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I motioned to her hands and she held one out. I dropped the key in it. Probably better for her if I kept my distance. She fumbled with the lock, but the shackle came off and she shuddered. The poor thing was definitely shaky and the dark, raw circle around where the shackle had been told me everything about her treatment.
On shaky feet, she rose and then walked over to the dresser. Each step, she cast me a look, then took another. I hadn’t missed the cutlery that was there on the tray with food. Zhang was begging, but I ignored him.
When she seized the knife I wasn’t particularly surprised. I’d had a plan for Zhang, but she deserved to do it her way. She gripped the knife tightly then looked at me, wide-eyed and wary.
Fair enough, I holstered the gun, then wrenched Zhang’s arms behind him.
“Go for it,” I offered.
Whether she understood the words or the positioning. She didn’t hesitate. She flew across the room and started stabbing him. She didn’t have the strength to sink the knife in deep. But death from a thousand cuts worked for me…
I waited until she’d exhausted herself, then finished the job. Zhang’s funds would be drained, but I found the safe he kept and used the code for it. Inside was more than enough to fill a bag and give it to the girl he’d held. She stared at it and then at me.
When she kept repeating the same phrase over and over, I dug out my phone and the translation app.
“Thank you, dark angel. Thank you.”
It took a little convincing, but she left with me. I found a shelter and drove her straight there. She burst into tears all over again but she took the bag and fled inside. I waited to yank off the mask until she was gone.
I sent a message to the draft folder.
Another one bites the dust.
BONES
OSAKA, JAPAN
I got into the underground club from the kitchen. No backup, no warning. The lights strobed inside and the dancers froze when they saw me. The guards really didn’t have time to react. I already knew where they were. I didn’t waste any ammo, each shot clean, efficient and unforgiving.
I found Renji Takeda, black market buyer and entertainer, in his private lounge, mid-toast.
“You,” Takeda said, a rising shock reflected on his face. “You’re real.”
“I am,” I said. “But you won’t be for long.” The two men with him were in the way. One shot. Then another. And we were alone.
I had a knife. I wouldn’t need it.
Takeda had been the one who arranged Grace’s initial kidnapping. He’d been the one who put her on the road to the hell she’d suffered. Didn’t matter that he was fulfilling an order. Didn’t matter that he hadn't actually targeted her personally.
No, he’dhurther.
Now I was going to hurt him.
Takeda didn’t scream. His broken jaw didn’t let him. That was fine, I didn’t need him to hear his suffering. There were two hundred and six bones in the human body.
I planned to break every single one of his.
Chapter
Thirty-Four
GRACE
SOMEWHERE OVER THE ATLANTIC
The cabin lights were dimmed to a dull amber, casting everyone in the same sleepy glow. The kind that made it feel like time has been suspended somewhere over the Atlantic. I’m not sure how long we’ve been flying. Hours, probably. Maybe more. Everyone else is asleep or pretending. I press my forehead to the window. It’s cold against my skin. There’s nothing outside—no stars, no clouds. Just black.
I’m not really awake, not really dreaming either. It’s that in-between space, where everything loosens. Time, memory, control.