Page 28 of Mine to Keep (Bloody Desires #10)

seventeen

what the actual fuck?

Ninety minutes after I get the call from The Director, I pull up about a mile from the location in the jacket. I’d usually get a clear photograph of the person I’m supposed to take out, but all he sent is some grainy bullshit that shows me nothing but the mark is a woman with long black hair.

“Fucking bullshit,” I mutter to myself as I park and climb out. Even though it’s late, there are still people walking around, enjoying the city. I keep my head down as I walk, one earbud in my ear so the GPS can give me the directions on foot.

I pass the apartment building to do my own recon.

I spot an alley beside it that’s empty of anything but a garbage can and leads to another side street.

I double back down the street and go back to the apartment.

The target is on the second floor and I keep my gaze lowered to avoid any cameras.

Luckily, I haven’t seen any cameras or anyone in the hallways.

Taking the lock picking kit from my pocket, I make quick work of the lock and push into the apartment, closing the door softly behind me.

I look around, trying to adjust to the thick darkness. I’m pissed that I didn’t have any time to study the floor plan before I was forced to make this drive.

Swallowing down my frustration, I step slowly through the room, using my intuition to guide me. I wish I had taken a look around before I closed the door, but I needed to get inside so I could finish this.

After this last minute bullshit, I’m really done. I’ve had last minute jobs before, but never a job that had only an hour’s notice. If I let The Director do this shit now, he’ll pull it again. And one of those times could get my fucking head blown off.

And I can’t leave Talon and Javier alone again. Especially in a foreign country where the only person they know is the douchebag that cheated on Talon and whose ass Javier almost beat. Whose ass I did beat.

No. This is it. This is?—

My shin knocks into an end table I couldn’t see in the dark. Cursing, I side step the table and hurry to the bedroom, wanting to get this kill over with so I can leave. I shouldn’t have made that mistake. I shouldn’t have taken the kill before I had the chance to look around.

But, shit, we here now. I have no choice but to see this through.

I pull my gun from the holster at my back and screw on the silencer.

Quickly, I twist the doorknob and push inside, aiming at the bed.

Moonlight from the open window shines through the room.

The light clicks on before I can take the shot and I hiss, closing my eyes against the glare.

After less than a second, I drop my arm and aim again, cursing myself for freezing.

“Knox?” the woman says, making me freeze again.

My eyes adjust as I look at the confused face of the woman that dropped the package off to me earlier this week. One of Peggy’s people.

What the fuck is this? From what Peggy told me, she was out of the game, going to college or some shit. What kind of fucking game is The Void playing?

She puts shaky hands in the air, her bottom lip trembling. “Wha—What d-d-d-di-did I d-d-d-d-do? I haven’t told anyone about?—”

“Shut up,” I growl, needing time to think.

I should pull the trigger. Just shoot her and get it over with.

But something about this isn’t right. Our couriers aren’t targeted, unless they snitched about their job.

From the way this girl’s—she can’t be older than eighteen—earnest eyes track me, I know she hasn’t.

I’m a master at reading people and she strikes me as someone that keeps her secrets close to the vest.

Mostly because she knows what will happen to her if she opened her fucking mouth.

“Fuck!” I curse, putting the gun away and rubbing the back of my neck. I pull my phone out, and scroll to Peggy’s number.

I have to call her and fill her in, she has to know something is going on. She needs to get into The Void’s fucking…software or something. I don’t mind eliminating targets when it’s the job, but this one makes the alarm bells ring in my head. Maybe she?—

As I turn around to face the girl, I see a red dot on her chest.

“Get down!” I shout a second too late as a bullet passes through her chest. She gasps as she flies back against the bed.

I drop to the floor as another bullet enters the room, hitting the girl in her body again.

What the fuck? Is there another team from another organization after her? Is it The Void? Did they have someone in town and decide to send them as well?

Too many questions with no answers while I’m stuck on the floor with a fucking sniper popping off rounds in the room.

Staying low to the floor, I crawl towards the other side of the room, staying out of sight of the window.

