“I sent you to prison, Shen. Why would you want me back?” Jin asked.
“Because I do!” Shen snapped, the smirk melting off his face and twisting into a snarl. He swung the gun in Aiden’s direction. “Now come here!”
Shen swayed as the train braked, but the gun never wavered. The subway doors opened. “If you want to live, I suggest you get off now,” Shen said over his shoulder to the other passengers. They didn’t hesitate, flying off the train as fast as they could. As others tried to board, the fleeing passengers waved their hands at them, shouting. Some people peeked into the subway car. Others pulled out their phones. Aiden hoped they were calling for help.
“Do you trust me?” Jin said, stealing Aiden’s attention away from the people on the platform.
“This is a Brooklyn-bound C train. Next stop, Fulton Street. Transfers available for the A, J, Z, 2, 3, 4, and 5 trains. Stand clear of the closing doors, please.” The doors closed and the train pulled out.
He looked down at Jin and saw the determination on her face, a stubbornness that he’d faced time and time again and the thud of trepidation in his chest sped up. “Right now? No. You’re going to do something stupid.”
Jin managed a smile. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”
“Do you really think I’m about to let you do this? Are you out of your damn mind?”
“We don’t have a choice, Aiden,” Jin said, solemnly. “I have to…he’ll kill us if I don’t. Trust me.”
The train slowed, the station outside the train obscenely bright. The platform was strangely empty when the doors opened, and Aiden had the odd thought that no one could see them, no one would hear them, no one would help them, not even if Shen fired the gun.
“This is a Brooklyn-bound C train. Next stop, High Street, Brooklyn Bridge and Cadman Plaza.” The doors slid closed once again, and the train left the lights behind, picking up speed as it entered the darkness.
“You two done, or am I going to have to shoot someone to get this party started?” came Shen’s distant voice.
Jin squared her shoulders, slowly slid her fingers out from between Aiden’s crushing grip, and walked toward Shen.
Aiden thought he was going to throw up.
This shouldn’t be happening. It shouldn’t.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Jin was angry. Heat flashed under her skin. She was scared. Sweat trickled down her back, the drops cool against her heated skin.
She recalled all of their training. What they were supposed to do, the exit routes they’d mapped out, what to do if they were ever separated. How to shoot a gun. How to run. Survive. And now, look at them. Cornered like rats by a snake with no other desire than seeing them suffer.
Still, she walked across the subway car until she reached Shen. His cologne filled her nose as she drew closer, that heady mix of spices, amber, and lavender. She hated that cologne, and as Shen pulled her closer, she got a stronger whiff of it. She didn’t turn her head like she wanted to. His arm curled around her waist, and for the first time in a very long time, Shen smiled at her, bright and full of life. He lowered his forehead to hers and inhaled against her skin. “God, you don’t know how much I’ve missed you, Jinni.” He ran his thumb across her full bottom lip.
I don’t care. Get your filthy hands off of me. “You did?”
“Oh, course!” Shen’s hand brushed across her shoulder and down her arm until it could join the other hand digging into her hip. He locked his hands behind her back and pulled her even closer.
Don’t touch me. Get off of me. Stop it!
“It’s been years, Jinni. I shouldn’t have had to do this to see you. Is that something that you understand? That I had to do all of this because you made me? Because you forgot about me?”
Jin’s mouth opened and closed slightly. She couldn’t find the words to explain how insane Shen sounded. “No, Shen…no, you’re wrong. I never forgot you. Not for one moment.” Jin’s forehead thudded against Shen’s chest after she forced the confession out of her mouth. “I’m so sorry.”
“Are you? Really?” he asked, tilting her head back to look at him. “Are you sorry?”
“With all my heart.” Her eyes wanted to close and she forced them to stay open. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
Shen’s smile grew even brighter and Jin could see it, could see why once upon a time she loved this man, that she wasn’t stupid or blind, that the man she loved still existed…somewhere. He tilted his head and moved in closer, and Jin prepared herself for the kiss, trying to imagine that it was the man she once knew who was about to kiss her, and not evil wearing his face.
