Page 101 of Diamond Kisses

MY HEART TWISTED PAINFULLY.

I stopped and rubbed at the strange savage ache.

I didn’t have time for that stupid organ to fail. It could skip all it wanted once Victor was dealt with but not before.

Keep going.

Shoving away the unexplainable sensation of despair, I pushed forward through the night. I’d spent a lifetime at the mercy of the shadows inside me, and tonight, they became my allies.

The darkness kept me hidden as I parried around the spotlights and hid in pockets of blackness. Inch by inch, I made my way closer to the battlement wall. I didn’t rush. I stayed calculating instead of careless.

Not one sniper fired.

The only hole in my body remained the one courtesy of Larry.

And I didn’t feel it, so it didn’t count.

It hadn’t killed me.

It was unimportant.

Just like everything else.

The lashes on my back…non-existent.

The emptiness in my stomach…who cared?

The only thing I lived for,existedfor was to end this.

To endhim.

With a final sprint across the open grass, I plastered myself against the wall and inched my way along the chiselled stone until I found a portico.

I braced for a fight.

I raised my gun to shoot.

No one hid in the archer’s nook, and the darkness covered my tracks as I stepped deeper into the alcove and eyed up the door.

Running my fingers over the wood and brass-braced entry, I tried the handle.

I expected it to be locked.

I wassureit would be locked, yet it opened.

I jolted with the sudden jar of the handle slamming down and the hinges swinging wide.

Double-fisting the machine gun, I ducked to the side, waiting for snipers to fire.

Silence.

No boots on the stairs.

No shouts for backup.

Chills darted down my spine.

Too easy.

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