Page 100 of Liam
Shit. She was cornered.
There wasn’t even anything in here she could use as a weapon, not without breaking glass and making Violet aware of her location.
She slipped behind the old train, her breathing too fast.
“You know I shot El, right?” Violet called. “Disarmed her quite easily, actually. She’ll die becauseyouwere too much of a coward to stay in the café and fight me.”
Nylah’s heart broke for her friend, and she barely stifled a whimper.
“I would have shot your brother too, but he found his fucking gun and turned it on me, so I ran out the door instead. Luckily, I don’t care about Trey. Cody can kill him. I only slept with him because I needed the resources of the FBI.”
Cody wouldn’t kill the man. He’d make sure he was arrested and never saw the light of day ever again.
“This thing between you and me has turned quite personal, Nylah.”
As the footsteps crept closer, Nylah tugged out her phone with a shaking hand to see a missed call and a text from Liam. She turned the screen brightness down and covered the screen with her hand.
Liam: Where are you?
She shot a glance to the time it was received, the air rushing from her chest, her heart finally beating with a bit more ease. He’d sent it only a minute ago—afterthe explosion.
Alive. Liam was alive!
Tears of relief built in her eyes, and she blinked them away.
Nylah: Hiding in museum. Violet’s here with a gun. She’s Hawk.
“Maybe I’ve become so fixated on killing you because you’ve been so good at evading death. We sent some of our best guys to end you, and none of them succeeded.” The footsteps continued to move closer. “My respect for you definitely grew…to the point I wanted a go at you myself.”
Nylah crept to the end of the train, shoving her phone into her pocket. Liam might respond, but if the woman stepped into this room, Nylah couldn’t risk her seeing the light.
She swallowed, trying to silence her breaths.
“Do you know the hell my life became thanks to Carter? He hurt me. Terrified me. Once, he killed someone right in front of my eyes, just to make me suffer. A friend of mine. A guy who was helping me get away from him.”
Bile rose in Nylah’s belly, and for a fleeting second, there was just a hint of sympathy for the woman. But that quickly passed.
No. She didn’t deserve sympathy. Not after everything she’d done.
When Violet stepped into the train gallery, Nylah’s skin turned cold, and she willed the fear inside of her to remain silent. To not burst out of her in loud breaths and trembling limbs.
“You might not understand why I do what I do. And if that’s the case, I’m actually glad for you. It means your soul hasn’t been broken. No one’s hurt you beyond repair.”
As Violet neared the train, Nylah lowered her body, muscles tense. There was no escape, not when the woman had a gun, which meant she had no choice but to fight. And shewouldfight. Her brothers had trained her for this her entire life.
She forced her mind to focus, her breathing to even.
The second the woman started to inch around the back of the train, Nylah kicked—hard.
Violet cried out and stumbled, half falling on a display cabinet, glass shattering and the pistol hitting the floor.
Nylah grabbed for the weapon, ignoring the pain of glass cutting into her skin. Before she could wrap her fingers around the grip, Violet was there, digging her fingers into the wound on Nylah’s side.
She screamed, clutching Violet’s hand even as the woman climbed on top of her. The punch came before Nylah could turn her face away, Violet’s fist connecting with her cheek.
Her head whipped to the side, and her vision went dark for a second. The woman raised her arm a second time, but Nylah dodged her fist, then rolled them over the shattered glass.
Violet screeched. Nylah grabbed the gun and held it to her head.
