Hunter

HUNTER

"I would like to reiterate that this is a terrible idea, and I hate everything about it," Kai muttered beside me, making me shake my head.

"Yes, you've said that. However, that didn't stop you from agreeing to the plan, so here we are," I said, smiling as someone passed by with a tray of drinks, pausing to grab one.

"Sobriety is essential," Kai said as he hypocritically sipped from a flute of Champagne. When he saw my look, he chuckled. "I just meant it as a warning not to drink too much. We need to be focused."

"I'm going to be careful how much I drink," I told him, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. The entire point of being here was to blend in as much as possible without drawing attention. The place was supposed to be invitation only, but the age-old advice was true. We looked like we belonged with all the dressed-up people who had more money than we'd ever see, so we were left alone.

Our advantage stemmed from the fact that everyone came from different parts of the country, and we had banked on the idea that they wouldn't recognize one another and thus not recognize strangers in their midst. Of course, it was hard not to be noticed when I was walking around with sex in a suit on my heels, but Kai had insisted on being included.

"Let's get some fresh air," he said, glancing around the large room that, while probably meant to be a conference room, looked more like a ballroom. The entire thing had been arranged and paid for by Mitchell, and his taste was wildly different from Damon's. Compared to Damon's little hideaway, which had been toned down and almost homey, Mitchell had a taste for the flashy and glamorous but the more refined if slightly old-fashioned kind. Everyone wore gowns and tuxedos, so clearly, they all knew the dress code.

One of the large walls was made entirely of glass and beams, which was impressive since it was probably three stories tall. It opened onto a large garden, and plenty of people had decided they enjoyed the natural ambiance over the ballroom. From what I'd heard, the entire building had been rented out and filled with some of the wealthiest people in the country.

Kai followed me outside, where the noise of the live band was muted by the thick glass. All that could be heard was the sound of the wind carrying some quiet conversations around the garden. I made my way to the wall overlooking the bay. The lights of Port Dale sparkled over the choppy water, making me think of stars dancing in the sky. I breathed in the smell of salt air, smiling as I set the glass of Champagne on the edge and stared out.

"How are we doing?" I asked in a low voice, knowing anyone close enough would still be able to understand me.

"There's people a few yards off," he said, leaning on the edge with me. "Keep your voice low, and they shouldn't be able to hear. The whole place is a viper's nest of gossip and shit talk. No one's going to bat an eye if we look like we're doing either."

"What a fun coincidence," I said with a snort. "How much do you think each of these drinks cost?"

"Is that really what we should be focusing on?"

"Mmm, probably should be keeping an eye on Mitchell, but considering he hasn't shown himself since leaving to make a few calls earlier, I'm making do with conversation."

Kai sighed, picking up the glass and evaluating it. "Well, the only other times I had Champagne, it was the cheap shit that tasted like bitter, dry ass. This stuff is pretty good. So I'm guessing a bottle costs somewhere between one of your car payments and the rent."

"For the apartment or the whole building?"

"Mmmm, whole building?"

"Damn, it's not that good."

Kai laughed. "C'mon, you know it's not about whether the food and drink is actually good. It's about whether they can brag about what they've spent on everything."

"Did you have those little sandwiches they're handing out?"

"Pretty sure those weren't sandwiches. Just slices of bread with fish."

"And caviar. That stuff was way better than I had with Lucas years ago, and we paid a ridiculous sum for it."

Sometimes, I wondered what it was like to have Lucas brought up like I did. On the one hand, it had to be weird to hear about my ex, but on the other hand, who could argue with me mentioning my poor murdered lover? Sometimes, it felt wrong, like I was taking advantage of Lucas's circumstances to get away with talking about him. Sometimes, I didn't know if I felt worse that Kai didn't seem bothered by it. Understanding and compassion were sometimes double-edged, just as likely to cut the person it was to help.

Of course, that didn't mean I wasn't happy with how things had turned out, at least between Kai and me. These circumstances would never have come about if it hadn't been for the horror and tragedy that preceded them, so that was weird and tangled in its own way. But as much as I was glad Kai and I were what we were, that didn't mean I didn't miss Lucas. I had never ‘settled' to be with him simply because I was a weird version of in love with my best friend.

I had loved Lucas with the part of my heart that belonged to him and him alone. Just as my heart had a part for Kai, always holding him close even as it never interfered with other parts of my life, including my relationship with Lucas. Perhaps that was why Lucas had never been bothered or jealous of what he knew I felt for my best friend. The heart's supply of love was infinite as far as I was concerned, and I could love them both fiercely without one stepping on the toes of the other.