A hand caressed her jaw. “I’m sorry, she says.” Shen’s whisper ghosted over her face, hot and angry. “I’m sorry, she says. As if you know what sorry feels like.”
“What—” The hand on her jaw tightened to the point of pain. Quicker than Jin could imagine, she was being slammed into a subway pole. She slid to the floor and Shen bent down to place a sloppy kiss to the side of her face.
“Do you know what Chaerin’s last words were? Right before I plunged the knife in her? ‘I’m sorry.’ I carved that stupid apology right out of her chest.” Shen tipped his head back and laughed. “Did you think this was going to be easy? That I was going to let you get away with this? No, sweetheart. No. I’m going to make you watch as I take away the one thing you love the most.”
“Shen! No!”
Shen aimed his gun at Aiden, who was standing frozen next to his seat, and fired. Jin watched as the bullet ripped through the air, not stopping even as it tore through Aiden’s torso. It dug into the orange plastic seat behind him, and his hand shook as he placed it against his stomach. When he pulled it away, his hand was stained with red. The color drained from his face as he collapsed onto his knees.
Jin screamed Aiden’s name and broke free from Shen’s grasp but before she could take more than a step, she was flung to the floor. She hit it hard, jarring her shoulder. When she looked up at Shen, he smiled down at her.
“Pity it had to come to this,” he said, right before he raised his gun and unloaded a second bullet into her thigh. He laughed as her screams echoed in the confines of the subway car.
“I’m going to go take care of your boyfriend now, hmm?” Shen reached down and sank his hand deep into her hair before yanking her head back. He shoved his tongue in her mouth, running it across her teeth and life before shoving her away from him. “Don’t move, beautiful.”
Blinded by pain, she watched Shen as he stalked towards Aiden. He raised a foot and kicked the still-kneeling Aiden over onto his side before bending down in front of him.
“You know, I still remember how you laughed in the courtroom. Must have been really funny. I’ll give it to you, took a lot of balls to do that to my face. It’s because you think you’re special. That you’re invincible. Some kind of goddamn superhero.” Shen paused and pressed the muzzle of the gun into Aiden’s wound, smiling when he hissed in pain.
“She was mine. Don’t you understand that?” Shen said with a smile. “Mine. I had her first, tasted her first, loved her first and you just…swooped in. Saved the day! I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, man. Like which method would fuck with your heads the most. Who did I want to torment longer? Which one should die first? You know, that sort of thing. Kept me sane in my cell, thinking about exactly how I would kill both of you. And as much as I would love to see you suffer as I put a bullet in her head,” he tsked. “No can do! Sorry. I need to see the look on her face when you die.”
Shen stood, hovering over Aiden. “It was fun while it lasted, huh? Bye, Aiden.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Shen, stop. Please don’t do this.”
Aiden’s eyes shifted up to where Jin had gotten to her feet, using the pole for support. She favored her left leg, and her thin, gray leggings were stained with blood. In her hand was her gun. “Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“You don’t follow instruc
tions very well. I remember telling you not to move.”
“Shen…please.”
Shen looked back at her, a bored look on his face. “Why, you ask? A laundry list of reasons but don’t pretend to care about my motives now. If you did, you would have asked before it got to this.”
“You’re still blaming me?” Jin gritted her teeth and stood straighter, and Aiden knew she had shifted her weight to make up for the loss of balance.
Jin wasn’t a good shot. She was proficient, but she wasn’t good at it. However, Shen was unguarded as he glared at Jin. His hands were by his side. He obviously didn’t think she’d shoot him. Aiden’s eyes darted back to Shen then back to Jin. Aim for his chest, he thought. It was the widest part, an easy target. Aiden wanted to yell, to scream. Take the shot, Jin! Take it!
“Shen, please. Just let us go.” Her hand shook. “I don’t want to hurt you. Please.”
