Chapter 6

We are in position outside of the center building. It took us four hours to get here, and we've been sitting outside watching the guards move from row to row of shipping containers, monitoring their movements to see if any of them are holding children.

Boris and Nessa are guarding the North and East perimeter while I hold the West. I try not to let my mind drift back to yesterday and the confession Nessa made that nearly shattered my soul. Instead, I grit my teeth, attempting to force away the damn emotions.

Why do feelings have to affect me right now? I've gone so long without them, and I have to say, I much prefer those pesky little things to stay in the background.

Centering my scope on the doors to the tower in the middle of the shipping yard, I watch two guards exit and change shifts with the other two outside.

"Shift change beginning," I announce over comms, my fingers itching to pull the trigger, but I refrain. For now .

"Hold position," Nessa replies. She preferred to wait and watch the guards go through every container in the vicinity when we were planning. Her and Boris agreed that it was best to know everything on site possible before making a move.

There are only five containers Lev found that were being looked into each time the guards changed over. I can't help but shake the sense of urgency running through my veins. Something feels off, wrong even. Sweat beads on my brow, and I wipe at it for the thousandth time. My t-shirt is nearly dripping on its own from the amount of perspiration I have let out.

At this point, I'm dehydrated, irritable, and very likely to shoot something at the first sign of it pissing me off.

I trained for two years to be an assassin, I've been out on my own for one year, and still my worst quality in these jobs is that I loathe other people and have the patience of a toddler. Everything else is good though. Like, I can shoot a moving target from a thousand yards. And I know all the ways to torture someone while keeping them alive so that they feel every ounce of pain.

You know, the typical assassin necessities.

I wipe my face again, attempting to keep an eye on my scope to watch the guards. I may or may not let a sigh go through over the comms just so someone else can share in the knowledge that I am miserable at this particular moment.

The guards stop in front of a container. It's one of the final few we haven't seen yet. But instead of opening it, they stop and start chatting like we have all fecking day.

It's a hot day, if these kids are in one of these containers they could be at risk of overheating. I don't want to lose any of them because we let the guards take their time.

Screw the plan.

Taking aim at the taller of the four men, I pull the trigger. My gut is rarely wrong, and something is telling me I need to get down on the ground fast.

"What the feck?" Nessa asks. "Do you have eyes on the kids?"

"Suspicious activity," I announce as I jump down from my hiding spot to the top of another container. The other two guards move towards Nessa and Boris.

"What kind of activity?" Boris asks, clearly frustrated.

"The suspicious kind," I toss back, knowing it will irritate him. "Incoming. Two targets."

They will take care of the guards, and I can get to these kids. Holstering my rifle on my back, I jump down one final time to land on the ground and make my way towards the five containers we had pictures of. The ones that seemed to contain people according to the heat signature scans from Lev.

I killed the man who had the key, but as I approach the guard house, I notice a pair of bolt cutters lying against the building. I go for those instead. Much faster . Now I don't have to touch a dead body, it must be my lucky day.

Heaving them in my arms, I can feel an inner tremble starting up, as if my heart were going to explode in my chest. I try not to let my mind revert to being scared and alone in that dark space. I refuse to break when there is so much on the line.

Rushing to each container, I cut each chain and begin opening them wide, letting in air and sunlight as swiftly as I can. However, with each one turning up empty as I go down the line, my heart begins to sink.

"Feck!" I shout as I find the last one empty. The bolt cutters smack into another container as I toss them to the side, the sound echoing in my mind in a symphony that feels too familiar.

You are not that kid anymore. Pull it together. You need to save them just like she saved you.

My hands ball into fists just as a shot bounces off the door next to me, nearly hitting me in the ear. How fecking rude, don't people know assassins need to be able to hear?

Unholstering one of my guns, I quickly return fire. I spot the man standing on top of the container just north of me. The second he is in my sights, his skull splatters with the bullet I shoot through it. I watch with grim satisfaction as his lifeless body tumbles thirty feet down and lands with a thud.