However, as I had learned over the past couple of years, especially the past month, the heart's supply of hatred wasn't finite either.

"Was that the anniversary dinner you got sick after? I remember you trying to tell me something about seafood after it happened, but the signal was horrible."

I grinned, loving him all the more for not hesitating to let me reminisce about Lucas. Sometimes, I was so caught up in how much I missed him and how good he was to me that I forgot how much they had gotten along. There had always been some distance between them, an indescribable gap that neither had talked about with me or each other as far as I knew. It had simply existed peacefully, perhaps because of what Lucas knew about my feelings for Kai. In turn, perhaps Kai had always held himself back from Lucas, liking him but always privately envying what he had.

"No," I snorted. "That was our first anniversary. I was trying to tell you over the call that one had gone way better than our first anniversary. The first one, we barely had any money and scraped together to go to some seafood place at the edge of Port Dale. Worst choice we could have made because something sent us right to the ER. We just had to ride it out, but oof, those were a miserable couple of days."

"Nothing quite like a bout of the screaming shits to bring two people close together," Kai said with a smirk.

"For all we know," a new voice piped up, louder than the conversations surrounding us. I fought the urge to twist around to face the conversation, paying attention instead, "he's fled to parts unknown and letting us all rot."

"I don't know about rot," a man chuckled, directly contrasting with the woman's sour voice. "I've certainly been enjoying myself."

"Because you've been working your way through the whiskey selection."

"It is a damn fine selection."

"Well, at least someone is getting something productive out of this night. The bastard keeps disappearing for phone calls."

"Everyone knows he's been running things for years, insisting on not letting his father interfere. And why not? He has a good head for business."

"Not lately," she scoffed, and I heard them stop behind us, either not seeing us or not caring that we could hear them. "Honestly, I would have said nothing could have shaken him. He's always been steadfast and unflappable, but lately?—"

"Well, it shouldn't exactly be a surprise. He lost a childhood friend."

I had to give whoever she was credit. She managed to make a snort sound somewhat dignified despite the harshness. "I would find it difficult to believe he even has enough heart to care about someone else, especially a lawyer ."

"Well, he hasn't talked about it, but word gets around. That lawyer died pretty badly."

"People are always dying in this city. Why should one lawyer make a difference just because you went to school with them? Honestly, there is so much potential business here, and he keeps going to make calls. From what I heard, he's calling anyone he can, demanding answers. Been doing it all week."

I glanced at Kai, whose expression was unreadable. It was hard to say how I felt hearing the gossip, which, in all fairness, was probably happening all over the place if someone was willing to discuss it so openly. Not for a moment did I regret what I'd done. Damon had been a monster, just like the rest of his friends, but it left me with a strange feeling to hear that someone genuinely cared about him so much they could be distressed over his murder. Sure, he was a heinous monster, but it made them all a little more human, which was a distinctly uncomfortable thought.

"He has more than enough on his plate. If he wants to drag everyone here, feed them, get them drunk, let them feel good about him while they make their deals on the side, all the better. Hell, maybe it's intentional, and he's building some goodwill."

"That man wouldn't know how to build goodwill if he tried. If he wanted that , he'd bring the other childhood friend he supposedly cares about so much to this little party of his. What was his name? Cade?"

"Callum, honestly, Shandra, how can you not know that? You want to have dealings with him, but you don't even know his friend's name? He knew him just as long as the other guy. I certainly hope you're better at faking caring than showing it."

"All I know is he's holed up in some room on the second floor and won't let anyone close to him. At least that's where he was half an hour ago, according to William. He's probably left by now, leaving us in the wind."

"Or, to let us have a good time, maybe you should reacquaint yourself with the concept. You seem to have forgotten it."

Her tone continued to be bitter and snarky as they walked off, but the words were drowned out as they walked back toward the building. I waited until Kai turned his back to the bay to watch behind us before clearing my throat. "Interesting...and weirdly convenient."

"It is pretty convenient," Kai said.

"Suspiciously so."

"Why?"

"He just so happens to be in this building, isolated and without security?"

"He probably has security somewhere, but it sounds like he's isolating himself because he's still upset about Damon."

"That was his friend," I said softly. "I can't say it's all that weird that he's acting badly right now."

"Is that sympathy I'm hearing?"

I gave him a dirty look. "Not really. I still plan to continue, but?—"

The plan had gotten easier from the sounds of it. He and Callum were always going to be the hardest to get to because of their status. I'd expected more security, though I probably shouldn't count that chicken without seeing the hatchery first. The original plan had been to come here, scope him out, and see if there was a way to get to him. The building wasn't used for anything important, so security was supposed to be minimal. We had seen how few cameras there were, so it would just be a case of trying to get around them.

