17. Hummingbird
SEVENTEEN
HUMMINGBIRD
LUCA
“ T hat’s right,” Devil says. “It’s a woman. Mid-twenties. Brown skin. Brown hair. Curly. Brown eyes. Sound familiar? She has another distinguishing feature, too: a small ‘H’ tattoo on her hand for Hummingbird.”
No. No. “Devil…”
“I know. Soon as Reed filled me in, I knew exactly who he was talking about.”
No. “Kylie? He thinks it’s Kylie?”
“Her name changes, but her MO never does. She leaves a hummingbird at every scene.”
I know. Cross had one.
But if she was supposed to kill Devil ?
“She doesn’t have one. You checked her pockets that night. She didn’t have one.”
So she has similar features, down to the ‘H’. So she’s disappeared since we locked her way in the mountain cabin. It can’t be?—
“I know. But what about you? Did you check the trunk?”
“I… no. When I pulled her out of the trunk, I didn’t think to search under the trash liners I left in there.” I was too focused on getting her inside of the cabin. After that, it just never occurred to me. But now… the skin. The curls. The ‘H’...
‘H’ for Hummingbird.
“Hang on, boss. I’m going to check right now.”
Keeping my phone to my ear, I grab the car keys that I keep habitually in whatever pants I’m wearing. Popping the trunk, I quickly run my gaze over the bags. Nothing stands out against the black plastic. Shoving them aside, I look at the interior beneath it.
Nothing.
“No.” I start to lift the flap that covers the spare tire. “There’s nothing— fuck .”
“You find something, kid?”
I did. Nestled on top of the spare, I found two somethings.
“A bird figurine, boss,” I tell him. And it looks just like the one Cross showed me a couple of weeks ago. It’s blue instead of that motley mix of purples and pinks, but I know what this is. “In the seam of the trunk, I found a hummingbird.”
And a knife.
Before I drugged her and tipped her into the trunk, she was carrying a hummingbird figurine and a knife. Somehow, she hid them with the spare so we wouldn’t find them on her, but they couldn't belong to anyone else but Kylie.
But the Hummingbird.
Fuck .
I’m not a good liar.
The only way I was able to trick Winter was by telling him the damn truth. I went in as Luca St. James. I wasn’t lying when I said I had history in Hamilton, and though it had been three years since I left Kane’s crew, it didn’t take much asking around to verify my story.
If I’d been there for more than the couple of days it took to break Cross and Genevieve out, Winter would’ve realized something was off. Luckily, that didn’t happen. We made it out, and no one had heard anything about the leader of the Snowflakes… until one of the Dragonflies caught on to the fact that Vice Mayor Collins was working with Winter and told Damien.
Devil took Collins out as soon as he found out that the vice mayor was working with one of our enemies. These last two weeks, I believed it was one big coincidence that Kylie was on Skid Row when we were.
Now I know that it wasn’t a coincidence. Or maybe it was. I don’t fucking know. She could’ve gotten lucky, or she might’ve been following the town car, trying to get close to Devil.
Because he was the assassin’s target.
Because Johnny Winter hired Kylie to kill him.
If I was a good liar, I’d figure out a way to trick her into revealing her alter ego. If I didn’t give a shit about my captive, her deception wouldn’t hurt so damn bad.
But I’m not, and I do, and before I can even think about what I’m going to do, I leave the knife in the trunk,out of her reach, fist the hummingbird figurine, and march into the cabin.
“You’re a hitman,” I burst out, startling enough that she rises up from the couch as I slam the door shut behind me. “A hired hitman. A fucking contract killer, Kylie.” I show her the figurine I found in the car. “Lose something… Hummingbird?”
“I didn’t lose it. I knew exactly where I put it. Trunk, right?” Walking toward me without a care in the world, she holds out her palm. Wordlessly, I drop the bluish figurine into her waiting hand. “And I prefer the term hitwoman. Girls can be homicidal killers, too, you know.”
My mouth falls open. “You’re not going to deny it?”
“What’s the point? The way you came storming in here like that? You obviously know. I like you, ace. I’m not going to insult your intelligence by denying it just so you can call me a liar. I’m tired of having to hide who I am from you.” She pouts. “It wasn’t fun anymore.”
