I don’t know her at all. I really don’t. Stox doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. Just because I feel a connection to her doesn’t mean that we should be together, that she’s the one for me.
It’s beyond clear to me that Sophia has done some questionable things in her past. Who hasn’t? But some of the things… I don’t know. I just don’t know. Maybe there’s a good reason for her to take Mitchel Lionnel.
No. There’s no way to excuse kidnapping.
Maybe I should just kill her after all.
10
Sophia
I’ve checked and rechecked. The entire house is secure, and I manage to get some sleep. I can’t stay awake all of the time. A tired person has far slower reflexes, and if someone comes after me, I need to be on my A game.
I’ve just finished showering and getting dressed, complete with arming myself, when there’s a knock at the door.
I cross over to the door and peek through the peephole.
All I see is blue.
Tox? Why is he here?
And then, I know.
Damn mercenary.
I open the door a tiny bit. “You found me.”
“I did. I hope you don’t mind.”
There's no smile, no smirk, nothing. His eyes are hard neon orbs that look inhuman. Inhumane too.
“You’ve found me to kill me.”
Tox blinks a few times.
“You accepted the job to kill me. That’s why you’re here.”
Slowly, as if in a daze, he nods.
I open the door wide. “Come on in.”
“You want me to come in?” he repeats.
“I’m not going to say it again.”
He slowly walks inside, and I shut the door and lean against it, my hand still on the knob, but within seconds, I can grab both a gun and a knife.
If I need to.
I hope I don’t need to.
“Don’t worry,” I tell him. “I don’t have any hard feelings. Work is work, right? But how about this?”
He blinks but says nothing.
“How about I buy you off?”
Tox says nothing. He just watches as I slowly remove my hands from behind me. I keep them raised to show that I’m not holding a weapon.
Then, I remove my gun, my knife, my second gun, my dagger, my other dagger, and the dart that I have tucked into the locks of my hair. I lay out all of my weapons there on my coffee table, and then I sweep my arm toward it.
“Go ahead and disarm so we can talk business,” I say.
My heart is pounding in my chest hard, almost too hard. I'm not sure why. After all, I've negotiated with terrorists before. I've been able to talk my way out of terribly hard situations before. Deep down, I think and I hope that I can get out of this.
But Tox is a wild card. I’ve never met anyone like him before, and right now, it almost seems like there’s a different Kurian standing before me. He’s hard and different. He seems calloused, somehow, as if he knows something about me that’s colored his opinion on me.
Damn.
“How much were you offered?” I ask him.
“More than you can pay,” he says with a grunt.
“How much?” I repeat. “And really, I have to insist that you disarm before we can talk business.”
He scowls and lays down a strange-looking blade. I’ve never seen anything like it before, and I can’t help myself. I pick it up and examine it.
“What is this?” I ask, wonder tinging my tone.
“A krislasher.”
“From Kuria?”
He nods.
I turn the weapon over. It’s lightweight, but the blade does have some weight to it. It’s not entirely balanced, but I think that will only serve to drive the blade deeper into any wound.
With the way the blade is curved, I have to assume, “You wouldn’t use this for stabbing.”
“Slashing.” He nods, and there’s a slight smile to his lips that instantly dies. “That’s what it’s a krislasher.”
“Gotcha.” I place the weapon on top of the pile. “Care to sit?”
“I’ll stand.”
“How much were you offered?”
“More—”
“Do you want me to buy you off or not?” I ask, growing exasperated despite myself.
“I want you to…”
“You want me to die? Did a bit of reading on me before you came here, didn’t you? Who did you read? Which cases? Because the news never gets anything right. If you read about Cassie Medhurst, well, she poisoned her first two husbands. The Global Countries of Earth wanted to talk to her because the poisons she used? She created them. They now employ her. As for those husbands? The first abused her, and the second threatened her life. Was poisoning right? No, not at all, but I’m not going to judge her. It’s not my place.”
“Mitchel,” he says hoarsely.
I grin. “He’s a great kid.”
“You took him.”
“Yes.”
“You kidnapped him.”
“No.”
Tox crosses his arms. His muscles flex with the movement, and I can’t help appreciating how strong he is.
“You don’t believe me, and that’s fine. I understand. I’m not supposed to tell anyone what all happened, but if that’s what it’ll take for you to not kill me…”
His lips purse into a thin line.
“You don’t want to hear it? Fine.” I pick up his weapon and toss it back to him. “Go ahead. Slash me.”
He snarls, and he heaves a sigh. “I don’t know.”
“If you want to hear the truth?”
“If we should talk.”
“What should we do instead?” I ask, confused.
Wait. He doesn’t have something else in mind, does he? That would be ridiculous. I mean, yes, I’m attracted to him, and I wanted to see about maybe starting something with him if I can open up to him…
And here I am, trying to be open, even being open enough to tell him things that I’m not supposed to.
And what does he do? Not want us to talk. What the hell? I can’t win for losing.
Tox glances around.
“What are you looking for?” I ask.
He