"I just...it's weird to think of them as friends."

"You knew they were friends from the start."

"I used that word so fucking sarcastically it should have drowned half the city," I snapped at him and then forced myself to take a deep breath. "I thought of them as the bastards that did what they did."

"You forgot they were people."

"Yeah."

"Well, they are, ."

"I'm aware!"

He turned so he was pushed up against me, pinning me to the wall and sending my blood pressure skyrocketing. "Are you?"

"Kai."

"Because this isn't some TV show or movie, you're not some monster hunter killing the evil big bad of the week."

"I'm not?—"

"You are," he got closer and spoke so low and quiet that the wind almost took his voice from my ears despite our closeness, "killing people. They're people who did awful, fucked up shit, and they absolutely, without a doubt, deserve what we are doing...what you are doing. But you need to realize they're still people. They've still got lives, people who care about them, even love them. Those same people will suffer because of what we're doing. If you need to take a minute to understand that, then we need to leave right now and get your head in the game."

"And if I can't? Get my head in the game?" I asked him, turning my chin up stubbornly.

"Then we stop," he said simply, resting his hand gently on my cheek. "This isn't a game, . These are lives you're dealing with, your life especially. If you can't commit further than this because your heart is getting in the way, we cut our losses and learn to live with what remains."

The worst, most infuriating part was that I could feel myself faltering at his words, forcing myself to look away. I was risking so much, and for what? Revenge on a group of men. These three were nothing special, monsters in a world full of them, and I was going through all this because I needed to avenge a man who was past suffering.

I breathed deeply and remembered the smell of sweat and blood, the acidic fear that had filled my nose so horribly it was all I could smell. I could hear the hiss of their voices, their laughter as they abused me, violated me. It had taken days to stop bleeding, weeks to be able to leave the house, and untold months to be able to feel anything but distant terror at the sight of other people.

It might have been selfish, but it wasn't just Lucas I was avenging. It was me . It wasn't just about getting back my power or finding a way to live with myself. It was finding a way to make sure these men would never get away with what they had done and that their final moments were filled with the knowledge that, in the end, they had been exactly what Kai had said, a person. Mortal, fragile, and just as prone to having monstrous acts done to them.

"Law of the universe," I said, turning my head to stare fiercely up into Kai's face. "Like begets like. They treated me monstrously."

"So now you become a monster," he said, but his voice held no malice, judgment, or disgust. Only a flash of sorrow and regret in his eyes, gone a moment later as he steeled himself, but it had been so strong that it broke my heart knowing I was the one doing that to him. Maybe I understood what he meant when he'd spoken at Damon's and accidentally pissed me off. Because of the feeling inside me, the monster that had grown inside me. I wouldn't have wished it on anyone else and would have done whatever it took to spare them living this way.

"Then let's do this," he said, and in the hard lines, the intensity and sheer lack of regret or remorse on his face, I realized I was finally seeing the soldier Kai had been all these years.

I had only a moment to wonder if I might have released something I hadn't expected or knew anything about, but it was too late. I had told him I was dedicated to whatever came next and meant it with every fiber of my being. All I could do now was follow him, prepare for whatever came our way, and hope we got through with our skins and sanity intact...and maybe a few other things.

"How are we going to find him?" I asked once I was close enough to speak and not to be overheard.

Rather than speaking, he turned to look upward. I could see the lights from the large windows of the event room and the small black squares of the rooms above it. That was, except for a couple, which were lit. I couldn't be sure if it was a trick of the eye mixed with my anticipation, but I would swear I saw a shadow move across the window.

"They said he's been on his own the whole night," Kai said softly, his eyes sharp and distant, as if he were keeping up with the conversation but also crunching numbers in his head. "I don't see anywhere else lit up."

"I know I said here, but..." I trailed off with a wince. "Security systems, security guards, on and on. Wouldn't catching him in his car or something be better?"

"Car would work," he said, glancing at me. "Except he'll still have people with him, and it's more likely to draw attention than someone high above a noisy party."

It felt odd having him calling the shots and taking the lead when it had been me who had done that the last time. At the same time, it was different going into someone's home, which just about anyone could do, to trying to invade a public space where things could go wrong. Honestly, I didn't know how much experience he had with something like that, but even if it wasn't direct experience, he had more than I did.

"Alright, and everything else?"

"Easy. We go up the stairs instead of the elevator, less likely to draw attention. And we'll see what kind of security he has. Then we'll go from there."

