the base of his scalp prickled from unease. He glanced up at the dark sky and wondered where Aziveh was right then.
“Come to sit in your corner, eh, Mr. Collins?”
He cursed as he turned, pulled his gun and aimed. “Why are you out here?”
“I came to hunt,” Arrow replied softly.
“This location is secure. Nothing within or without the fence. What are you hunting?” he asked as his eyes searched for her shadow.
“Not what,” she whispered. “Who.”
Her presence zapped like a livewire against his flesh. The air itself seemed charged with electricity and his body hardened immediately.
“Leave,” he bit out.
“After the hunt is complete and I’ve captured my prey, I will do so,” she said from behind him.
It was strange the tremor that rocked Adam when her breasts pressed against his back. She was long and lithe, her body lining up perfectly with his, and he wished she was at his front. Her breath was hot at his ear and chills danced along his spine. She reached around him, pointing at something ahead.
“Through the slat in the fence you can see a spot of silver every so often, yes?” she whispered at his ear.
He grunted, unsure if he could form words at that point. She was right, just a flash and then gone.
“I would say he’s about fifteen hundred meters from this location. And there are others out there, but this one is the strongest.”
“Who?” He bit out.
“It’s Damon Hunstall. Do we kill or capture?”
“How do you know it’s him?”
She sighed. “I can smell him.”
He ignored her words. No damn way she could smell someone that far away.
“We capture. The more information we have, the better off we are.” Adam wondered why in the hell, if this Damon was so good at hunting, he’d left himself open to the moonlight. He voiced the question, and she sighed as she stepped around him.