Page 28 of Lose Me In The Shadows

“Yes.”

“Did he—”

“No,” she said quickly. “You got to me just in time.”

Conor shut his eyes.

“No, we didn’t,” he murmured, his voice filled with pain and regret. “I wish we hadn’t killed the other two so quickly,” he said. “I’d do it all over again for you.”

“Conor…” Kara started.

“I’m sorry, sweet girl,” he said.

Then he kicked Tweedle Dumb, making him groan again. “You touched my girl?” He didn’t bother waiting for the prostrate man to answer but lowered his boot onto his throat and pushed down, slowly crushing his windpipe. Kara stepped forward for a closer look. An unfamiliar, violent glee swept through her. Who was she?

Vengeful. That’s who she was.

Tweedle Dumb’s eyes were frantic.

“He’s not going anywhere,” Conor said conversationally. “You can do whatever you want to him.”

Kara held out her hand for the gun, knowing exactly what she wanted.

For one brief moment, Conor hesitated. Then he nodded, handing it over.

“Please don’t shoot me,” he said.

Kara took the gun from him, clicking the safety off. She fired two shots again, this time straight into Tweedle Dumb’s dick. The asshole would have screamed, if he could have—she was sure of it—but all he could do was gasp as Conor’s foot ground down.

“I warned you I knew how to use a gun,” she told him. But dead men didn’t speak. Nausea rolled through her, matched by satisfaction. Later, she’d vomit. Later, she’d think about what it meant, that she’d watched Conor kill for her without remorse or regret. For now, all she felt was a sense of justice—and the frustration that the true villain was nowhere to be found.

“Let’s go, vengeful girl,” Conor said, quiet pride in his voice, and Kara silently acknowledged the twisted praise as she handed the gun back to Conor.

They continued moving down the long hallway, Kara forcing one exhausted, pained leg in front of the other, unwilling to complain., passing dead bodies along the way. Kara tried to ignore how numb she felt. Twice, they passed guards, who Conor swiftly dispatched.Hewouldn’t vomit later.Hewouldn’t feel any qualms. Kara was sure of it. These soldiers, if that’s what they were, weren’t innocent.

There was some crying out from the cells. Kara paused.

“We need to—” she started.

Conor turned back and grabbed her hand, pulling her forward.

“I have one mission. Getting you safely out of here. We don’t know who they are, what they’ll do if they’re freed. But I know they aren’t you.”

She tugged back. “But—”

“Kara, I willcarryyou out of here. And then I won’t have a free hand to fight in case we come across any more enemies. You said you’d follow my orders—follow them.”

With an aching chest and profound guilt, Kara followed him down the hall. They reached a door with a retinal scan.

“Shit,” he said. “Wait here.”

He disappeared down the hall, reappearing a minute later, holding something in a bloody hand. Kara tried not to gag as Conor held a dismembered eyeball up to the scanner.

“Jesus,” she muttered.

He didn’t even respond as a lock clicked and the door slid open, revealing a set of stairs. They passed through, the door slid back shut, and Kara tried not to think of the people they’d left behind. Her knees shook as they climbed the narrow, dark stairs, and climbed, and climbed, but she forced herself to follow Conor without complaint. They had to get out of here. She could collapse later.

You’re strong, she told herself.

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