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“There are only so many of these dipshits left at this point,” Bubblegum said.

“So it was a matter of guessing. I knew you’d be coming here sooner or later, so I’ve been waiting.

Today was my lucky day. You’re pretty sneaky with your stealth shit, but tweedle-fucking-dumbass over there gave you away with his heavy steps. ”

Niko winced. Elliott had definitely made the right call before, on Haneen.

Enva’ruu had fled long before they got here.

Their work was going to be like this from now on.

They’d had a massive victory in getting Elliott’s files out, but it had come at just as profound a cost. Nothing would ever be easy again—if any of their missions before could have been classified as easy.

Bounty hunters, Galapol, traps, and empty houses with vanished Honeybliss members were all that awaited them now.

Niko wondered if they’d even be able to track down everyone who had fled.

He missed when things were quieter, like they’d been at Cnrys’s beach mansion. It had been almost too easy, then. But being superfluous to Elliott’s work was better than being blindsided.

Niko leaned around the side of the column and fired on her several times, trying to take her down quickly before this unfolded into an even bigger problem.

Bubblegum ducked around a corner, the bullets peppering the wall she’d disappeared behind.

The stairs beside them groaned and began collapsing in on themselves, kicking up wood dust and the bitter scent of burning timber and tile, strong enough to smell even through the helmet.

She’d cut them off from accessing the second story now.

A moment later, another grenade came soaring their way.

“Run!” Niko barked, shoving Elliott ahead of him.

He heard its explosion behind them as they beelined for a door which led into a study full of bookcases, a marbled desk, and a bust of some deeply-pontificating, solemn Dvaab Niko didn’t recognize.

A flurry of bullets trailed them, and Niko turned to fire back before ducking around the corner.

“Shit.”

“This isn’t going to work,” Elliott muttered, huddling down beside him.

“Told you I’d be back to collect,” Bubblegum said. “And with your cute little broadcast, the bounty’s about up. This is as high as it goes. So, it’s time. I’m cashing in.”

“You don’t even know if they’ll be good for paying it,” Niko called out. It was a long shot, but maybe if he could target her greed, he could make her reconsider. “Galapol is a fucking mess right now, and the whole thing’s being renegotiated anyway.”

“Oh, they’ll pay. And besides, I found another buyer, too,” Bubblegum said. “One who’s willing to tack on an extra two billion on top of your fat bounties to let me… lease you to him for a few hours, first.”

Niko and Elliott glanced at each other, Elliott’s gaze sharpening with rage now.

“Who?” Niko called out. His skin crawled. He knew who. But he wanted to hear it.

“Prince Uru Taal. He’s pissed, too. He wants your little blond buttlicker. And he wants to hurt him real bad.” Niko could hear the smirk in her voice. “ Again .”

Beside him, Elliott seethed. Niko saw his jaw clench as he ground his teeth together, the color draining from his face. His body stiffened, and he sprung up suddenly to try and fire on her.

Niko grabbed him before he could, wrestling with the other man and pulling him back behind cover. A scattering of shots splintered the plaster around them.

Elliott strained against him with everything he had, but Niko was stronger. He wasn't used to seeing him lose his cool like this. Elliott was panting hard, his clenched teeth bared.

“Elliott. No. She’s trying to rile you up.”

“It’s fucking working,” Elliott snarled. He was trembling in Niko’s grip.

“Ignore her. Fuck her. She’s not getting out of this alive anyway.”

“Right.” That seemed to calm him some. Elliott let out a few panting breaths before finally steadying himself. Niko nodded at him and released his grip, and Elliott nodded back. “Sorry.”

“Keep your head in the game, Elliott,” Niko said. “That’s how we win this.”

Niko knew it was a lost cause to waste the words on Bubblegum. This had, after all, been the same unlicensed hunter who had been perfectly willing to cause both civilian and police casualties to get at Elliott in the past.

But he had to try.

“Clair, do you really want to work with him?” he called out.

“Honeybliss destroys families all the time. They hurt and kill innocent people who’ve never done anything wrong and have no part in any of this.

Is that really who you want to ally yourself with right now?

Especially now that public scrutiny is building against them? ”

“I don’t give a fuck about any of that,” Bubblegum said.

