Page 49 of Vicious Hearts

In a split second, his foot lashes out, knocking the gun out of my grip with a well-placed kick. He moves like a trained fighter, his arms slicing through the air in precise movements. I quickly duck and twist to avoid his hands, which seem to move effortlessly like sharp blades. I reach for my knife, but he swiftly disarms me before I can even grasp the handle.

He has some sharp moves on him which tell me he could be a mixed martial artist, which means he’s quicker, more agile than I’ll even be reaching for a weapon. There’s only one way I’ll be able to overcome this hurdle.

“Look around you,” I sniff. “Hear that silence?”

He stops for a moment; I’ve confused him enough that he stops to listen. Before he descends on me again.

“All your friends are gone. It’s just me and you now.”

He throws a few more whippers through the air, meant to intimidate me. He grunts when the expression on my face doesn’t change and looks somewhat perplexed. Although he looks like a man that appreciates a good fight, he’s not enjoying this showdown.

“How much were they paying you? I’ll pay you double to come work for me.”

He stops short, slides his eyes to the left as though considering the offer. Then looks upwards – more consideration. Before he lowers his hands and moves his feet, breaking out in a tap dance.

It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen, a grown man moving from wanting to kill me to dancing for me. I lift my brows in surprise, think I must be dreaming and tomorrow I’ll wake up from this bad dream, then notice the quiet around us. The air is silent, except for the rhythmic tapping of the Kazakhstani's shoes as he dances across the mezzanine floor.

* * *

We walkthrough the warehouse surveying the damage. Arsen doesn’t say anything. He’s not a man of many words, but his eyes mostly tell me everything he wants to say. When I ask a question, he replies in one-word answers, and I’ve learnt to differentiate his yes from his no by the type of grunt he gives.

I’ve learnt the man is loyal to the action. The sort of fight I was giving him was interesting, but futile. I know he could’ve put me down with a well-placed elbow to my throat. For some reason, he decided to have some fun instead. We continue to walk through the warehouse, surveying the scene as we go, the eerie quiet biting into the air.

We round a corner and there’s a man in a suit with his gun out pointed in my direction even before I round the corner. Daniels. He looks from me to Arsen, his frown apparent. Why could we possibly be walking side by side? The confusion on his face is fleeting, and so is the concern.

I feel a gun go into my side, and too late, I realize the foolishness of what I’ve done. Arsen has a gun pointed at me. I didn’t even think to disarm him after our duel. He presses the gun into my side, looks past me and addresses Daniels. Now I’m really fucked.

“Found this one alive,” he says. “Thought you’d might like to have some fun.”

When he talks, Arsen’s voice is more like the squeak of a young boy’s voice as it breaks. And suddenly, I understand why he’s not a man of many words.

Daniels’ face smooths out, but he doesn’t lower his weapon. He cocks his head toward his side, indicating silently for Arsen to stand beside him. I now have two guns pointed at me as quiet flows through the air.

“Where’s the girl?” Daniels asks. The quiet tells me he must be the last one standing. Andstillhe insists on getting his revenge instead of retreating. My mind flits to my men – the quiet doesn’t sit too well with me; I can’t even hear my own men.

I stand straighter, telling him in no uncertain terms that I won’t be compliant.

“Where. Is. The. Girl?” he hisses, his jaw working into a fierce tremble. That article must have really fucked them up.

“Somewhere you’ll never find her,” I tease. If I’m going to die tonight, it’s going to be in style. On my terms. And I’m going to go out with a bang. Literally.

“One way or another, I will find her,” he snaps. “And even though you may not be around to watch it, I want you to know that I’m going to take very,verygood care of her. I’m going to use her and abuse her. I plan to break her before I sell her into the sex trade. She’s going to be so broken, she won’t rem…”

I watch both men carefully, my mind still looking for a way out. I have to blink to make sure I’m seeing correctly. Arsen wears a bored look on his face as his hand turns in Daniels’ direction. He perfects a yawning expression and doesn’t even look at the politician as he pulls the trigger. The bullet goes right through the side of Daniels’ head, his skull turning as though being slapped, before his body teeters then topples to the ground in a lumpy heap.

And Arsen actually yawns.

* * *

The silence is interruptedby two bullets. Arsen turns to me, excitement coating his face, his long lashes seemingly curling in on themselves. The man thrives on action. Blood. He’s a blood-letting machine I can’t afford to take my eyes off. If he’s primed the way I want him, he could become my most loyal soldier.

We tiptoe side by side until we reach the mezzanine overlooking the lower floor, just in time to watch Caleph lift a gun and put a bullet in a politician’s head.

47

THE JEKYLL

“He’s mine.”

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