This was a waste. A total feckin' waste.

"We have the two guards," Boris says over the comms, sounding pissed as ever.

Perfect, maybe we can at least get information out of them.

Boris directs me over the comms to the destination, and all too soon I'm face to face with the assholes who likely let a shipment of kids be moved from here.

"Today is not your day, motherfeckers," I say, my face feeling flushed as both the heat and my anger begin to rise to new heights.

Nessa and Boris stand over the two men bound by their feet. I don't even look at them though. They can be mad about deviating from the plan later, now is not the time. Instead, I focus on getting answers.

"I suggest you start talking. Now!" I aim my weapon at one of their heads and watch as they both flinch. "I'll only ask you this once. If I do not hear what I want, someone's brains will be painting the pavement before you can even think about blinking."

"Cillian," Nessa says soothingly, as if trying to calm a wild animal. "Let's touch base first, then we can proceed from there."

I clench my jaw and harden my stare at her. It physically hurts me to look into her eyes, but I do.

"We don't have time. I want to know what they know now ." I direct my attention back to the men and say in my deadliest tone, enunciating every word clearly and slowly.

"Where are the kids?"

Both of the men sneer at me, but one of them cracks, shaking his head nervously.

"We really don't know much other than they came to get them about six hours ago."

"Do you know where they were headed?" I demand, almost to the point of praying to some kind of gods for answers.

"No. There's only one road out of here, but from there they could have gone anywhere."

I close my eyes.

We were so fecking close. If we had just moved in last night, this would all have been a different story.

"We got a call," the other man says arrogantly. "The boss thought they were being watched and wanted to get the property moved before anyone could steal it." He scoffs. "Good thing they were prepared."

I glance towards Nessa then to Boris. Then I shoot the asshole in the head.

"What the fuck was that for, Kid?"

Boris asks, stepping back even though he's already splattered with blood. I would love to say I wasn't purposely hoping that I would get to kill the one in front of him, but like I said, it must be my lucky day.

"He didn't say what I wanted to hear," I answer flatly, like it's the most obvious thing in the world because it really is.

The other guy is shaking, holding his bound hands up in front of his face as if that would stop my bullet from burying itself between his eyes.

"What else do you know?" I ask.

"I don't know where, b-but I overheard something about a training camp up north."

Tears spill over as he struggles to get the words out. I feel like I deserve an award for not killing him right here and now.

"The name Reign came up, b-but it didn't seem like that was the final destination, m-maybe a stopping point?"

I lower my weapon because that was actually helpful.

"I'm calling the team," Nessa says, phone already to her ear before I can object. Holstering my gun, I stare down at the man, wishing I could kill him too. But I wait like a trained dog because I know I've already pushed my luck a bit for the day.

Nessa updates Evie on the information we were able to gather, and I look anywhere but at her and Boris. I pretend that I'm scanning the perimeter, but we all know these are the only men here today.

After hanging up, Nessa informs us that we will be taking the remaining guard to a safe house alive.

Such a fucking waste of space in my opinion, but whatever .

A few minutes later, we're in the car as Evie sends a clean up team. She replaces the dead guards with her own people to keep an eye out for more shipments.

You know, like humans being held against their will and such.

Our hostage is in the trunk, even though Nessa told me he could sit in the back with me just fine. I refused and tossed him in without so much as a word to her.

Boris is driving now with Nessa sitting next to him while I hang out in the back like the useless third wheel. When I saw her just forty eight hours ago, I was so full of hope and possibilities. Now, all I want is to go back in time and ignore that stupid sniper on the roof.

Boris glances back at me in the rearview mirror for the fifth time in as many minutes and Nessa eyes him.

"Spit it out," I snap, done with the bullshit.

"That was reckless," Boris says, as if he were a disappointed dad.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, well it was faster than the plan the rest of you came up with."