I notice two things when I pull the door open. The first is the lights are on in the living room, and the second is a pair of women’s combat boots, about five feet from the bedroom.

Without thinking, I roll out of the doorway. And none too soon. The whistle of the wind above my head makes my nerves dance. A glint of silver catches my eye before she pulls her arm back. I quickly get to my feet, holding my hands up in a fighting position.

The woman roars in frustration and she makes her way over to me again.

I kick the end table I tripped over earlier into her path and she loses her balance.

It gives me enough time to reach for my gun, but she’s fast, kicking me in the chest before I can get my hand under my jacket.

I noticed belatedly it’s the red-haired woman I saw in the pub.

Who the fuck is she? Why is she after me? Did I take her kill or was it me she came here for? If that’s the case, that means The Void is?—

Another swift kick to my chest has me tumbling back, my feet coming out from under me.

I fall onto the couch and roll away when she throws one of the knives in her hand at me.

I try again to reach for my gun but a bullet flies through the window, only missing me because I dodge a punch from the woman.

So it’s two of them. A sniper and fucking Freddy Kruger.

One thing I’ve always prided myself on is being a good fighter, no matter who I’m up against. I won’t make this easy for her.

I push her off me, making her fall backward over the coffee table.

Grabbing the knife from the couch, I toss it back at her, making her duck.

Then I rush her, kneeing her in the face before she can stand.

She shakes it off like it was nothing, roaring as she slices at me, getting in a shallow cut on my right arm. I hiss, but shake it off as well.

I take hold of her wrist and twist it sharply, making her cry out and drop her blade. Using her momentum, I flip her onto her back, dropping my knee to her chest.

“Who the fuck are you?” I roar.

Before she can answer, a bullet grazes my ear, the flash of pain making me shout and tumble off the woman.

She scrambles over to me before I can recover and straddles me. Three punches are aimed at my face in rapid succession, but I ignore them as I buck her off.

When we both get to our feet, the woman squares up with me, smiling through bloodied teeth. “Come here, Sky. We can take him down.” I give her a confused look before she rushes at me, a flying punch aimed at my head. I duck and move away from her.

With a few feet between us, I shake out my limbs and square up with her again.

“Viper,” she says breathily. “Your reputation precedes you. Imagine how mine will grow when I’m the one that kills you.”

I smirk at her while keeping my eyes peeled for whoever she was talking to earlier, probably through an ear piece. “Come try it. You’ll end up in a body bag before me.”

Her calling me Viper makes my heart race, but I don’t react. Only The Void knows that code name. Anyone else only knows me by one of my many aliases.

The fucking Void is really trying to retire me.

She snarls and runs at me. I block her punches and give her a few quick body shots, doubling her over to catch her breath. But before I can throw another punch, the door opens and a man rushes at me. I have just enough time to turn around before he tackles me to the floor.

His momentum carries us into the opposite wall, knocking the wind out of me. But I don’t pause. I give him two heavy shots to the ribs, making him roll off me, holding his torso.

The woman is back on her feet and she runs at me, aiming her booted foot at my face. I roll out of the way, and kick her leg from under her, making her fall onto her back. Her head hits the floor with a thud, and she looks dazed for a moment.

I get to my feet and kick her in the face once, trying to keep her down so I can take care of her man.

He gets to his feet and charges at me before I can get another shot in. He’s fast, ducking my jab and throwing out a few of his own. A hard right hook hits me in the mouth and it fills with blood, threatening to choke me.

I eat those blows, trying not to let them affect me, though he’s close to ringing my fucking bell. For a shorter guy, his punches are fucking powerful.

From the corner of my eye, I see the woman stagger to her feet, wiping the blood from her face and gingerly touching her nose. I fucked her up good.

My momentary distraction gives the man time to find one of Mrs. Kruger’s blades and bring it down towards my chest. I block it with my palm and it goes through like fucking butter. I growl in pain, pulling my hand back quickly to dislodge the knife.

Fuck, that fucking hurts.

