by Lizzy Ford
“Go ahead,” he said. “I know you want to.”
She did want to. He’d killed her. As appealing as the idea of shooting him was, she hesitated. Some small part of her panicked at the thought.
“Sixty three,” Eddy managed through teeth clenched from pain.
Fury spread through Kaylee once more.
“Sixty three?” Nathan echoed.
“It’s how many times you’ve fucked your wife since leaving me dead on the mountain,” she replied.
Nathan said nothing. He had likewise been silent the last time she needed him to say something, when she had asked him to tell her she wasn’t another case, when she needed to know she mattered to him.
Why did she want him to say something this time? She’d already seen the footage.
Tears blurred her eyes.
“Keep her safe, Eddy,” Nathan said finally.
“You’re such a coward, Nathan.” Kaylee drew a breath and squeezed the trigger as she had been taught.
The report of gunfire didn’t surprise her, and neither did Nathan dropping to the ground. Kaylee lowered the weapon, caught between panic and bitter satisfaction.
“Straight through the heart,” Eddy said. “Good work.” He pushed himself away from the wall.
“He’ll live, right?” she asked, close to hyperventilating.
Kaylee approached Nathan and stood over him. He’d removed his vest so she could hurt him the way he had hurt her. It didn’t make her any more willing to forgive him or hear him out, if they ever met again. He wouldn’t die – but he could feel pain, and he’d offered her his pain when he could have shot her instead.
Eddy was right. She’d shot him through the heart without meaning to though there was poetic justice in where she had instinctively aimed.
Blood pooled beneath Nathan’s still form, sending alarm ricocheting within her. He became pale as he bled out – and also began to radiate intense heat.
She wanted to cry, standing over his dead body. Had he felt an ounce of anything when he killed her or moved on to his next case?
“Feel that? He’s pulling energy from the Other Side. He’s too strong to be down for long,” Eddy said. He squatted in the area where the team leader had initially looked for a trap door. Eddy pressed his hand to the ground.
The cement shifted down and away, revealing a yawning black hole.
With mixed emotions flying through her, Kaylee went to Eddy.
“There wasn’t a door when we looked before,” she said, voice and hands trembling.
“It’s complicated,” Eddy replied. “Hop in.” He tapped the ladder with one hand before stretching out to remove the weapon from her grip.
Voices came from the hallway.
Kaylee released the weapon gladly and hurried down the ladder. The air beneath the cement was cooler and smelled of dirt. Seven feet down, her toe brushed the ground. She moved away from the ladder to make way for Eddy.
Her protector moved with effort. He lowered himself rung by rung until his head was beneath the level of the floor. He pressed his palm to the underside of the trap door. It slid into place, sealing them in the darkness.
Eddy sighed. “We’re safe here.”
“Where is here?” The pitch-black surroundings reminded Kaylee too much of what she had experienced whenever Shadowman appeared, before she was killed. She stretched for the wall. Her fingertips grazed the cool dirt wall nearest her.
“Cellar, for lack of a better term. It’s an emergency hiding place.”
“I can’t believe I shot him,” she said, starting to digest exactly what she’d done.
“He deserved it,” Eddy said with a small, pain-filled laugh. “Thanks for standing up for me, by the way.”
Should I have, though? She leaned against the wall, too mentally fatigued from second guessing every thought and action to dwell on this question. She heard Eddy shifting around with none of his normal grace.
“Here we go.” A large candle lit up the dark space, bright enough to blind her briefly. Eddy lowered himself to the ground with a grunt and set the candle down beside a first aid kit. “There’s food and water, enough for a few days. Hopefully by then, 3G moves on.”
“There’s no way out?” Kaylee peered around, grimacing when she spotted the camping style latrine consisting of basically a toilet seat and bucket in the corner.
“Nope,” Eddy replied. “I need a hand.”
She went to him and knelt, assessing the blood. He’d smeared blood all over the first aid kit in his unsuccessful attempt to open it. He rested his head back against the wall.