"Fast isn't necessarily safe, Cillian." Nessa turns in her seat to glare at me. "These kids matter more than your haste."

"You think I don't know that? I was more concerned with them dying in this feckin' heat than I was about following a plan I wasn't even sure would work. I had every confidence in my last minute arrangement as I did in the original one."

My voice grows loud, causing Nessa to shake her head. She looks out the window, but it's Boris who responds, making me feel like a child being reprimanded by his parents.

"You had every confidence in a plan that you thought of for less than two minutes? One you did not think you needed to share with the rest of your team?" He raises an eyebrow, and I cross my arms over my chest as he continues.

"You could guarantee that none of your bullets would have gone through the containers? You were positive that no other guards came here today? There was no doubt in your mind someone wasn't hiding in a container with a weapon to ambush us?"

Well shite, when he says it like that.

"I was ninety percent sure," I say with a scoff because none of those things actually happened.

"When it comes to kids," Nessa speaks quietly but firmly, "we don't make a single fecking move until we are one hundred percent. Got it?"

Letting out a frustrated huff I agree, even if it makes me want to vomit. "Fine."

She isn't wrong, but I hate to admit it. At that moment, I really was just trying to do what I thought was best. Now I know the weird feeling I had about the guards moving so slow was because the kids were no longer there.

After a very long and torturous drive in a small car with two people who hate me about as much as I hate the world, we finally pull into the safehouse.

Evie is standing at the door with her arms crossed over her chest. I noticed Nessa texting during the ride but didn't realize how much of a tattletale she was until I get out of the car and am met with Evie's fist.

"Really, Cil?" Her steel gray eyes assess me as if I were scum on her shoe. It takes every fiber of my being to keep from lashing out at her. But when Nessa ignores me and our confrontation, heading to the door without any form of acknowledgement, Evie's tune changes.

When it's just the two of us outside, she sighs.

"She's trying to ignore you, huh?"

I nod, even if I don't understand exactly what she's talking about. Nessa isn't ignoring me as much as she's just trying to push me away.

"I knew she wasn't ready to hear what I had to say," Evie mumbles before walking around the car and popping the trunk.

"This is the guy?" she asks, staring down at the guard, who now looks like a hot mess.

We would be really fecking bad at our jobs if this wasn't the guy.

But I refrain from having an attitude with her. She isn't the one to blame for my problems.

"Yup." I pop the p and shove my hands in my pockets.

"I thought he was being cooperative?" Evie looks at me as she helps the man out. His mouth is taped shut because I didn't want to hear any moaning or crying during the ride, and his hands and feet are still bound. I'm honestly shocked that one of her men isn't out here to collect him and she's doing it herself.

"He gave me answers that didn't totally piss me off."

She bends down and removes the obsidian blade I gifted her from her belt, cutting through the binds on his legs. He shakes them out and stretches a bit.

"Why was he in the trunk for hours then?"

I shrug. "He smelled like anxiety, sweat, and seemed like a talker. I wasn't about to sit next to that for hours on end."

Evie chuckles under her breath, taking the man's arm and urging him inside. He tries to twist from her hold, but Evie takes back control in less than a second, the blade in her hand now pointed right at his dick.

"Try to run from me, pretty boy," Evie taunts. "I like to get my hands dirty."

In case you were wondering, I now completely understand why her men aren't the ones to retrieve the piece of gobshite.

Out here, away from them, she can establish dominance and not have to compete with the faces of those inside the house. It's a smart move; one that clearly shows just how powerful she is.

I find myself actually smiling as I watch her take control. The man nods, easily falling under her heel, no backbone in this fight whatsoever. I have to keep myself from snickering. The guy has at least fifty pounds and six inches on her, yet he looks smaller than a mouse in her presence.

This is why I agreed to work for her. Well, this and the fact that she's pretty cool, power and control aside. She makes me want to work harder, and after how much I've screwed up with my team today, I'm anxious to be sent on a new hunt to make it up to them.

