Page 59 of Owned

If they smelled blood in the water or saw any sign of weakness, it would all be over.

I pulled my bike into an alleyway and cut the engine.

I knew what I was looking for.

He was close—I could feel it, taste it in the dank air.

A rat scurried past, but the real vermin was a few streets away.

Even from here, I could sense his nervousness—and he didn’t even know he was being hunted.

Pathetic.

Messana’s streets could be dangerous—but not for me.

The path narrowed and the brick walls pressed in like eager spectators to the chase, as I slid through the alleyway with the ease of a dagger slipping between ribs.

Lucian wanted results.

Scapegoats.

Sacrifices.

He wouldn’t care who it was. Only that we delivered.

The man I’d chosen was no one special, and I couldn’t stop the smile that ghosted over my lips as I caught sight of him.

He was a fresh recruit—someone’s disappointing protégé.

They must be running out of options.

His nervousness radiated off him in waves and my fingers itched to unleash my magic. He must have sensed me—he was jittery and glanced over his shoulder, like he knew he’d fucked up but didn’t yet realize how badly.

The look on his face when I stepped into his path was exquisite.

Fear, shock, the dawning horror of recognition as he met my gaze.

“I—”

“Out for a stroll?” I interrupted him. I didn’t have time for any of the low-level sycophant mewling that usually came out of the ‘up and comers.’ They had their uses, of course. But he was about to serve a higher purpose.

He blinked and his mouth opened and closed soundlessly—like a fish flopping on a dock—as he stumbled back. His eyes darted around the darkened alley—searching for an escape that didn’t exist.

His tongue darted out to wet his chapped lips. “I— I’m not—” His throat bobbed. “I have my orders. I just haven’t had time—”

“Doesn’t matter.” I cut him off. “Your orders are about to change.”

“They are?”

I took a step closer. “I need information. Information thatyouhave.”

If he got any paler, he was going to fade away to nothing.

“I—I don’t know anything,” he choked out.

I believed him, but that wasn’t the point.

“I think you do.” I inhaled the scent of his fear. Some of it was for me, but maybe not all. Someone else was whispering in this coward’s ear.

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