Page 23 of Assassin's Game
“What does your gut tell you about Elijah Agozi?” I finally asked.
Rhys thought the question over, taking his time. I fought the need to shake his opinion out of him.
“I think he and his brothers do everything together. I also think he has an awful lot to lose.”
So they were a team. My gut said the same. “We have a lot to lose too.”
Rhys made a noncommittal noise. “Coincidence? Or not?”
Was it?
“We have to make a move, Nix.”
I shot him a wry glance over the rim of my cup. “You guys are not getting out of the hard stuff that easily. You know how it works: we make decisions together or not at all.” I might be “in charge,” but we were a team, period. Even Maris voted.
Rhys’s serious eyes went light as he grinned, and some of the worry weighing me down lifted. “Come on, Nix, step up to the plate. Be a man for once.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t stop a laugh into my coffee. “I’m very proudly not a man, asshole.” I might’ve been raised much like a boy would be—my father had been a career soldier with no idea what to do with a little girl on his own, and he’d raised me like he raised his soldiers—butmanhoodwasn’t something I’d ever aspired to.
For a moment the memory of Dad, solid and safe, wrapped me in its arms. He’d given me every skill he knew I’d need. I had to remember that.
The coffee I sipped hit my tongue with a punch of flavor. “Okay, decisions.” Another sip. “Our options are: move forward with the target. That would satisfy X and keep you guys safe.”
Rhys snorted. “Only temporarily. Men like that use the information eventually. And don’t forget, you and Maris are at risk too.”
Because we’d sheltered men wanted for a murder they hadn’t committed. For myself, I’d risk it. Not for Maris.
“He’ll use it when we’re no longer useful, so really we’re just buying time.” I nibbled my bottom lip. “And running won’t erase the fact that he seems to have access that enables him to find us.”
Rhys tipped his cup at me. “If he’s done it once, he can do it again.”
He was right, not that I’d say it aloud. From the curve of his lips, Rhys knew exactly what I was thinking.
When that curve flattened, I braced myself. “You and Maris could run,” he said.
I swear my eyes bugged out. “That is not an option, Rhys. Ever.”
He stared down into the cup he was swirling. “It’s something you have to consider, and you know it. Traveling alone makes the two of you a lot less conspicuous.” He shifted against the cabinet. “You can keep Maris safe.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him why he cared, but I bit back the words. Rhys and Maris’s relationship was a lot more complicated than the others realized, even than Maris realized, but doing a deep dive into that subject would have to wait. “Maris is capable of keeping herself safe if it comes to that. She might not like it, but she can do it.” She didn’t fight not because she couldn’t, but because her heart wasn’t in it—and heart was a big part of being a good fighter. “Regardless, I’m not abandoning you, and neither would Maris. Next option.”
Rhys frowned at me. I ignored it.
“We can keep on the path we’ve started, going after X,” I said when he continued his tight-lipped routine. “Taking the fight to the enemy is what we do.” This situation would be just like any other if the men weren’t concerned about X’s ability to find them, and us. But continuing on the course we’d already set made the most sense to me. “What if—”
The buzz of my phone cut me off. I slid it from the back of my fatigues to take a look.
Everything in me went still. “Well, speak of the devil.”
Rhys pushed away from the counter, crossing to peek over my shoulder. “X?”
“X.” I assumed, anyway. Not too many messages sent from ‘Anonymous’ hitting my in-box. I tapped to open the e-mail.
Ms. Nixon,
Given your history, I had high expectations for the performance of your team. Those expectations have not been met, as forward progress on your target appears to have stalled after only five days.
In light of this disappointment, intel on your team’s location will be handed over to the appropriate authorities in seventy-two hours. To forestall that action, you know what to do.