Kaylee studied his features, concerned. She didn’t ask if he’d make it; she was afraid he’d say yes and equally frightened he’d say no. She opened the first aid kit and sorted through the various items. It was far more robust than anything she had ever bought at the store. This one contained small bottles of antibiotics and morphine, syringes, enough gauze to wrap a mummy, and other essentials.
“One of those. One of those.” Eddy pointed to the bottles. “And we need to stop the bleeding.”
“I’m not good with shots.”
“Load up the syringes. I can do the rest.” He shifted away from the wall and began peeling off his shirt with one arm. After a moment, Kaylee leaned forward to help him. She tugged his sweatshirt and t-shirt free to reveal the lean body of the assassin.
“What are all those?” she asked, surprised. His upper body was crisscrossed with long scars, healed over punctures, and what appeared to be gunshot scars, all of which broke up the otherwise smooth lines and colors of his tattoos. He suffered from two fresh gunshot wounds, along with a shoulder out of socket or broken. She couldn’t tell aside from the fact it was grotesquely out of place.
“People don’t wake up one day as the best assassin around. You gotta earn your way,” he replied dryly.
“I’ll take your word for it.” She prepped the syringes and glanced towards the ceiling. “Are you sure we’re safe here?”
“For now.”
Nathan was unconscious when they dropped into the hidden area, and too much blood had splattered the room for anyone to identify the exact point where the trap door was located.
She shivered, recalling how Nathan had shot the Satanists in the head to ensure they were dead. What kind of person was capable of seeing a wounded person and then making sure he or she never got up?
She had never asked enough questions about him. Their connection had been instant. She felt as if she’d always known him when they met.
But Nathan was a dangerous stranger, which she knew from firsthand experience.
“I’m going to need help with the shoulder,” Eddy said.
Kaylee’s eyes dropped from the ceiling to him.
Shoving his shoulder back into socket almost made her faint. When she was finished, she sat back to suck in deep breaths before helping him bandage the wounds in his chest and arms and one in his calf.
They both rested against the walls opposite one another.
“You’ll be okay, won’t you?” she asked, concerned. His blanched features had taken on a sickly pallor.
“I have to be. Both our lives depend on it.”
“You’re the only one dying right now.”
Eddy grimaced. “You have something aside from my health on your mind.”
“Why didn’t Nathan kill me? Why tell you to protect me? If he wanted me safe, why is he fucking his ex?” she demanded with more emotion than she intended.
“He’ll do what he has to in order to protect you.”
“You’re defending him?”
“No. I’m just saying I get it. He would put himself in harm’s way, fuck his ex, fuck every ex he’d ever met, if it meant he could be in that room with you when it counted.”
Kaylee lifted her head from the wall, startled by Eddy’s candid response. “There has to be a better way.”
“There’s not. I’ve watched this group for a while. 3G is aggressive and willing to break al
l the rules Nathan’s people follow. 3G doesn’t care about collateral damage and will kill their own at the drop of a hat, if they smell betrayal or someone in their way. It’s the only smart move on Nathan’s part, if he truly wants to protect you.”
“Eddy, you’re supposed to be on my side,” Kaylee grumbled. Logically, she understood the argument.
Emotionally, she couldn’t dismiss the images in her mind of Nathan happily making love to his ex or double tapping helpless humans.
“Why can’t I just let it all go?” she said in frustration. “I’ve had brief relationships in the past. Why can’t I drop it and move on? He murdered me!”
“That’s easy,” Eddy said. “You have a soul agreement.”
Kaylee blinked. “What?”
“It means the angel corps decided you and Nathan are fated to be together. Your destinies are bound. He’s your pre-determined soul mate, the man made especially for you.” The cheerful note was back in Eddy’s voice. “You can’t get over him, because he’s already part of your soul.”
“That’s not possible. I don’t believe in fate. Not like that.”
“I’m sure you thought the same about Shadowman.”
She chewed on her lower lip.
