Page 90 of Veil of Dust

Bound by it.

Forged in it.

Not just because of who we’ve lost. But because of who we are when the world tries to take more than it deserves.

“You good?” she asks again, eyes flicking down to the gash at my side.

“It’ll hold.”

She studies me for a second. Doesn’t press.

Instead, she releases my arm and crouches beside one of the bodies.

The one who tried to shoot her.

She rifles through his pockets. Finds a phone. Tosses it to Tomas, who catches it without blinking.

“Run it,” she says.

Tomas nods, already moving.

I watch her.

The way she doesn’t hesitate anymore.

She doesn’t flinch.

Not even when she wipes her blade on the man’s shirt like it’s just another tool.

“You’ve changed,” I say.

She looks up. “So have you.”

I give a dry laugh. “Yeah. But you wear it better.”

She stands. “We don’t have the luxury of being anything else now.”

She walks back to me.

The blood’s dry around her neckline.

She doesn’t wipe it off.

“Did you ever think it would come to this?” she asks.

“Not like this.”

“Then how?”

I shrug. “Cleaner. Simpler. A deal. A threat. A bullet in the right skull.”

She tilts her head. “Still think that’ll be enough?”

I look down the street.

Windows are still shut, lights flickering. The city is holding its breath.

“No,” I say. “Now I think we burn them out.”

---