We passed through a back hallway once we were inside, which was where the bathrooms were. Small groups of drunken partygoers lingered in the relative quiet or going into the bathroom, but we gave them a wide berth as we headed toward the main hallway at the front of the building.

"And cameras?"

"Remember when I disappeared earlier?"

I thought back, frowning when I remembered the twenty minutes at the beginning of the party when he had disappeared, only to show up again with a couple of drinks. I hadn't thought much about it, expecting he was either getting a feel for the layout or had a hard time finding me. Now, however? "What were you doing?"

He snorted. "I stepped outside and smoked a joint with one of the staff."

I looked him over, not expecting any physical signs since he hadn't been acting differently. "How do you smoke a joint?"

"People don't pay attention when they're relaxed. How better to relax but a fat joint outside the kitchen?" he asked with a snort as we entered the large foyer, which was even more bereft of partygoers than the bathroom hallway. "So if I didn't actually hit it and inhale, how was he to notice?"

"Fair enough," I said with a snort. "Is there a point to this story?"

"Apparently, part of the problem tonight was that the security systems haven't been behaving themselves," he said, arching a brow and still keeping his voice low. "The only thing they've been able to get working is the parking garage and perimeter. Some system issues are keeping them from getting feeds from inside, especially the upper floors."

I glanced down a nearby hallway that split off from the foyer and into shadows. "That's...convenient."

"Not really. Turns out this building has a nasty habit of constantly harassing electronics."

"They told you that?"

"No, a buddy of mine did."

That gave me pause and I slowly turned toward him, looking him over. "What buddy?"

"A buddy who knows how to look into things better than either of us," he said with a shrug. "A buddy I contacted to do some digging for me."

I thought about that for a moment, jaw tightening. "You were the one who wanted to come here tonight. You knew the chances of the building having shit security would be high."

"I did," he said without hesitation or the slightest shred of guilt.

"Behind my back."

"You could look at it that way. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I can't stop you."

I glared. "Kai, stop trying to be cute."

He bent low, smiling in a way that might have looked handsome to someone else, but I could see the anger. "Let's not pretend you've been constantly making plans, doing research behind my back, and expecting me to go along with it."

"It's almost like this is my?—"

"Our."

"What?"

"You wanted me to be a part of this, to help you. So this is a joint venture, which makes it ours . Not yours."

Anger bubbled and popped below the surface of my thoughts, heating them, but I could see the logic. I had been working a lot out of his sight, and it had been me who'd gone off the original plan with Damon, leaving him to help with the cleanup. All I could do was grit my teeth. "And why wait to bring this up?"

"Because there's no point giving you information that could prove useless," he said with a shrug. "If this were one of those nights the systems were working, then fine, we'd gather information or maybe see an opening elsewhere. But now we have the information that could allow us to move on him tonight, so now you know."

"And you didn't mention it before, after learning it from whatever busboy or waiter you talked to?" I growled.

He smiled. "Maybe...I wanted to see where your head was at tonight. A last sort of...hope that there might be an out for you. And before you get pissed and try to bring that argument back, no, I'm not changing my mind. I'm not thinking less of you. I just didn't want this for you, and I'm going to mourn the man you were for a little while longer."

"Not the most inspiring speech," I muttered, pulling away.

"Your hands will be bloody by the end of this," he said, grabbing my wrist and gently pulling me back. "But mine are no different, and I'll still want to hold yours when this is all over...wherever it leads us."

"Where it leads us?" I asked in confusion. "With these two gone, it's done."

He hesitated before pulling my hand to his lips and kissing the knuckles. "If we're going to do this, we need to do it now, or we'll lose the chance."

"Fine," I said, knowing damn well he was holding something back, but now really wasn't the time to address that. "You lead the way, and...if it's not doable without causing everything to implode, you let me know."

"Yeah," he said, nudging me down the hallway toward a metal door. "And bear in mind, I also had my buddy look up his private security team."

"And?" I asked, a little annoyed that I didn't have that information but unwilling to argue about it again when he opened the door and led me into the stairwell.

"They're...well, they're not great."

"How exceptionally informative that was," I said dryly as we began climbing up the stairs, moving quickly but not stomping our way up to send echoes up the stone and metal-filled stairwell.

"They're a private company, but from what my buddy found, they're, uh, basically mercenaries."

"Interesting, but that's still not addressing what you're trying to get at."

"All their information is kept under wraps, but scratch the surface, and they're the worst people who get hired. As far as we could tell, if you haven't got the guts to murder a family while they're begging for their lives, you're probably not made to be in their company."

"Gross."

"Yeah, so when I say watch yourself around them, I'm not talking about them seeing your face. I'm saying watch yourself."