“You’ll never get over Nathan. It’s not possible,” Eddy added. “But that’s good, because he’ll never get over you, either. We can use that down the road.”
“He seems to have moved on without a problem.”
“What you feel, he does, too.”
Kaylee liked this statement least of all. She was suffering and had been every moment of the day, since Nathan stabbed her. The idea Nathan was hurting as well … She didn’t want to empathize with the asshole at all!
“I don’t believe all of that,” she said firmly.
“You don’t have to,” Eddy said. “You’ll see.”
Kaylee’s thoughts slid to Shadowman. “You said we’re bound,” she repeated. “Shadowman said that, too.”
“He’s in a position to know.”
She caught herself before explaining what Shadowman had been talking about. Did she go out on a limb and trust Eddy with the truth of why Shadowman had revealed this to her? And how did those two pieces – Shadowman and Nathan – fit together?
Did it involve shooting Nathan again? Because she wasn’t going to rule it out, even if her breath caught when she thought of watching Nathan go down.
Soul mate. If that was the case, why hadn’t Nathan told her? He had made her feel like she was utterly alone and nothing but another routine job, before murdering her.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t believe any of that, Eddy,” she said finally.
The assassin didn’t respond. Kaylee lifted her head. Eddy was unconscious. His eyes were closed, and blood seeped through the bandages.
What happened if Eddy didn’t survive? Where did she go?
The drain she had experienced earlier became more pronounced, a combination of exhaustion and heaviness. Shadowman felt even farther away from her, as if they were drifting apart.
Kaylee closed her eyes, unable to fight the sudden fatigue. She slumped.
Eight
Whenever he set eyes on Kaylee, Nathan’s insides twisted or fluttered. From her petite, toned frame and gorgeous blue eyes to the memories of her crying out his name during sex, she was everything he didn’t know he’d needed his whole life. Seeing her drove him crazy, but nothing made his blood burn as much as wanting to touch her and knowing he couldn’t.
Woozy from blood loss, Nathan exited the bunker, accompanied by two others. The bullet had gone straight through his heart and out the back, leaving holes and blood in his clothing. He had awoken in a pool of blood, healed but mentally rattled. He thought he had been prepared to see Kaylee again.
Zyra and the others were regrouping outside the bunker. Nathan surrendered the weapons he’d stolen from the Satanists in a sign of good faith.
“How ‘bout you guys?” Zyra asked, frowning fiercely. “Any sign of the target?”
“Yeah, before she shot me,” Nathan replied and stopped. He balanced himself. While his body was healed, it’d require some time for the lost blood to be replaced. “I don’t know what happened next. This guy found me.” He motioned to the 3G member to his right.
Zyra’s eyes went to the wound in his chest. “She didn’t go out either of the entrances,” she said. “According to the blueprints, there was no third way in or out.”
“We searched every inch of that place twice,” Henry said, equally frustrated. “They could have created a third route.”
“Maybe.” Zyra didn’t sound convinced.
Nathan suspected where Kaylee and Eddy had gone but kept quiet. Part of him was wounded, and not just physically. Did he really think he’d never have to explain to the woman he was – in theory – destined to spend his life with why he fucked his ex?
He hadn’t wanted to think that far ahead. He’d thought only of protecting Kaylee, of making things right, and this was the only way he could. What happened next, the consequences, the fallout, couldn’t be considered when he needed to focus on saving Kaylee today.
As before, he’d believed himself to be right until he saw the depth of Kaylee’s pain, and the tears in her eyes.
He’d devastated her. He was trying to save her, and he was destroying her from the inside out instead. He felt her suffering in the far reaches of his soul, beyond the point where he thought he could feel anything.
By the pain in Kaylee’s eyes, it was too late for them to ever be together. At one point, he hadn’t welcomed the news he had a soul mate. Feeling her warm blood slide down his hands after he stabbed her a month ago had shattered something inside him. Only when it was too late did he understand his heart and fate.
“Nathan,” Zyra said loudly. The other members of her team were moving away, some towards their vehicles and others towards the bunker.
