Page 56 of My Masked Shadow
Her voice. Saying my name like a plea and a warning and a goodbye all at once.
I draw in one slow breath. Everything else falls away; it’s just me, my gun, my target. I shift my weight half a step, just enough to give myself a cleaner line past her cheek.
“Zhao,” I call out.
He arches a brow. “Yes?”
I smile, baring my teeth. “You should’ve stayed on the boat.”
Then I shoot. I hit him dead center in his forehead, making his head kick back.
Caleb’s round takes the lighter. It explodes out of Zhao’s fingers, spiraling away in a spray of sparks that vanish harmlessly on bare concrete, missing the spill by inches.
There’s no time for drama. No slow fall. One second, he’s standing, smug and in control, the next, the back of his head kisses the concrete as he crumples at Barbara’s feet. The gun clatters out of his hand, skidding under the car.
Barbara screams, her knees buckling.
I’m already moving.
I reach her in three strides, shove Zhao’s body aside with my foot, and pick her up, hauling her back, away from the corpse. She’s shaking so hard her teeth chatter, her hands clutching at my suit.
“I’ve got you,” I murmur into her hair. “I’ve got you, little bee. It’s over.”
“You shot him,” she whispers, voice thin with shock.
“Yeah,” I say. My own hands are trembling now that the adrenaline is starting to ebb. “He was going to light you on fire. I’m not really a ‘let’s see how this plays out’ guy.”
A siren wails faintly in the distance, growing louder. ESU, right on schedule.
Caleb appears at my shoulder, glancing once at Zhao’s body, then at me. He lets out a low whistle. “Nice,” he drawls. “Guess you did practice your aim.”
“Again. I was highly motivated,” I mutter.
Barbara is still plastered to my chest, her breathing ragged. I ease back just enough to cup her face, scanning for injuries. Her pupils are blown, cheeks streaked with dirt and mascara, but she’s alive. Whole. Stubborn.
“Are you hurt?” I ask.
She shakes her head, then nods, then shakes it again. “I don’t know,” she laughs, the sound half-hysterical. “My brain’s… fuzzy.”
Caleb grunts. “Shock. She’ll be fine once she remembers she’s mad at you again.”
“Not helping, Ward,” I say, but there’s no bite to it.
Blue and red lights start flashing at the far end of the ramp. Radios crackle. Boots pound on concrete. ESU trucks roll into view, big and boxy and full of men who think they’ve seen everything.
“Alright,” Caleb says, stepping back. “I’ll handle Torres and the official story. You two disappear before they start asking questions you don’t want to answer on the record.”
“You sure?” I ask.
He gives me a dry look. “Go. I’m better at lying to cops than you are.”
Barbara starts to protest. “We should stay, we should?—”
I kiss her.
Not gentle. Not polite. I crash my mouth into hers like I’m still trying to prove she’s real and here and breathing. She gasps against my lips, then melts, arms winding around my neck.
The world falls away again.
