Page 77 of Run From Me

The guy made a gurgle as his hand latched onto my wrist like I would hold him up.

“What was that?”

He gurgled again, but his legs were giving out. I caught movement to my right and was able to grab the wrist of one more Viper. He howled as his wrist snapped.

“Boys? Take care of the one who’s ruining the wood.”

I shook my wrist free and pulled the knife out at the same time. I got my hold on the broken wrist guy secured and then turned to the other one.

“So are you the leader of this merry band of misfits?” I asked, not really needing an answer.

His pale face was a bit more pale than it had been a minute ago.

“Great. Can I trust you to take a message back for me then?”

His skin was shiny with sweat.

“Not a fucking chance,” he said.

I sighed.

“Well, that’s too bad. I really don’t have a use for you then, do I?”

I pressed on the broken wrist of the other guy, who screamed again, but by the way he stumbled and fell into the wall, he was close to passing out. I let him go.

“I don’t work for the Spectors, prick.”

The man blinked in the time it took me to wrap my hand around his throat and slam him against Calliope’s door.

“You’re right. You don’t. And therefore you aren’t useful to me.” I saw his hand move and as it did, I slit his throat, lettinghim fall to the ground. The clatter of the small knife he’d been reaching for disturbed the otherwise quiet moment where he tried to stop the bleeding.

“Now, let’s see if your friend here feels like delivering the message. That, or will it be a three for three kind of night?”

“Boss,” said Tank. “He’s ready to take a message back.”

I smiled and looked down at my two choices. Corpse A or the dying bastard B.

“Eenie meenie miney mo. Guess it’s the corpse. Good thing too, this might hurt.” I reached down and sliced off his thumb and tossed it to the stooge.

“Take this back to whoever thinks they are in charge at the moment. They release Calliope from whatever agreement they have, or I’ll start collecting Vipers and sending them back bit by bit.”

Tank dragged him down the stairs, and my other guys were already grabbing bodies.

“Oh, hey. That one isn’t dead yet. Be extra gentle,” I chuckled and turned to Calliope’s door. I unlocked it and realized only the default lock had engaged. What had happened here? I would need to ask more questions. I took a gamble though. If three assholes were outside the door, I guessed there was no one but a cat inside.

“Here, kitty, kitty.”

I grabbed the backpack that was going to have to be catproof for the moment. Silence greeted me. Every step made a sticky sound as the blood on my boots became an annoying detail as it became more tacky than liquid. I paused and second guessed the mess, but fuck it. She wasn’t coming back here.

“O, where the fuck are you?”

No doubt the cat was hiding after hearing the thud of me slamming a body against the door.

A bag of cat treats sat unopened and I grabbed it.

How does one catch a cat?

I ripped the packaging open and shook it, the sandpapery jiggle of the treats immediately breaking the quiet.

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