Page 82 of Angelic Vengeance

I’d recognized her within the spilt of a second, despite the oversized jacket she wore and the hood covering her hair. The thought of calling her name crossed my mind, but I chose against it.How long would it take for her to realize I was following her?

As I followed behind her at a significant distance, we left behind Main Street and entered lonelier, emptier neighborhoods. Frustration bubbled in my veins. Why did sheinsiston walking through bad neighborhoods at night? I knew she was a goddamn assassin, but it was like she was looking for trouble.

Maria’s apartment was in a nice part of downtown Manhattan, but instead of taking twenty extra minutes and using the main, busier streets, she was using a shortcut.

The temperature lowered the longer I followed her through the dark. She picked up the pace, I picked up the pace. She crossed the street, I crossed the street.Did she know she was being followed?Was she scared?

Anticipation flowed through me in waves when she changed course, away from the right direction towards her apartment. On purpose, I quickened my pace, allowing my footsteps to land heavier. The thuds against the pavement clicked like the arrows of a watch, letting her know she was running out of time. Iwouldcatch up with her.

I turned the corner of an abandoned building, into a dark alley, slowing down in the center as I realized the tight space was empty. Far off ahead of me, vapor flowed up from vents in the ground.

A small smile curved my lips, twisted excitement making my fingers itch for something completely different from a trigger.

Where was she hiding?

“Why are you following me?” Her smooth voice came from the shadows behind.

I ran my tongue over my teeth before a deep chuckle escaped me, echoing between the graffitied brick walls. I shook my head softly.She always stayed one step ahead… What else was she good at?

Aslicesound cut through the air before something slit the edge of my ear. My eyes cut to the dagger as it impaled a dumpster to my side. I felt the single drop of crimson as it slipped over my skin; down my ear, to the tattoo on my neck, before dissolving into my black shirt.

My hand coming up to the small cut, I turned around, analyzing the blood on my fingers. “Youmissed.”

“That was a warning. I don’tmiss.”

After going back and forth about why I had followed her – for way longer than we should have – and me refusing to provide her with an answer, I decided it was time to put an end to both our suffering and leave that godforsaken alley.

But she was already walking away.

I closed the few steps between us and grabbed her arm, pulling her back. Maria looked ready to clock me in the jaw, so I didn’t waste any time placing the bracelet she’d lost earlier, in her palm.

I didn’t wait for her reaction.Did she even notice it was missing?Did she care? I pushed past her while she stared at the object in her hand. “Come on, I’ll get you a cab.”

After a moment, she caught up with me, walking by my side. “Where did you get it?”

“You dropped it.”

“Where?”

“Sidewalk.”

“I didn’t have it when I left Renato.”Fuck.“You’re lying.” As we got back on Main Street, she stepped in front of me and I almost tripped over her. Some passers-by cussed us out for stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. “Quit trying to mess with me.”

“Can’t help it,hermosa. You’re fun to mess with.”

“Yeah? Let me know if it’s still fun when I’m stabbing you in the spleen.”

“Go ‘head and try that. I’ll have you begging for life in less than thirty seconds.”

“You motherfu–”

Maria was cut off by a passer-by pushing past, who threw her directly into my chest. My hands instinctively went out to catch her as I looked over my shoulder at the new person I now wanted to stab. And I would’ve gone through with it if it hadn’t been a middle-aged woman struggling with some packages.

It wasn’t until I turned back to Maria that I realized how close we’d been pushed together. Her hands had come up to my stomach for support, under the small openingbelow my suit jacket button. A one-in-a-million space to reach my torso covered by a mere shirt – and she had found it. Her palms burned throw the thin material, branding my abdomen with the memory of her touch. Heat coiled in my stomach before seeping even lower to my groin.

My eyes focused from her hands on me to her eyes, but she was already watching me; waiting for a reaction. My own hands were still squeezing her shoulders, insulating us from the busy streets of the city.

The sparkling lights accentuated the faint scar over her left eye. I suddenly decided I liked it.Because it matched mine.