Page 52 of Savage Assassin

I laugh at that. I can’t help it. “My decisions haveneverbeen mine to make,” I tell him flatly. “Not ever. They’ve always been someone else’s. I don’t necessarily think that’s going to change just because I’m in a different country or city.”

“Who do you think is going to make those choices for you in Boston? Your sister? Her husband?” Levin looks at me curiously. “I know Niall; hedefinitelyisn’t going to tell you how to live your life.”

“I’m sure my father will have some kind of influence.” I give him a small, rueful smile. “But first, we have to get there. What kind of chance do we have at that?”

Levin looks at me, a startled look on his face as he sets his food down for a moment. “You sound pretty chipper for a question like that.” He presses his lips together, cocking his head slightly as he watches me. “I thought you’d be in a worse mood, considering our circumstances.”

And considering how frustrated you left me last night,I want to say, but I don’t. I’m not even sure what to say at first, and I muscle down a few more bites of the food, feeling a knot of anxiety forming in my stomach. “It’s not going to be fixed by crying about it,” I tell him finally. “Just like the scar.”

Levin breathes in slowly, and I can see him hesitating, see the wheels turning in his head about how much to tell me. “Elena–”

“Just tell me the truth.” I set the tray of food down. “Just be honest with me? In the last week, I’ve seen my house set on fire, been shot at, and seen men killed. I’ve been kept in a cell and auctioned off to the highest bidder–and that didn’t feel good, even if the highest bidder was you. I–” I swallow hard, shaking my head. “I survived a car chase and a plane crash and ended up on this beach–and I’m pretty sure there’s more to come before I’m safe and sound in Boston. I don’t want to be treated like I’m fragile. I think I’ve proved so far that I’m not.”

Both of Levin’s eyebrows go up at that, and he nods slowly, a small smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. “I think you’re right about that, Elena. I just don’t like having to say the kind of news that I have for you.”

I feel my stomach drop. “So it is bad.”

He nods slowly. “I’d hoped there would be a radio in that bag we could use to get help. It’s part of the reason I grabbed it, besides the hope for food and water. Usually, there’s some kind of waterproof pouch for something like that, for exactly this reason. But not this time.”

I’d wanted the truth, and I still do. But hearing it is beginning to send a cold chill through my veins. “It doesn’t work?”

Levin shakes his head. “Not after how wet it got. And I don’t know that I can fix it. That’s not something I know how to do.”

“How else do we get out of here?” I ask, hearing the words come out a little more breathlessly than I’d meant for them to. I clasp my hands together, shoving them against my lap to try to stop them from shaking.

Levin lets out a long breath. “I’m not sure that we do, Elena,” he says finally. “If there is a way, I’ll find it. But you asked me to be honest, so I am. I don’t know if there’s a way out of this.”

A few beats of silence pass as I try to make sense of it, as I try to breathe past the lump in my throat, as I try to think of what to say. Finally, I manage to force the words out.

“Have you ever been in a situation like this before?”

Levin looks at me curiously. “Stranded on a beach? No, I don’t think–”

“Where you thought you were going to die.” I blurt it out, the last word coming out almost as a gasp, and I wish I could bite it back. I don’t want him to realize just how afraid I am.

Levin’s face softens, and after a moment, he nods. “Yes,” he says finally. “I have.”

“Tell me about it?”

His eyes widen slightly. “I don’t know if that’s helpful, Elena–”

“You got out of those situations, or you wouldn’t be here now.” I swallow hard, past that growing lump in my throat that I desperately don’t want to turn into tears. “So tell me. Please.”

Levin sighs, frowning. “Well, honestly–there’s been a lot of them. We’d be here for a while.”

I laugh, a sharp burst of sound that fills the space between us. “I think we have some of that now.”

He nods, a rueful twitch at the corner of his mouth. “Well, you might be right about that.” He leans forward, arms balanced on his knees as he looks at me. “I told you I worked as an assassin, Elena. Being in danger of dying was just a Tuesday afternoon for me.”

“What was the scariest one? The closest call.”

Levin tilts his head slightly, as if he’s trying to recall. “There was a sniper,” he says finally. “Sent by someone I was after to kill me. She was the best of the best. We’re on good terms now, actually. She’s the only other one I know who left the Syndicate and is still living. She’d already left by then–her story is what made me think I could get out, actually. She was working freelance, and turned out it was on the opposite side of me. I spent three days holed up in a hotel room, lights off, waiting for the moment when I’d slip up and give her that sliver that she needed to put a bullet right here.” He taps his forehead. “One shot was all she needed, and we both knew it.”

“How did you get out of that?” I realize I’m leaning forward, caught up in wondering he’d managed to outsmart someone who sounds so dangerous. “Did you get the drop on her or something?”

Levin laughs. “Not even close. My boss assumed after three days that I needed backup. He sent someone else to take care of the target. Once he was dead and she wasn’t getting the paycheck she was promised, she had no reason to kill me. She went off to shake down some of his associates for what she could get out of them, and I went back to my boss.” He winces. “I took a good beating for that one.”

I stare at him. “Abeating? Are you serious?”

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