"Watch my life," I said as we stopped, and he walked up to the nearest metal door and peered through the small window before drawing back, motioning for me to step away.

"They're near," he said in a voice so soft I could barely hear him, which did not make it echo. "No way we're getting past them without them noticing."

"Okay," I said slowly. "So what do we do?"

He screwed up his face in thought. "There's a stairwell on the other side of the building, so we'll have to go down and up on the other side. That way, we can get a better angle on them."

For someone who'd been in a hurry to get started, he was certainly willing to waste time. Not that I could fault him for being cautious, but there was something to be said about getting on top of things before we lost our opportunity. Now, we were probably only a few yards from one of the last remaining bastards who had shattered my life and soul into a million pieces, I was more than ready to get moving.

"How many of them are there?" I asked quietly as we hunched in the corner out of the way of the door.

"A couple that I could see, one in full view, another was just his shadow."

"Is two low enough to take care of quietly?"

He stared at me for a few seconds. "If it was me and one of my guys, maybe, but I don't know what kind of training these guys have. Plus, rushing them could risk alerting everyone else on the floor, and we don't want that if there's more."

"I never said to rush them," I said with a roll of my eyes. "But we passed an elevator to get to this stairwell."

"Right."

"Which means they're probably watching the elevator and the stairwell."

"Makes sense."

"And if they were drawn into the stairwell, say...out of sight."

He blinked. "They could be ambushed."

That required us to subdue them quickly without making much noise or letting them get to their communications. It wasn't something I was skilled in, but I wasn't totally useless physically, and I could only hope Kai would be able to make up for my deficiencies. "I think we can manage two of them on our own."

I could see the inner turmoil as he argued with himself and probably an imaginary version of me as he watched me for almost a minute. Then he sighed. "Okay, but we need something to draw them in without them feeling the need to alert everyone with a gun."

I smirked. "I might have just the thing, c'mere."

His brow rose as I pulled him down the stairs to the next landing, just out of sight of the doorway. His eyes widened when I pulled him toward me sharply and began kissing him fiercely. At first, he went rigid with surprise but then made a soft noise when I gave a low groan of pleasure and a giggle, both noises sounding ten times louder in the echoing stairwell. I didn't need him to tell him what needed to happen next as he wrapped me up in a fierce grip, his hand coming to rest on my lower back, the other gripping the back of my head tightly.

It took only thirty seconds of performance that belonged more in a porn studio than Hollywood before we heard the door open. I opened my eyes enough to peer over his shoulder, raising two fingers to tap twice against Kai's chest to make sure he knew what I was trying to convey. When he squeezed the back of my head twice, I had to assume he understood.

"Oh Jesus," a voice muttered, sounding annoyed and disappointed. "Nothing worth seeing."

"Aw fuck, I was hoping for two chicks," another said in a louder voice as the door thumped closed behind them. "Alright, you two, get the fuck out of here and put on a show for someone who actually wants to see that shit."

If only they knew how much their employer would probably have enjoyed it.

Kai pulled away long enough to look the guys over and snort. "Yeah, give us a minute, you two. We just want some privacy."

If he hadn't immediately turned around to kiss me again, the surprise at the sheer arrogance and haughtiness you might expect from a guest at the party would have shown on my face. The two men glanced at one another, one sneering and the other rolling his eyes before nodding. They came down the stairs, one approaching us while the other stood on the step above the landing we were on.

The first put his hand on Kai's upper arm and yanked him back. "C'mon, no one's allowed up here."

"Last I checked, the whole building was up for grabs," I said with a sloppy smile that I hoped made me look slightly drunk. "We're just having a good time. You two are free to join us if you want."

Anger clouded the first man's face as he gave Kai another yank. "I said let's go, you fucking fr…"

The only warning any of us got was when Kai's hand clenched against my lower back. Moving with the next yank of the first guard's hand, he brought his elbow up and slammed it into the man's temple. The guard grunted, stumbling away, but never had the chance to catch himself as Kai spun around and drove his foot into his gut, doubling him over and bringing him to his knees. The second tried to rush forward, but Kai was faster, lashing out with a speed that scared me and, for some reason, aroused me at the same time as he slammed the palm of his hand into the second's chest.

The second could only stumble, clutching his chest as his knees wobbled. The first fought to get to his feet, but Kai was preoccupied with the second guard. It looked like either Kai's aim had been slightly off or the guy was wearing something that softened the blow as he reached for the object in his ear. Kai surged forward, slamming the guy into the wall and grunting when he was met with a jab to his side.

