Page 22 of Deadly Sights

“I pride myself on being ready. I’ll prepare the spare room for our new arrival.”

“Where did you find him?” Nadira whispers.

“If I offer to share him, will that soften you to my suit?”

She rolls her eyes. “I hope you pay him well for his service.”

“I do.”

Light footsteps, almost indiscernible from ours, sound ahead. Nadira and I still and glance at each other. I signal for her to cover me. Surprisingly, she agrees without argument.

A slim man, a few inches shorter than me and wearing all black, rounds the corner. His mask hides his identity but not the shock widening his eyes. I step into the opening he leaves and deliver a chop to the side of his neck. He falls into my arms, and I shake my head.

“Almost anticlimactic, huh?” Nadira’s lips wobble with the effort to suppress her amusement.

“Makes me wonder why I got all dressed up.” I haul the unconscious man over my shoulder and lead her to the room Alastair is preparing.

“You work fast.” Nadira steps on the drop cloth, nodding at his efficiency.

“I try,” he responds dryly before leaving.

Nadira and I settle our uninvited guest into a chair, tie his hands behind the chair back, and shackle his feet to the chair legs.

“Now, let’s see who we have here.” I pull the mask off our intruder. “Look familiar to you?”

“Not even a little.” Nadira removes the weapons hidden in her outfit to place them within our hostage’s view for when he wakes.

While we wait, I stand behind her and wrap her in my arms. When she doesn’t protest, flinch, or fight, I clutch her a little closer, loving the softness of her waist, and the subtle fresh notes of her perfume.

I fill the waiting silence by asking her, “This message you intend to send, what does it entail?”

“Nothing too strenuous. I carve my alias into his chest.”

“Kind of puts a target on you, doesn’t it?”

She shrugs. “It also exposes their organization when they come after me. All who’ve tried never survive.”

I nuzzle her neck. “You have no idea how sexy your abilities are.”

“But you want me to stay home.”

“What can I say? I’m a walking contradiction.”

“You’re a fucking traitor,” says the unmasked man.

Nadira and I gaze at each other with the same question in our eyes. We return our attention to the man.

“And who is the traitor?” I ask.

“You dipshit. When I report this, there’s no place you can hide.”

I leave Nadira to slap the man with my pistol. “Report to who?”

He smiles as he raises his head. “The past is best left to yesterday.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Nadira asks. She eyes me warily. She has reason to.

I’m stiff, running scenarios through my head. Then I take a breath. My company doesn’t know about me yet. I point my pistol at his head and pull the trigger.

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