For reasons I can't explain, I feel the need to prove to Evie that I'm capable despite my impulsiveness. I have no doubt Nessa made it seem like I was a feckin' fool today, but I want to show her I can still add to this team.

Evie knocks on the door and Damien opens it. He glances over at me and smirks like he's won a game I was unaware we were playing. It makes me want to punch him, but I know that won't get me points with my boss, or anyone really.

"Take him to the basement," Evie says. "Cil and I are going to go on a walk."

My brow wrinkles. We are?

Damien takes the man and leans down to plant a kiss on Evie's cheek as if he needs to make a statement. Ew . If anything, I see Evie as a sister, but mostly, I respect her as my badass assassin boss I get to hang with from time to time.

A blush tinges Evie's cheeks before her features morph into cool impassiveness as she turns to me.

"Let's go."

I am well aware she could be walking me to my death right now, which would be absolute shite. I'd really rather not die. Plus, I think she's really cool, and it's super lame to kill someone in the woods mid-mission.

"So, Nessa…" She looks at me as we turn down a path.

Was that a question or a statement?

"Yeah?"

Evie rolls her eyes. "You're aware she's in love with you still, right?"

I shake my head, swallowing past the lump in my throat that hasn't left since last night.

"Yeah, I'm going to ignore that statement because she made it very clear last night who she's chosen."

The wind causes the trees around us to sway, their leaves rustling together as the sun begins to set. It's ominous out here, I suppose it suits my current mood, but it's comforting at the same time.

"Nessa is complicated." I scoff at her statement, but she pushes on. "She's been through a lot in the past two years. While a lot of it has been good, I think that she still sees herself through her father's eyes."

That stops in my tracks. "What do you mean?"

Evie turns to me and leans against a tree. "I mean that she never thinks she's going to be good enough. She doesn't think she deserves Boris, much less the two of you."

"The two of us?"

Evie rolls her eyes and turns to keep walking. I jog to catch up to her because what the feck did she just say?

"E, you can't be serious right now."

She halts her movements and gives me that look I know all too well. Determination.

"I am dead serious, Cillian. Nessa is one of my best friends. She might not be ready to see the world in the way that I do, but there is no reason she has to choose. If you think you can make her pick, then you've already lost her."

I throw my arms out wide in frustration, so close I'm almost yelling in her face.

"She already chose him!"

Evie crosses her arms over her chest again and raises a brow. "You sure about that?"

"Positive," I spit.

"Then why the fuck did she tell me not to go too hard on you today?"

Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is a turn of events.

"Why do you think she texted me saying she was worried about you and the heat and to make sure we had extra water at the house?"

And now I feel like I just got slapped in the face with a frozen fish.

"Why did she downplay the complete chaos you caused to our plan? The plan that took fucking hours to create yesterday, in case you forgot. Do you think she'd be that soft on anyone else that made such a shitstorm?"

When I don't answer, too dumbfounded to come up with any kind of response, Evie gives me a look that says I am way too dense.

"You may not be able to see it, but she's scared. She's terrified to ask for something she doesn't believe she deserves because the peace that she found in her life right now might crumble."

I feel like blocks finally settle into place in my mind.

Evie is gentle now when she steps towards me, speaking softly.

"Who are you going to be to her, Cil? Are you going to be the one that forces her hand, or are you going to show her that she can have everything she ever wanted and more?"

Well, feck me.

Evie must be done talking because she turns and begins to walk back to the house, leaving me alone with my thoughts. And trust me, there's a lot of them swirling around my mind right now.

Could I really help give her everything she wants? Would Boris even let me? Can I share her with someone else?

I look back down the trail and towards the house where my first love is, debating on the path I want to take. It takes me less than a minute to decide.

Nessa was always supposed to be mine, but maybe she was meant to be someone else's too.