Page 23 of The Wraith & Her Killer

Nipping at her lower lip before straightening, I pick up my quiver and sling it over my back. I check my handgun before tucking it away in the holster beneath my arm. I pull my mask and my riding cowl from my bag and hand the cowl to her. I pull mine over my mouth and nose and look at her once she’s covered. I can’t focus on just how good she looks. She’s a fucking distraction and we can’t have that.

I turn back to her and snort, grabbing her hand and lacing her fingers through my back belt loop. “It’d take a lot more than Santino fucking Ferrero to kill the Cupid Killer, baby.”

The closer we get, the more my heart pounds at the thrill of finally getting to kill somebody. I stop us just shy of the clearing and keep hidden behind several large trees as I press my earpiece.

“Perimeter clear?”

“Affirmative. North entrance clear.”

“South side clear.”

Their confirmation is all I need. I know they’re still stationed just outside the estate and can cover us, if needed.

Guiding her through a weak, broken portion of the fencing, we make our way to the house hidden away in the hill of the island. Bodies litter the ground, most of them dead with near perfect bullseye bullet wounds between their eyes, and others some shots to the center of their chests. Odessa releases my belt loop and before Ican snap at her, she switches her grip and grabs the fabric of my shirt in a tight death grip.

“Jesus Christ,” she whispers behind me.

“He’s got nothing to do with this shit,” I murmur behind my mask.

My earpiece crackles before Calix’s voice cuts in.

“Some movement on the main level but I can’t get a shot. There can’t be more than a handful of guards inside.”

“Fucking amateurs.”

I huff. “We’re almost there. Stay vigilant.”

“Always, A.”

We reach the front door, of which the handle has been conveniently blown off.

Thank you, Rune.

“You ready,Wraith?” I ask, not really caring whether she’s ready or not. Santino Ferrero will die and he’ll die tonight. “Where will you stay?”

“Behind you.”

“Good girl.”

She fucking shudders. I file that away for later. After tonight, I’ll have a fucking lifetime of pushing Odessa to her limits and discovering all the ways that I can make her scream my name.

Clapping my hands once, I rub my palms together and let the chaos flood through my veins, injecting a hefty dose of pure adrenaline into my body. I break out into a grin.

“It’s a good day to kill a mafia don. Shall we,Wraith?”

12

The moment Adris kicks open the front door, bullets fly at us. As much as I want to help, the last thing I want to do is jeopardize Adris while he eliminates person after person who fires at us. I’m not a violent person and despite Adris’ mini lesson on how to handle a weapon, I still don’t entirely know what to do with them. Especially the gun tucked into the belt at my back.

A bullet whizzes by my head so close that the whistling sound brushes by my ear and I yelp, tucking myself in as close to Adris’ back as I can without hindering his ability to fight.

A string of Italian curses and shuffling footsteps pounds closer. My heart beats in sync with every step. Fear has a chokehold on me and my knuckles turn white where I grip Adris’ shirt.

His manic laughter fills the space when he plucks two knives from his thigh straps, grips them by the blade, and flings them across the room. I peek under his arm and see the moment it lands between the eyes of a man holding a gun not even twenty feet away, and he immediately slumps to the floor. Dead. The second dagger hits another man, slicing through his Adam’s apple directly in the center of his throat. He gurgles and stupidly pulls the knife out, and it fuckingsprays.Everywhere.

I gag, but Adris’ laughter turns into a full blown cackle when it hits his mask. Some lands on my forehead, but I don’t have time to wipe it away because we’re moving again.

No rest for the deranged, indeed.

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