Alarm ran through me like a shriek when I realized the first guard was already recovering from the initial attack, his hand flashing to his hip. Knowing what he was about to do, I rushed forward and flung myself onto his back, trying to get my arms around his neck, desperation born out of fear for Kai's life and, to a lesser degree, a gunshot being heard by everyone on the floor making me completely forget any defense training I had.

The man thrashed, trying to get hold of me while I tried to tighten my grip. I felt my grip slip slightly, sending another trickle of fear through me before he grunted, flinging himself backward and slamming me into the wall. Stars erupted in my vision, and darkness threatened to close in as I tried desperately to make sense of what was happening. I found myself sitting on the floor, staring up at the man's back and feeling something digging into my back painfully as he moved forward to help his friend, drawing his gun.

In the back of my mind, I remembered it was the knife I'd taken from the dealer, planning to use it on Mitchell and eventually Callum. Whether it was strictly for them became irrelevant the moment I saw the gun swing toward Kai's back. It seemed to teleport into my hand, and I leaped forward again with the knife raised high.

There was a flash of the blade in the light before I brought it down, the sharpened point sliding in smoothly somewhere in the juncture of the guard's neck and shoulder. Shock, more than anything, made me yank the knife back, sending blood spurting into the air as the man stumbled forward before twisting. The gun was still in his hand, and it was coming around to face me. It was not how things were supposed to go, and for a moment, familiar rage burst from inside my chest as I slammed the knife into his chest once, twice, three times.

The gun fell to the ground with a clatter, its owner staring at me with wide eyes before pitching to the side and collapsing onto the stairs. Before I could register what I'd just done, a sickening, thick noise brought my attention back to Kai and the man he'd been fighting. I shouldn't have been concerned; the second guard was on the ground, wrapped in Kai's tight grip. The man's eyes were unknowing and sightless as Kai released him, the guard's head lolling loosely to the side as his body collapsed.

"I..." There was nothing I could say as I looked from Kai to the man I had killed. It had been as thoughtless and easy as it had been to kill the dealer and Damon, except now I could feel nausea rolling through my gut as I looked between the blood, the knife, and the body. "Oh."

Kai stared at me for a moment longer before stepping forward and taking the knife. With seemingly no care in the world, he bent down and wiped the blade clean on the shirt of the man whose neck he'd snapped before turning and holding the weapon out to me again, handle first. I reached out to wrap my hand around it, feeling the grip against my palm. That sensation had been almost comforting before, a reminder of the revenge I had promised myself and Lucas. Now, all I could see was an unfeeling weapon without a trace of the coldest, bloodiest sentiment attached to it.

"Fuck," I whispered as I closed my fingers around the handle and brought the weapon close. "Fuck, fuck."

"I didn't want to say it because it wouldn't have mattered," he said softly. "But not every outside person in this plan of yours is going to be dealt with as easily as that escort. And removing them wasn't always going to be pretty."

"I know."

"You do now."

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "You said The Company hires terrible people."

"As far as I could tell, yeah. The Geneva Convention would be more of a checklist for these people, especially when they're operating in parts of the world that don't have strict human rights laws."

I forced my eyes open and stared down at the man I'd killed, wondering what kind of fucked up things he might have been responsible for...if anything. It was clear to me that killing wasn't something he had struggled with. He had been more than ready to shoot Kai in the back. Then again, I had killed him without hesitation, so I wondered just what separated us save for the fact that I was alive and he wasn't.

Christ, was that all that would separate me from people like him when this was over?

My gaze moved to the second man. "You were planning on killing them in the first place, weren't you?"

"I figured it would come down to it. That's why I brought up their company's history of employment and tactics."

"So I wouldn't be horrified when you inevitably killed them."

"If I had to, yeah."

I snorted. "I can't even be mad at you. Who's to say I wouldn't have done the same thing in your shoes?"

"There's probably at least two or three more up here. I doubt he's surrounding himself."

"You don't think he suspects anyone's coming after him?"

"No. I think he's just out of his head with grief," Kai said blandly as if the idea of killing best friends who cared about each other didn't faze him in the slightest. To be fair, it probably didn't, considering what they'd done and would have continued to do until we stepped in. And who was I to judge him? He was, after all, a seasoned soldier as familiar with killing as I was with running a business, if not more so. Now, I was on the same path and began to understand what he'd been so worried about.

I had killed the guard without the slightest hesitation. I had seen the danger, first to Kai and then to me, and I had made sure he wouldn't be a threat anymore. The old me would have shrunk from the idea, let alone putting it into execution. But now, I had taken two lives, one with the full intention of doing so. Something had changed inside me, and that change might not have left me numb to what I had just done, but it made it far easier to push from my mind before it threatened to overwhelm me with guilt and shame.