Shen outright laughed at her. “You? Hurt me? You’re capable of a lot of shit, Jin, but it ain’t destruction.” Shen tilted his head, sneering, and swung his gun back in Aiden’s direction. He pressed it against Aiden’s temple. “I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. You’re going to take another step, another breath, say another word, and I’m going to blow his fucking head—”
Jin pulled the trigger, and the gun jerked away from Aiden’s head at the impact. Shen looked at her, surprised, and then angry. “You piece of shit!” He swung his gun up and fired. Jin didn’t hesitate. The cacophony of multiple shots being fired echoed in the subway car. Jin staggered a bit, but it didn’t stop her from unloading her clip.
Aiden glanced up when the last shot rang out. Five shots to Shen’s torso. Shen’s mouth gaped open like there was a question on the tip of his tongue before he tipped back and crumbled to the floor, staring at the ceiling of the subway car before his eyes closed.
Aiden shifted his gaze from Shen’s lifeless body to look at the ceiling.
“We made it,” she said, her voice strangled. She laughed before her legs gave out and she dropped to her knees.
Aiden’s vision began to spot. The world tilted and grew darker. Still, he was glad. She was right. They made it.
“Aiden? What…what is this?”
Aiden snatched his head to the side, staring at her as blood began spreading across her chest. Jin coughed, and her lips were suddenly painted red. Her hand flew to her chest. He…got her? No, that can’t be right. He missed. I swear on everything he missed! He shook his head and tried to sit up. Pain shot through his side and he fell back down to the ground.
“Aiden, it hurts,” Jin whispered before she collapsed.
No, Aiden’s mind screamed, No! He tried to move. The blood was pooling under her. He had to get to her.
He…just…had to...
The world went black.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Silence.
It was the first time it had been this quiet, Jon realized. His eyes darted across the room. Rooke was silent as he plucked at the hem of his shirt, his eyes avoiding everything and everyone. Key was motionless, staring at the floor in front of Jin. Tahir’s gray eyes stared hard at Aiden, as if she were trying to drive home some point.
Aiden was the opposite. An unknown emotion colored his eyes, darkening them. Jon had been a star pupil at Quantico, and because of that, one cadet hellbent on bringing Jon’s ego down a notch or two went a little too far during a sparring session and almost broke Jon’s arm. Jon hadn’t seen Aiden that angry since then, not for a long time. Until today.
“Don’t you ever repeat that again in your entire life,” Aiden said, glaring at Tahir.
“Thankfully, I won’t have to,” Tahir returned. “But it was the truth, and if anyone in here needed to hear it, you did.”
Aiden’s jaw clenched. “Go to hell.” He stood up and marched to the door leading to the deck. The door slid open and slammed shut behind him. Jin winced. She gave Tahir a look, a pleading one full of apology, before she stood as well and headed after him.
Jon stopped her with a hand on her arm. “I don’t know what he just saw or went through, but…give him a moment. You know how hard-headed he is. He won’t hear you.”
Jin looked at him for a long, withering moment before her shoulders sagged and she nodded, reluctantly agreeing. She sat down on the loveseat and pulled her legs into her chest. Rooke grabbed the quilted blanket that hung over the back of the couch and came over to drape it over her shoulders. Jin mouthed a small thank you to him.
“We still need answers,” Jon said as he looked over at her. “Are you going to be okay?” Jin nodded, and that was all Jon needed. He stood, cracking his knuckles and his neck, listening to them pop. He turned to Key, glaring at him nastily. “It’s my turn for some questions.” Key groaned and Jon took comfort in his annoyance. “So, you guys are ‘angels,’ huh?” Jon used both hands to make air quotes. “Where are your wings? All ‘angels’ have wings.”
Key gave him a look before reaching inside the neck of his shirt. Rooke and Tahir did the same. All three withdrew thin, wiry chains holding a charm— sculpted ivory wings fastened to a fleur-de-lis. “Yeah,” Key said. “Wings.”