He straightened and dismissed his thoughts. “Feeling a little rough,” he said and stretched back with a grimace.
“We’re staying here for a day or two to make sure our target isn’t hiding within the lockers.”
“Sounds good,” he replied. “What do you want me to do?”
The skin around Zyra’s eyes softened. “You’re really back, aren’t you?” she said quietly. “You’re serious.”
“Tired of reacting instead of preventing,” he replied truthfully. “Too many lives have been lost. It’s time to try a different strategy.”
She smiled and held out a firearm. “You’ve earned this. I’ll make sure you have enough firepower to take out Eddy next time.”
“He’s a tough bastard,” Nathan said.
“You’re telling me. He’s been on our radar for five years! I’m offering a reward for anyone who brings me his head.”
Nathan didn’t know the players in the DC area well enough to understand the level of Eddy’s threat, but if ruthless Zyra and her cohorts hadn’t been able to corner the Satanist, then he had to be good. It wasn’t just Zyra who wanted Eddy dead. Maggy had said the same.
For Kaylee’s sake, Nathan was relieved to hear of Eddy’s reputation. The only problem would come if he had to challenge Eddy in order to free Kaylee.
“Come on. Some naked reiki will heal you up,” Zyra said with a wink. She strode towards the bunker.
Nathan drew a deep breath before following. He had never felt as disgusted with himself as he did in that moment.
Pedro had been out to teach him the ultimate lesson. Or maybe, the head of the angel corps wanted to torture him after all the rule breaking Nathan had committed over his lifetime. Nathan wouldn’t put either past the angel, but neither did he believe an innocent person like Kaylee deserved to suffer for his mistakes and arrogance.
Because she was suffering. With all his experience and skills, Nathan didn’t know how to help her or how to stop her pain. He was not accustomed to being powerless. He had never feared the future. Uncertainty had never been part of his reality.
He experienced all of this now, along with the heavy weight of dread sinking into the pit of his stomach.
Zyra halted, and Nathan realized she’d led them to a private locker, away from the others. She faced him with a smile.
Nathan yanked his thoughts away from his plight, from Kaylee’s pain. He was useless to Kaylee if he didn’t play his part and play it well. She would never forgive him, but he would still do everything possible to ensure she made it out alive.
“Clothes off, sweetheart,” Nathan said and peeled off his shirt.
Zyra complied eagerly and pulled off her shirt and pants. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her deeply before pressing his erection to her hips. Zyra unzipped his pants to free his dick. He lifted Zyra onto his hips, rubbing his dick against her wet pussy.
“Ready?” he whispered into her ear.
“Always,” she said hungrily.
Battle made Zyra horny. She didn’t care that Nathan was exhausted from being shot. It took three rounds of fucking to satisfy her before she dropped into slumber.
Nathan, however, couldn’t sleep at all. He waited until her breathing grew deep and steady before rising and pulling on his clothes once more. He left the small locker they’d claimed as theirs in search of food to help his sluggish body heal.
Reaching the hallway where the first grenade had gone off, he stopped. His eyes went in the direction of the locker where he’d encountered Kaylee and Eddy. With a glance down the corridor, towards the direction where the voices of other 3G members originated, he shifted his course for the room where he’d been shot.
The bodies were gone when he arrived, though the blood remained. He stood over the pool of blood that was his and shook his head, unable to stop his bitter smile. Kaylee had been brave enough to challenge him and strong enough to pull the trigger. She needed both courage and mettle to survive what she was going through. He was proud of her – and hurt she hated him enough to shoot him.
Do I blame her?
No.
He was, however, surprised. The woman who let him kill her hadn’t had a violent streak in her. She was toughening up fast.
He retraced his steps in the room then went to the wall where Eddy had fallen after being shot. Nathan followed the trickle of blood he believed to be Eddy’s to the point near the corner where it stopped. With blood from five individuals smeared all over the floor, it was hard to determine if Eddy had changed direction and left the room.