"," Kai said in a soft voice.

"It's too late," I said quietly, putting the knife back into the holster I'd found for it. "What's done is done. And if what you said is true, there's no reason for me to lose sleep over these two...or anyone else waiting for us up there."

The sad glint flashed in his eyes before disappearing again, and he gave me a small smile instead. "Alright, then, let's get this over with. We need to get moving after this."

"Got it," I said, watching as he bent down, took a pair of leather gloves out of his pocket, and put them on before grabbing the gun from the first guard. From the second, he pulled a clip and pocketed it. I seriously hoped we wouldn't need that many bullets.

We moved back toward the door, and he motioned me to wait as he opened it and stepped into the hallway, smoothly holding the gun up and sweeping it around. After a moment, I followed him, and we walked down the dimly lit hallway, stopping outside the only door with light spilling from the gap under it. His grip shifted on the gun as he thought about how to proceed, probably trying to figure out how many waited for us.

"I got this. I'll be sure to let you know," I said, stepping forward and grabbing the door handle as he made a sound of protest. I was tired of waiting for the night to end and wanted it done as soon as possible. Whatever we did, it was going to end with us dead or Mitchell and his guards dead, and waiting around for an ideal moment wasn't going to work.

Following the same theme as the stairwell, I lurched forward as I twisted the door handle. The door was flung open by my body weight, and I saw a blur of people. I let out a sloppy giggle as I stumbled forward and tumbled to the ground with a little snicker.

"What the fuck?" a voice barked.

I swiveled my head to stare at the owner of the voice and grinned at the three men even as I felt my heart lurch at the sight of the one behind the ornate couch. "Oh hiiiiiii. I uh," I paused, swallowing as if fighting for the words or fighting a drunken load of vomit. "This isn't...my room. Hiiiii."

"For the love of God," Mitchell snapped, barely looking at me as he glared at his two guards. Unlike his friends, it seemed he had let himself go a little. He'd had a bit of a belly the last time I'd seen him, but now it hung noticeably over the band of his pants as he stood with his hands balled into fists at his side. He still had that shock of red hair, though it had thinned. "What the hell am I paying you miserable idiots for? I didn't come up here to be harassed by random drunks."

"Ugh," another of the guards said with a shake of his head. "Where the fuck are K and Troy?"

"Probably off dicking around," the other one said, coming closer to me. "C'mon you, you're not supposed to be here."

"Mmm," I said, rolling so I could sit up and grin at them. "Three of ya, huh? I can dig that."

The guard nearest to me paused. "What?"

"Jesus," the other snorted. "I think the little homo is hitting on us."

I heard a creak behind me and a tap on the wall, and I figured that was the signal. "Nah, murderous assholes aren't really my type. Well, not ones without a shred of dignity or humanity in them anyway, which leaves the three of you out."

Mitchell's attention snapped to me, eyes searching my face and widening. "You."

"Me," I said simply. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lie down real quick to let my boyfriend show you your new retirement plan."

No sooner had I noisily fallen to the floor with a thump than Kai appeared in the doorway. The guard nearest me didn't have a chance before a loud report filled the air, and a hole appeared in his head, dropping him. The second didn't fare much better, having only a moment to grip the gun in his holster before the next two bullets caught him, jerking his body to the side before it dropped.

Kai whipped the gun around on Mitchell. "I really wouldn't reach for that. Trust me, my aim is good, and your dick comes off if you try."

"Which is precisely what he deserves," I drew out as I pushed to my feet. Maybe I just had my head in the game, but I was downright impressed with Kai's efficiency in taking two armed men down by himself. He probably could have handled himself just as smoothly on the stairwell if I hadn't been in the thick of things, making him worry about me.

Mitchell's hands were up, but they tightened into fists again. "You rotten, murderous?—"

A nasty laugh was torn out of me as I advanced on him. "That's fucking rich coming from you, of all fucking people!"

Before he could open his mouth, I slammed my fist into the side of his face, sending him stumbling to his right. The sheer audacity to stand there and pretend he had any right whatsoever to call me rotten or murderous after what he and his friends had done was too much for me to handle. I didn't even let him recover from the blow before I grabbed hold of him and slammed his face down onto my knee, shattering his nose with a squeal of pain.

With a snarl, I shoved him toward the wall, kicking him in the chest when he tried to get to his feet, knocking the wind out of him. Rage as cold as ice and fierce as an inferno swept through me, and the blade was in my hand as he slumped to the ground. Unlike the others, this time, the blade slid into Mitchell's side, going all the way to the hilt and making him cry out.