“So you are a hitman?—”
“Hitwoman, and yes. I was. Until some mafia driver got between me and my target.”
Devil .
“So that’s true, too? The contract you took… you were hired to kill Devil? My boss?”
“I wanted a high profile hit,” she says, as though that excuses it. “The last time I was in Springfield, the target survived.”
Target…
Cross.
“You tried to kill my friend,” I grit out through clenched teeth.
“Relax, Luca. It wasn’t personal.”
Wasn’t personal? If Cross hadn’t escaped the fire, we would’ve found him among the ashes. “Thou shall not kill.”
She snorts, and while it seemed like she was trying to keep me calm a moment ago, now her brown eyes seem to darken in sudden annoyance. “ You spout that shit at Devil? ‘Cause, last time I checked, he murdered people. A lot of people. In fact, your boss offing a guy is the reason we got together, ace.”
Wait—
I stumble back on my heel. I know it shouldn’t matter at this moment, but… “We’re together?”
Kylie glares up at me. “You think I let just anyone fuck my ass? You were only the second?—”
No, no.
No .
I surge forward, cupping her face in my hands. “You’re pissed. I’m pissed, too. I never… I never expected this. But if you care about me at all, don’t talk about other guys. Not in front of me. Please.” I’m pleading. How did this happen? One second, I was furious that she lied to me. And now… “ Please .”
She jerks her head out of my hold, loose curls snagging on my fingers. “Why do you care anyway?”
Why do I care?
“Because you’re mine, Kylie.”
And I’m tired of pretending otherwise.
Huh. Maybe I am a better liar than I thought, too, if she didn’t know that…
“Kylie? I’m the Hummingbird, remember? Just another killer you look down your nose on. Don’t pretend like that’s not a dealbreaker for you, Luca.”
It should be. “Kylie… I just. Look. I’m all fucked-up right now. Devil called and told me that one of our contacts learned about the hit on his head. They knew it was the Hummingbird’s contract. Of course Reed’s gonna do what he can to figure out who you are. We have a good relationship with Shadowvale. He doesn’t want to see Devil dead. None of us do. But you… you’re a killer?”
That’s what I’m stuck on. More than the lies and the deception, it’s how easily I was fooled because she’s, well, Kylie .
And I should know better. Savannah Libellula is a tiny thing with almost more leaves decorating her bicep than any other Dragonfly enforcer. I got a front-row seat to what she’s capable of when she pretended to be Falco’s girlfriend in order to end up in Winter’s cells.
She’s a killer and I never judged her for that. So why am I being a hypocrite and judging this woman?
Because I love her, I realize. And if I fell for who she was pretending to be instead of the real Kylie Ferguson, I don’t really love her at all, do I?
I lost Emily once. I thought my life was over. Losing Kylie now?
I—
“I am. I am a killer,” Kylie tells me flatly. “You want to know how I got into the job? Because I killed Jason Villa, my sister’s first husband. She was twenty-one when she got married, just like you wanted to do. I was sixteen when I realized that wedding vows don’t mean shit. To honor and obey? In sickness and in health? That fucker put my sister in the hospital three times in the six weeks they were married. He was the hazard to her health. So I shot him.”
Is that it? “You were defending someone you love?—”
She scoffs. “Don’t make me seem like a hero. I killed that prick. I liked it, too. It was fun . So I did it again. And again. Eventually, I realized I could get paid for it. And you’re right. About a month ago, I accepted a hit on Lincoln Crewes. I heard he would be at the Blockbuster that night, and that was why I was there. To kill him. And now I’m here. And I thought we hit it off and now… I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but?—”
I don’t care.
Maybe I’m not as big a hypocrite as I thought. Because while I understand why she chose the life she did—becoming a murderess as a teen—that also influenced the woman she became. The woman I’ve gotten to know.
The woman I need.
And it hits me. I… I don’t care that she’s the Hummingbird. That she lied. Wouldn’t I have done the same thing?
Didn’t I do the same thing when I returned to Hamilton to work for Johnny Winter, knowing I was doing it all to rescue Cross and Genevieve on Devil’s order?
All along, I’ve been following the Devil of Springfield. I measured my morals by the archaic commandments that I’ve clung to like a lifeline. As long as I don’t break all ten, I’m a good guy.