The man laughs as he lunges at me again, stabbing down in a frenzy. He backs me against the wall, intent on stabbing me in the chest.

I spot a vase on the table by the door. Grabbing it quickly, I throw it at him. He doesn’t duck in time and it hits him in the face. Stunned, he backs up, but I advance, punching him three times in the temple. He drops like a sack of potatoes.

I don’t have time to catch my breath before the woman roars and charges at me. I duck and she flies over my back, but she does some sort of fucking MMA move and pulls me off my feet, damn near folding me in half. She punches me twice in the face before I even know the hits are coming.

I spit a mouthful of blood at her, and she screams in disgust, releasing me and swiping her handacrossher face. Rolling to my feet, I glance over to make sure her partner is knocked out cold. “Still think you can take me?”

She wipes her face again and spits at my feet. “I know I can. Your fucking reputation is bullshit.”

“Yeah? That’s why it takes two of you to kill me? Must be scared.”

The woman grunts but doesn’t approach me like she did before. She’s more cautious, especially since she’s on her own now.

Smart woman.

“Come on. Let’s see what you got,” I taunt, beckoning her.

We both come at the other at the same time, throwing fists. She’s fast, using her slender frame to get out of some of my holds, and throw quick blows.

She clips me on the chin as I lean back from a quick jab to the face. I grab her by the throat and throw her against the wall, knocking the wind out of her.

When I advance on her, she pops up quickly, wrapping her arms around my waist as she tackles me to the ground.

We fly into the bedroom, my back bumping into the bed.

I grab her and maneuver her in front of me so I can get her in a chokehold.

She tucks her chin, preventing me from getting a good hold.

Then my arm erupts in a blast of pain so strong that I howl and let her go. I look down at the deep gash, blood leaking from it like a fucking faucet.

She moves back quickly and cocks her foot back, kicking me in the face. My hand goes automatically to my nose, the wound in my arm pulling and more blood flowing. Where the fuck did she get that knife?

The woman tries to stab me again, but I clip her legs from under her once again, making her fall down heavily. We both lie still for a few beats before we climb to our feet.

Before I can try to move this fight back into the living room so I can keep eyes on her partner, the woman runs at me.

I grip her around the waist, trying to toss her out of the window, but she gets a death grip on my arm and pulls me with her.

We break through the glass, tumbling out of the window into empty air.

It’s not a long drop to the ground and I pivot hard, twisting my body to avoid landing on my head, with my injured arm taking the brunt of the fall.

The woman is not so lucky. She lands on her back and is stunned for a few moments, blinking slowly and groaning.

Our position keeps us out of sight of any neighbors—though I’m sure they heard the raucous fight upstairs and probably called the cops—giving me some cover and time to breathe from the hard impact of the concrete.

In the brief second I give myself, I analyze my body for injuries. Other than the stab wound to my hand, the deep slash on my arm, and maybe a twisted ankle, I don’t feel any broken bones. I’ll be fucking sore all over, but nothing that’ll fuck me up too bad.

The knife she used to slice me landed on the ground between us, so I scoop it up, roll on top of her and bury it in her chest in one smooth motion. Once, twice, three times. To make sure there’s no coming back from this wound, I twist the blade.

She grabs my hand, looking up at me with wide eyes. I grin down at her, though my vision is going hazy. Blood flows from her mouth as she pants, trying to draw in greedy gulps of air. That won’t save her.

Just before her eyes turn glassy, I say, “Gotta wake up earlier…to fucking kill me.”

A frown crosses her face before her eyes go glassy and unseeing.

I check her pulse and feel nothing under my fingers. Letting out a groan, I roll over, breathing in sharp pants. Fuck. If we’d stayed in the apartment, I would have been hard pressed to kill her. This is the closest I’ve come to death since Arizona and I don’t fucking like it.

I’m. Fucking. Done.

The sound of heavy footsteps gets me onto my feet and I’m running in the direction of my car before I even give my body the command. Her partner must be awake and looking for us.

I need to get back to Siloq. I need to get back to Javier and Talon.

I need to let them go.