"Remember doing this?" I asked as I shoved my face into his and snarled. "Remember how you and your friends did this to me and Lucas? Do you even remember his fucking name? "

"I..." Mitchell hissed, trying to push me away but crying out when I twisted the knife inside him.

"No, you don't get to talk," I told him, watching the myriad emotions fly through his eyes. They were all the things I'd seen in Damon's eyes as he realized what was going to happen to him, but there was still that animal desperation as he frantically tried to think of a way to get through this. Sadly, for him anyway, even if he did manage to overpower and kill me before Kai could react, he wouldn't have much longer to live after that. His muscles were dead, and help was too far away. His friends couldn't help him, and he would be alone with a grieving warrior who wasn't afraid to kill. "You and your buddies did plenty of that all that time ago, and now? Now it's my turn. My turn to talk?—"

He cried out when I yanked the blade out with a twist of my wrist and then a harsh grunt when I shoved it back into his chest. "And my turn to do to you what you four did to me back then. You're going to die here, Mitchell. I hope you know that. You're going to die here, in pain, scared out of your mind, and I'm sure if I gave you a chance, you'd probably beg for your life...sound familiar?"

Mitchell's voice was thin and haggard when I ripped the knife back out. "Please!"

"There we go, see?" I asked, bringing the knife up so he could see it, covered in blood, his blood. "It does sound familiar. I'm pretty sure Lucas and I said that quite a few times that night. Remember? The night when you and your friends decided it would be great fun to find a couple of people to torture, rape, and murder. Remember?"

"I-I don't...I'm sorry," he panted, hand coming up to press against one of his wounds.

"Oh," I said, eyes going wide. "You're sorry?"

"Y-yes," he hissed, eyes wide and filled with tears he'd yet to let loose. "It was...so long ago...we didn't?—"

I rolled my eyes. "The only thing you're sorry about is the fact that your past has finally found its way to your doorstep, and karma has come loaded with a fucking knife in your gut."

"I-I..."

"You know," I said, turning the knife to make the light in the room play off the blood-soaked blade. "I'm reminded of a song lyric I heard a while back. At the time, it seemed kinda grim, the whole song did, but it stuck with me because, you know, part of me always appreciated a nice tale of bloody, fitting justice. Can you think what it might have been?"

"I-I can give you so...so much money," he pleaded, either ignoring me or not able to hear as pain and blood loss took over.

"What about you?" I asked Kai, peering over my shoulder. "Any ideas?"

"I have a few," he said, his face betraying no emotion as he watched me. "You might as well tell us before he goes into shock and forgets everything."

"I am the righteous hand of God," I recited, turning back to Mitchell to see him staring at me, mouth agape as he tried to find more words to beg and bargain with. "I am the Devil that you forgot...and you did forget about me, didn't you Mitchell? Lucas and I both, you forgot us. Well, here's that Devil, and if there is a God, you can ask him or her if my hand was righteous or not before you're sent tumbling into hell."

The look of shock on his face might have been priceless if it hadn't been so satisfying when I drove the blade into his throat dead center. As much as I wanted to stare into his eyes as the life drained rapidly from them, I didn't want to coat myself in blood. Instead, I let him flail at the knife as I stood up, watching with a macabre satisfaction when he managed to find the last of his strength to rip the knife out of his throat, cutting the time he'd take to die to mere seconds.

At what I thought was a safe distance, I stood and watched as the blood pooled, soaking into the carpet. Unlike Damon, though, Mitchell didn't put up much of a fight as the end came. None of the ugly scrambling and clawing at the ground, no kicking until the end when his body seized and released as the last breath rattled from his lips. It seemed that in the end, Mitchell wasn't quite the fighter Damon had been and, in fact, had given in quickly once he heard Death's wings overhead.

"What movie had the line about how people show you who they really are when they're dying?" I asked.

"The Dark Knight," Kai said after a moment. "This one was terrified from start to finish."

"I wonder what I'll see from Callum," I said thoughtfully, carefully kneeling to retrieve the knife and clean it.

"We should get back to the party, maybe blend in with people leaving. Some of them are bound to start doing that now," Kai said softly. "We could both use some rest."

"Sure," I said, tucking the knife back into its sheathe after ensuring it was clean. "I could use a drink anyway."

I left with him, smiling and feeling a little better about...well, everything, when Kai's hand came to rest on my lower back as we walked down the stairs. Yet even that wasn't enough to shake the question bouncing around persistently in my skull.

If I had seen who they truly were as they died, just what had they seen when I had been treading the doorway to death?