Yep. Lost cause. “I go where the money is, and right now he’s willing to pay me more than anyone else is.

So, I’m gonna feed your golden dick-sleeve to him with glee.

Then, after that ugly Toliai motherfucker chews him up and spits him out, Galapol and every government that you’ve pissed off can have the sloppy seconds. ”

He felt Elliott tense up again beside him.

“Alright,” Niko muttered under his breath. “She’s fucking dead.”

“The sooner the better,” Elliott ground out.

Something exploded against the wall they’d been using as cover. Seconds later, Niko could smell the same acrid burning, the entire structure of the estate groaning as the plaster, wood, and insulation of the wall began to dissolve under bog-theun toxin.

“Shit. Elliott, get back! Now!”

Elliott flinched and quickly threw Repartee to the floor. Its long barrel began sizzling where droplets of green corrosive had caught it, the scent acerbic and nauseating. He couldn’t even imagine how much Elliott had to be suffering without a helmet of his own to block out most of the smell.

They both took off running deeper into what Niko saw now was an entertainment room of some kind, full of Dvaab cultural games and marble tables topped with little carved figurines.

Behind them, the wall they’d been near sagged, then completely collapsed into itself, burying what remained of Elliott’s damaged rifle with it.

The ceiling above the rubble groaned and started sagging downward as well.

Its ornate plaster cracked and rained down in chunks.

“Fuck,” Niko murmured. “Another couple of these things, and she’s going to bring the entire house down. We don’t have long now.”

“That’s part of the plan. Drive us out where there’s no cover.”

“Shit. We’re going to have to meet her head on, then.”

“We should split up,” Elliott said. Niko paused, looking at him. “We have a distinct advantage over her, in that there are two of us. Distract her. And I’ll go around from the back and get her.”

“How are you going to do that, Elliott? You don’t have stealth or a shield. You don’t even have your gun, anymore.”

“I don’t need it.”

“Fuck. I don’t like this. Getting close to her is dangerous.”

“Then we’ll just let her push us around the house, until the whole fucking thing collapses!

” Elliott snapped. “Maybe I should just handle this myself. You can go back to the ship and wait until it’s over.

” He was still shaking. Niko watched him force himself to calm a little, letting out a long breath. “I—I’m sorry.”

“Elliott…” Niko had never seen him so aggravated since they'd started working together. Elliott had been taunted and insulted plenty of times in his work before. Every time, he’d gracefully matched his opponents in verbal blows, dancing circles around them.

He was clearly getting sloppy now, letting his emotions get the best of him.

And Bubblegum’s particular brand of assholery certainly wasn’t helping, threatening Elliott with the very tragedy that had befallen his sister.

Or maybe it was Niko who had gotten under his skin.

He should have apologized before they’d started this.

Niko sighed. “We need to talk after this.”

“Oh. Do we?” They both ducked behind a solid marble Dvaab Julakkanerr game table as another spray of warning bullets perforated the wall behind them. Carved game figurines rained down around them as they were caught in the gunfire.

He ignored Elliott’s snipe. If they couldn’t get their shit together quickly, they weren’t going to make it out of this alive. “Fine. If anyone’s going to get close to her like that, though, I should be the one to do it.”

“Why don’t you try trusting me, Niko? Didn't we have a whole talk about that, a while ago?” Elliott said, his tone still scathing. “Besides, one of us is going to need to pull her attention and keep her occupied. And you’re the one with the bulletproof armor.”

Niko ground his jaw, swallowing down an argument. They were running out of time to act, and Elliott had a point. He wasn’t going to make it into another fight, like he had on Haneen. Especially when Elliott was so obviously already hurting right now.

“Right. Yeah, fine.” After a long moment, he added, “I do trust you. I just don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt.”

“Then distract her well enough, and I won’t be.” Then Elliott added, his voice finally softening a bit, “But don’t get hurt either, Niko. Be careful. Please. ”

Right. No pressure at all, there.

They looked at each other and Niko nodded to him.

Elliott slunk off across the room, crouching to keep out of sight and behind the game tables.

Niko took the opportunity, peeking up above the table and firing on her, then just as quickly ducking behind it as she fired two more shots, one missing and the other pinging off his arm.

Really fucking need to thank Zann for this suit .