Page 59 of Reaper & Ruin
My heart stuttered in my chest.
She wasn’t even looking at me. She was watching the man on the ground, writhing and moaning in pain as Malivore continued to maul him. The woman tilted her head slightly, as if studying the scene, before her gaze flickered to me.
Her eyes were so dark under that mask that she looked hollow. Empty. As though someone had taken away her very soul and stripped her clean.
I straightened up quickly, gripping the knife again even though my hands were shaking.
“Stay back,” I warned, my voice wobbly. “Or I’ll… I’ll murder you too. See?” I gestured to the guy on the ground. “I’m really good at it.”
She laughed. Not the mocking kind. It was almost… gentle.
“You’re sick at the sight of blood?” she asked, her voice low and smooth, with an almost musical quality to it. There was a hint of an accent that was not American, and once more it reminded me of something.
Of someone.
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Y-yeah. But that won’t stop me.”
Her eyes burned with something close to amusement. “I used to be the same.” She glanced down at the man writhing inthe dirt again. “The trick is to see more of it. Bathe in it. Swim in it, almost. Eventually, you get used to the horror.”
Before I could even process her words, she reached into her jacket, pulled out a gun, and—without hesitation—shot the man in the head.
I flinched at the sudden, loud crack of the gunshot. The body slumped, blood pooling beneath him as the woods fell eerily silent.
She turned the gun toward me.
I froze, my breath catching in my throat. I raised my hands instinctively, the knife still clenched in one of them, but I felt like a child playing with a toy compared to the way she held her weapon—with a deadly, terrifying ease.
Malivore let out a deep growl, quickly standing between us, her body tense and ready to attack again.
“Please,” I blurted, the words tumbling out of my mouth as the woman stared at my fluffy baby. “Please don’t shoot the dog. She’s… she’s a good girl. Kill me if you have to. I’ll be a pretty corpse. But please don’t hurt Mali.”
The woman’s head cocked slightly, and she lowered the gun just a fraction. “I’m not a monster,” she whispered. Then she spoke something in Russian, her tone firm but not harsh.
To my utter shock, Malivore immediately sat down, her growls fading as she obeyed the woman’s command.
I gaped at her. “What the hell? How… how did you do that?”
She crouched down, petting Malivore’s head like they were old friends, and then rose to her feet, her gaze locking on the knife in my hand. “Your boyfriend has good taste,” she said, her voice smooth as silk. “In dogs. And weapons. And girls. You are a pretty little thing, even if you are entirely useless in battle. I almost forgot how cute you were.”
“I’m not useless. I’m just…” I trailed off and swallowed hard, gripping the knife tighter. “Fine. I’m not a hitwoman,okay? Fucking sue me. I’m a stripper and I hate blood, but that doesn’t matter.” I forced myself to grin. “I’ve got two murdering boyfriends, and they’ll be here any second. So, uh, you should probably leave.”
It took me a moment to realize what she’d said.
How she’d complimented myboyfriend’sknife.
She blinked at me a few times. “Your pretty gangster is already in my car,” she said casually, as if she were commenting on the weather. “As for Atlas… Hmm. He’ll be there soon. But don’t worry, I don’t want to kill them yet. I haven’t spent months working out my plan, just to end it with something as lame as murder.”
My blood ran cold, and just like that, I realized why I felt like I knew her.
She moved like Atlas did. Her eyes were as hollow as his got sometimes. Her icy, calm demeanor and empty aura were the same thing he fought off every damn day.
“You… you know Atlas?” I already knew my answer.
She didn’t answer, but instead, she rolled up her sleeve, revealing a tattoo on her arm—some strange symbol I didn’t recognize as anything. But knew what it was all the same.
Atlas had it on his wrist. In the same place. He’d just hidden it with his new ink and had only traced it out with his fingers when showing me what it meant.
That it was the branding The Company used on all their fucked up toys.