“Oh,” Jon said, disappointed. “Okay, so let me get this straight. What you’re telling me is that Jin, not some bizarro-world Jin whose name is…‘Pin’ and has a boyfriend named ‘Jaiden’…has previously, ‘died’ and—”
“For the love of God, stop with the air quotes already!”
“—and whatever you guys are—”
“No, seriously,” Tahir said, looking at Key, brows raised. “We just told him the answer to that like…thirty seconds ago.”
“Mutare, Jon,” Rooke implored. “Mutare.”
“Yeah, that. It’s your job to make sure that…this Jin, not figment of your imagination Jin, stays alive, although she’s already died. Twice.”
“That’s the gist of it, yeah,” Rooke said.
“Great! Quickly, while the three of you are working this fairy-tale bullshit for all it’s worth, explain this to me. If you knew this was going to happen—two times already—why not just show up, tell them Shen’s escaped, and protect from the inside? Why not call the police? Why not get them the hell out of there?”
“Math. Ever tried to solve an equation in the wrong order? Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally? This works the exact same way. We’re supposed to leave each Causatum—”
“Cauwhat?” Jon stopped to think for a second. His Latin was rusty. “Oh. Consequence. Okay, continue.”
“—as natural as those in it need to be. In other words, dissect the smallest section of the timeline as is reasonably possible. Our timeline vantage point showed that a small space of time between ten thirty-nine and eleven forty-two p.m.—the time of Jin’s death—was the only time we could make ourselves even faintly known to them. And still, it wasn’t supposed to get this far. This conversation we’re having, you knowing our names? None of this was supposed to happen.”
“And,” Jon added slowly, “can you tell me—tell us—why all of this is happening?”
“Not yet.” Key blew out a puff of air. “There are other things I can explain if you’d just let me—”
“Explain how we’re supposed to believe all of that hocus-pocus nonsense you just spewed.”
Key blinked. “You want reasons? Oh, okay. Let me think. Jin and Aiden were ambushed by her sociopath ex-boyfriend who came packing with his own personal mini army who we just barely managed to escape from. Aiden had a hole in the side of his body, had being the operative word here. You were ‘magically’—Oh look! Air quotes!—whisked off to another country just in the nick of time to be of some use to your friends. Most of that we had a hand in. All of it, actually.”
“Well…when you put it like that,” Jon said, scratching the back of his neck.
Key stood, smirking. “It’s fun turning skeptics into believers.”
“I ain’t sayin’ I believe, pixie. It just sounds…more plausible now.”
&
nbsp; “Whatever,” Key said, yawning. He raised his arms in the air and stretched like a cat. Jon watched, his eyes dipping as the hem of the angel’s shirt rose slightly, exposing smooth, tan skin before catching the telltale signs of a fresh bruise. He diverted his eyes quickly.
Key bent down to pick up his backpack. He flung it over his shoulder before turning to Rooke. “There are only four bedrooms, which means we have to share. Tahir fights in her sleep, so you can sleep with me.”
“Wait,” Jon frowned. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“It’s late. People usually go to bed when it’s late.”
“First of all, the three of you? You’re not just people and we’re not done yet, so everyone get comfy.” Jon turned toward the deck doors. “I’m going to go check on Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding outside, and then we’re going to keep exchanging Aesop’s fables until I’m satisfied.”
And trust me, I won’t ever be satisfied.
Chapter Forty
Aiden gazed out at suburbia, just past the fence in the backyard. There was a treehouse with a large sign that had NO BOYS ALLOWED splattered across it in bright blue paint. A long braided climbing rope stretched up to the entrance, and a pink and green ladder leaned on the other side. They could have this. The house. The kids. The backyard. He sighed and his gaze lowered to the deck railing.
He heard the door slide open behind him, and then close with a soft click. Aiden ran his thumb under his eyes, wiping away the moisture there. He wasn’t going to get caught crying. No more parading his weaknesses.
“I really wish I had a cigarette right now.”
Aiden relaxed. He couldn’t really hide anything from Jon. Not when the man had all his weaknesses catalogued away somewhere in his memory. The shorter man came abreast of him, staring out over the backyard.
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