Page 90 of Hunted to Be Mine

Her face cleared, familiar in a way that hurt. Sister? Friend? Lover? I knew her, and I knew I’d done damage.

More pieces slammed in, fighting for space with Specter’s training. Two selves at war. Neither fit.

Men in masks pinning me down. A needle in my neck. Screaming until nothing came out.

“Subject demonstrates unusual resistance.” A clinical voice. “Increase the dosage.”

Agony beyond anything I’d known. Mind scraped hollow.

“Let me die,” my voice rasped. “Just let me die.”

“Death would be wasteful, Mr. Lennox. You have skills we can use.”

“They’re coming,” I gasped, slipping. “Both of them. Specter. Wolfe. I can’t—”

“You can.” Her voice cut in. “You’re not just Specter or just Wolfe. You’re both. And not only that.”

My fingers dug into the carpet, tearing fibers. The conditioning hit back harder, punishing the access. Nausea climbed.

A dark corridor. Blood on my hands. Not metaphorical, warm and sticky. A life I ended.

Money changing hands. “Cleanest job I’ve seen, Lennox. Not a trace.”

Pride. A cold kind. Being the best at something awful.

“Make it stop,” I pleaded, dignity gone. “Please. Cut it out.”

She wiped my tears with her thumb. “I can’t cut it out. But I can get you through.”

Another surge. Faces of people I’d killed, in both lives, crashed over me. Too many. Blood I’d never wash off.

A contract killer. That’s what I was. Professional. Expensive. Ruthless.

“He doesn’t leave witnesses,” someone said, almost admiring. “Like a ghost.”

Ghost. Specter. They hadn’t made a killer. They’d harnessed one.

“I’m not worth saving,” I managed. “Either of me.”

“That’s not true,” Selina said, sharp and sure. “The man who tried to save those kids at St. Elisabeth’s deserves a chance.”

It crested. Something in my head tore loose. Stitches ripping. Black rushed in, hungry.

A final image, clearer than the rest. A man in an expensive suit.

“Wolfe Lennox. Quite the reputation.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I have an offer for your… particular talents.”

My voice, cocky: “I don’t come cheap.”

“Oh, I know. But I always get what I want, willing or not.”

Dresner. The name rose from nowhere. Dresner, before he owned me.

“I’m losing it,” I rasped. “Can’t hold on.”

Selina did something I didn’t expect. She slapped me, hard. The shock cut through the fog.

“Come back.” She leaned in. “Stay with me, damn it.”