Page 59 of Veil of Secrets

My fist connects with his jaw.

Hard.

The snap is loud. Wrong.

His head whips sideways. Blood sprays. Teeth go flying, clattering across the rooftop like coins spilled in the dark.

He stumbles. Groans.

I don’t stop.

I go for the throat.

But I don’t have to finish it.

Nico’s already moving.

He’s a ghost when he’s like this—clean, quiet, fatal.

The blade’s in his hand before the thug hits the ground.

It doesn’t go for the neck.

It goes for the gut.

Steel sinks deep—angled just right. When Nico pulls it sideways, flesh opens in a line too fast to register.

Entrails spill out across the rooftop like wet ropes.

The man makes a noise, gurgled and sharp, then goes limp.

The gun clatters away. I kick it toward the edge of the roof without thinking.

The rooftop settles.

The city below keeps humming. Neon pulses off slick metal. The beat from the club doesn’t even skip.

Like nothing just happened.

My breath comes heavy. Not panicked. Just catching up.

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. Not blood—just sweat.

Nico wipes his blade on the guy’s shirt, steps away, eyes scanning the shadows.

No one else follows.

I stand straighter. Stretch my neck.

Then meet his eyes.

“You alright?” he asks, voice low.

“You really have to ask?”

He doesn’t answer.

Because we both know what I mean.

---