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We will need intel soon.

“Seriously, every time I think I figure out how to pin you, you somehow manage to bend the wrong way and get me in a choke hold!” I snap, dancing away again.

“Every time you try to pin me, I simply refuse to let it happen. This is mentality you must have.”

“Gee, thanks Miss Miyagi.”

“Doitashimashite, Ciro-san.”

“You speak Japanese?” I duck a flying kick.

“A bit. Pyotr sent me for a year to train with instructor in Kyoto.” She bobs back on her heels, narrowly missing a swipe of my hands.

“Wow. And here I thought boxing with Fat Mike at Rumble Guts Gym in the Bronx taught me everything I needed to know.”

And just when I think I’ve got her timing down and lunge in, she tricks me.

You know that spinny, ridiculous, stupid flippy leg thing superhero chicks do in the movies? Yeah. That. But harder. With a backflip.

Onto my stomach with her still locked around my neck.

When I wake up from my tiny little nap, she’s standing stock still. It’s hard to make her out in the half light of dusk.

“Van?”

“Shh!”

Instantly, we are both on high alert. I’m on my feet with a pistol in my hands veering off around the far side of the house while she takes the nearer side toward the sound of an engine on the road leading to the cottage.

Posting up at the corners of the building, I signal that I’ve got eyes on the headlights through the trees. Inside the house I can just make out the beeping sound of the perimeter alarms we set near the road.

Fortunately, we hadn’t turned on any lights inside for the evening yet.

“Who would know we’re here?” I hiss.

“Only a handful of people. Unless they tracked us.”

“Doubtful. We should neutralize whoever it is just to be safe.”

“Wow. Great idea master and commander,” her reply barely reaches me in the dim. Vanya is getting really snappy with those comebacks. Good to know she’s learning as much from me as I am her.

“Don’t worry, I am not trying to undermine your authority.”

“Thanks for clarifying. You are so fucking dramatic.”

“I—” I drop it as the car comes into view. Even in the low light I can tell it’s beat to shit. It putters around a bend in the drive, moving slowly. Whoever it is must be watching for movement.

I realize something is wrong with the situation, more than the fact that someone is here, as the car wavers. They nearly hit several trees as it clears the base of the hill, slowing to a stop.

Vanya is strafing down around the slope, staying just out of the eyeline of the driver as I spot her, trailing behind low and slow.

Movement at the car.

The door. A body slumps out onto the ground.

“Ciro! Come!”

“Woof,” I mutter, running to catch up.