Chapter 20 Eyes Everywhere #2
I see her so clearly, her amber-streaked hair fluttering in the wind, her tawny eyes glinting gold under the waning sunlight.
She’d turn back, beaming at me with a wide smile. Her laugh would echo in the alley, the shortcut to the theater.
“Come on, we’re late for the movie.” She’d beckon me with her hand. “We don’t have all day!”
I’d shake my head and leisurely sip the drink in my hand.
Aria would scowl, march over, and try to snatch my drink from me, but I’d hold it up high so she couldn’t reach it, just to tease her, because we still had time.
We had all the time in the world.
But eventually, I’d let her win. Let her make off with my drink, her laugh vibrating in the air.
I’d chase her, follow her sweet fragrance.
I’d follow her anywhere.
“Dreams are useless,” I answer, moving my pawn across the board.
“You’ve left your king exposed,” she says.
Then, a soft thump.
Her alluring smell hits my nostrils, and I pull in a greedy inhale. She leans across the board, her lips coasting my ear.
“Checkmate,” she whispers, “and you’re wrong.”
A buzz wakes me up.
My eyes snap open, and I bolt up from my chair, grabbing my phone from the dresser. It must be urgent because only important messages come through at night.
Tristan
Silent alarm triggered. Foyer. You there?
I scan the bedroom for anomalies.
Aria’s chest rises and falls, clearly still fast asleep. Windows are shut. Chessboard set for the next game. I flick on the infrared mode of my lens. No heat signatures in the apartment.
Muscles coiled and ready, I grab my gun, safety off, and slip out of the bedroom.
My footfalls are quiet. I cross the living room, ears cranked toward the foyer.
Sharp click. Metal twisting.
My blood runs cold.
I know the sound of someone adjusting their silencer.
Plastering my back against the wall, I slide toward the exit, eyes scanning the rest of the space.
No shadows. No footsteps.
Someone’s good. Good enough to get in.
But not as good as me.
Quickly, I roll out into the foyer, knife already in hand, and drive it into the intruder’s calf before slipping back out of sight.
The man—slender, dressed in dark clothes—hisses, spinning around, clearly searching for me.
Too damn slow.
And I’ve already ducked into the kitchen.
As he pivots, I move behind him, loop my arm over his neck, and press my gun to his back.
I’d kill him if I didn’t need information.
“Give me a reason not to end your miserable existence,” I rasp.
The man freezes, then chuckles.
With a spin, he feigns a left elbow to my gut, then slams his right fist across my jaw.
Pain slams through my skull, but I use his momentum to take him down hard.
Sharp grunts. Muffled growls. I slam my knee into his knife wound and pin him hard to the floor.
My gun skids out of reach.
Fine. My hands will do.
A second later, he’s exactly where I want him—flat on his back, breath stuttering, one arm trapped, throat exposed.
I clamp a hand around his throat and jam his wrist to the ground with the other.
“Who. Sent. You. The bounty’s inactive.”
One twist. One hard push. His windpipe gives. Too damn easy.
He claws at me, grunting through the pressure.
I picture those hands strangling Aria, torturing her, making her cry.
That’s it. He dies.
The intruder kicks me in the groin, and tears spring into my eyes. My grip loosens just slightly.
“You’re in over your head, Ren.” The words come out slurred, but I recognize the voice all the same.
Raspy. Sinister.
I yank off his ski mask.
Jasper’s taunting face stares back at me, his lips bloodied, but victory glints in his eyes.
“What will Master say when he finds out Si Shen has his heart in knots over a mark? That he couldn’t complete his job?”
“What if I kill you now? Ghosts don’t talk.”
His eyes widen in something like panic, but that quickly disappears. “Lucky for you, I’ve prepared for that. I’m wired, asshole. Transmitting live to a secret location. If I don’t return, the file will be sent to Master. He won’t take too kindly to you killing one of your own.”
I stare into those crazed, cold eyes, my hand still locked around his throat.
Screw luck. I don’t need it.
But if Cornelius doubts my loyalty, Aria will die as punishment.
Slowly, I let go.
“Don’t mess with me, Jasper,” I rasp. “No second chances.”
Jasper gasps, a muscle twitching in his temple as he gets back to his feet.
He slips out the door, no doubt knowing he won’t succeed tonight.
The bastard laughs, low and ugly. “Time is ticking, Si Shen. If you don’t get the key, I will.”
Then he leans in, blood coating his teeth. “And eyes are everywhere.”
He turns and stalks down the hallway, quickly disappearing from sight.
Sweat beads along my brows, and I yank down my mask, dragging in air.
I stare at the closed door, fear curdling into something feral. More images jolt behind my eyelids.
Aria with black eyes.
Aria in a pool of blood.
Aria carved up like one of the Kong’s organ trafficking victims.
Then I think of Blake, lying in the hospital corridor, shot in the throat as I was bleeding out during the hospital shootout.
Hands trembling, I take out my phone and type a message.
Ren Knight
Need a favor. Look into this message for me.
I attach a screenshot and send it.
Sebastian’s reply comes seconds later.
Sebastian Bishop
From a year ago? What does this have to do with the key?
Ren Knight
Don’t ask. Just trace it. See if you can tell where it came from.
Someone else is moving the pieces on the board.
And I want to know who.