Fuck that. I’m a Sinner.
As a Sinner, there are rules I have to live by.
As Luca, I have my own.
I’ll break them all for her.
Because I’m also Sinner who’s been a disciple of Lincoln Crewes ever since I made a deal with Devil. I followed him, and being a part of the mafia life has led me to my very own Lilith.
Kylie Ferguson.
A temptation in the flesh created perfectly for Luca St. James, she could do absolutely anything—and I’d find a way to justify it.
Just like I do now.
“You didn’t kill him.”
She gives me a look of pure exasperation. It’s adorable . “I was going to. I heard what he did to that homeless guy fifteen years ago. How he got his nickname. Devil . I was even gonna hack his head off when I was done.”
Reaching out, grabbing my girl, I squeeze Kylie to me. “Please, for the love of everything that’s fucking holy, never repeat that again.”
“Don’t worry, ace. That was when Winter was paying me to get Devil. I’m on Devil’s side now. Or I will be if he gives me a chance to explain.”
I pull back, my heart suddenly pounding. “You are? You’re loyal to the Sinners now?”
In our line of work, loyalty counts for a lot. And, well, she didn’t kill the boss.
That should count for something, right?
She shrugs, then leans in, snuggling as close to me as possible. “Well, I’m on your side so I guess I’ll root for the Sinners, too. But I have unfinished business with Johnny Winter. He paid me half up front for a dead Devil. I missed my deadline, but I pride myself on completing every job. Well, except for one. There was this fire of the West Side, but the target didn’t do, and then my client disappeared afterward?—”
“Mickey Kelly,” I supply. “He threatened Cross’s girl. Said he was going to go after Genevieve next, and Cross… he didn’t like that idea.”
“Well, he didn’t hire me for that hit, I’ll tell you that much. Winter, either. Right now, it’s just Lincoln Crewes I was supposed to hit. It’s why I had the strychnine on me along with the knife and my hummingbird figurine. If I couldn’t get him down on my own, that would have done the trick.”
“Strychnine?” I ask. It sounds familiar, but fuck if I know what that is.
Kylie nods. “The lip gloss that’s in my jacket pocket. It’s really a poison solution in case I get in trouble.”
I blink. Devil looked her over. Besides the cash, all she had was a tube of lip gloss.
“That was poison ?”
“It is.”
Is … because she has it stowed in the pocket of the jacket tossed on the floor in the basement. “Wait. Are you telling me that you could’ve poisoned me at any point?”
“Apart from all the other ways an experienced hitwoman like me could kill a sweetheart like you, ace? Oh, yeah. I mean, just so you don’t feel left out, I was gonna use it on you once I got bored of you. To get you back for drugging me.”
Holy shit.
I can’t believe I ever felt worried for Kylie. If anyone was ever in danger here, it’s been me .
Same thing with my worry that she was pretending to be someone else to hide that she was also the Hummingbird. No way. She’s still Kylie, just with a killer secret.
And, fuck, I think I know why I was so upset. Not because I want to be all-holier-than-thou. Nope. It’s because it’s fucking hot as hell that my girl is an assassins.
Especially when she pats my chest in that way she has before telling me, “You’re lucky I decided I like you, ace.”
Is that what she thinks?
Even knowing that her lip gloss is fucking poison, that doesn’t stop me from dropping my head low, finding her mouth with mine. Mimicking fucking with my tongue, I take her mouth until she’s gasping for breath and I’m holding her tightly.
Only then do I collar the back of her neck, tilting her head back so that she’s forced to meet the look in my eye as I tell her, “No. I’m a lucky fucking bastard because you love me.”
She smirks at me. “Who says I love you?”
I grin at my girl. “You did.”
“Oh?”
I nip her slightly swollen lip. “When you didn’t poison me.”
“Keep pushing your luck, ace. I could change my mind.”
“I thought you had unfinished business with Winter,” I remind her.
“Oh, I do. I’m going to kill him. I’ve got a plan, too. And if we can figure out a way to keep Devil from coming after me first, I think he might not be too pissed off that I’m the Hummingbird. Not when I’m more than ready to swap sides.”
I really fucking hope so.