Page 171 of You Only Love Twice
Then it was his turn to attack.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance," Ghost snarled, deflecting every blow with the steel gauntlets along his forearms.
"You talk too much." Obsidian planted the bottom of his boot into Ghost's chest, and Ghost hit the floor again. Blood dripped from a gash on his forehead as he crouched, his chest heaving. It was almost black in the firelight.
"One on one," Ghost spat. "You know you can't take me."
"I would, but you try convincing Gemma to step aside." He shrugged. "I think she deserves her pound of flesh."
Taking a small device from his pocket, Ghost sneered up at Obsidian. "Let's see how she enjoys this."
Ghost pressed the button.
Obsidian tensed, despite the fact Ava had operated on him last night, removing the second implant in his head.
Nothing happened.
Fire dripped from the ceiling, reflecting back from Ghost's pale eyes. His sneer vanished. He hit the button again. A third time.
His expression fell.
It was glorious.
"Expecting something to happen?" Obsidian let the weight of the knife soften in his palm.
"You deactivated it."
He took a menacing step forward. "One of Malloryn's agents removed it." His voice fell into a soft croon. "Now it's just you and me. No more mind games. No more tricks. Come on. You think you can handle me."
Ghost straightened to his full height.
"Careful," Gemma warned, holding her pistol on Ghost. "I daresay that's not the last of his tricks."
"You're right," Ghost purred, pressing his fingertips to the aural communicator in his ear. "Dido. Did you get a chance to unleash the beast?"
Dido? What the hell wasshedoing here? She was supposed to be in Russia.
And the beast?
His heart started ticking. They had to be speaking of X.
"Shoot him," he told Gemma urgently. The time for revenge was over.
Gemma pulled the trigger, just as Ghost threw himself aside. He scrambled across the stone floors as Gemma's gun retorted.
Bang, bang, bang.It was like the Tower all over again, but this time Ghost was the target.
A pair of bullet holes bloomed in Ghost's back as he fled, but the second she ran out of ammunition, he hissed at them and bolted for the stairs leading up to the factory roof.
"Reload!" Obsidian yelled, as he sprinted after him. "Then get the hell out of here. He's released X."
"Not without you!"
Stubborn bloody woman. "Can you not argue with me just this once?"
"I lost you last time. I'm not doing it again. This is forever, Obsidian. No matter how long or short that forever is."
Ghost hammered up the stairs, the long tail of his coat slapping around his legs.
