Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Balanced on the balls of his feet, Kai started to move but stopped, sniffing the air. Was that Elijah’s cologne? Dread and hope warred in his stomach. Part of him wanted this over at last, but another part was playing this game and failing to win. He wasn’t worried about dying. Death was a normal part of his job. No, he just wanted to keep Dev alive and safe. That was all that mattered.
Kai ran across the yard and caught the edge of the small roof over the patio. While it might not be the easiest climb, it wasn’t as difficult as some of the building faces he’d scaled over the years. Dev’s house had enough ornamental trim, window ledges, and overhanging roof edges to grab. This wasn’t how Elijah had gotten the body into the house in the first place, but it was very likely how he had left and entered again after the body was discovered. And that was assuming that Elijah had left at all. There were ample places in Dev’s house for a grown man to hide for a good length of time without being found. Not the most settling thought, but it would help Kai now.
Palming one of his slender throwing knives, Kai soundlessly jimmied one of the window latches and slid it up. If he were ever lucky enough to live in this house with Dev and Jake, the first thing he was doing was replacing this window with a piece of colorful stained glass that could not be opened and shut. This was far too easy a spot to enter and leave the house unnoticed. The rear of the house was blocked from view, thanks to big trees and the poor arrangement of the other homes in the neighborhood. A person had to be in the bathroom to notice an intruder.
As he pulled himself into the bathroom, Dev’s angry voice filled the air.
“And I’ve told you, he’s not coming back!” Dev snarled, though Kai didn’t miss the small tremor in his voice.
“Come now, Dev.” Elijah’s voice was low and so very smooth. The man could have been a used car salesman if he’d not gotten into contract killings. “We both know he’s not going far. No matter how angry you are with him. He’ll return for you, which means we don’t have time to waste on your nonsense.”
“Not likely. I’m done with this bullshit. I’ve got a son. Do you honestly think I want all-all of this in my life?”
Kai eased forward, careful to not make a sound while sticking to the shadows that were left in the bathroom. It appeared that all the lights were on in the bedroom, and the TV was turned on low. The gentle monotone of conversation indicated that Dev had likely been watching the evening news when Elijah had crept into the house.
As he reached the edge of the open doorway, he could see Dev standing on the far side of the bed, his arms folded tightly over his chest. His face was pale and sweaty, but his eyes were blazing with anger as he faced Elijah in the doorway leading from the hall. The only problem was that the current angle made it impossible to see Elijah without giving his position away.
“The more you fight me, the more you’re risking your son’s life,” Elijah taunted.
Shock crackled through Kai when Dev replied with a dismissive snort that was pretty damn convincing. “Are you trying to tell me that you’ve got my son?”
“And you’re sure I don’t?” Elijah sounded more intrigued than insulted.
“I’ve got two good friends who are keeping a close eye on him. You might know them. Reaper and Chameleon?”
Elijah chuckled softly. “That’s another interesting thing about you. For a guy who’s so done with all this bullshit, you seem to keep company with a hell of a lot of killers. You ever notice that?”
“My life is weird,” Dev muttered. He sighed heavily and shifted from one foot to the other. “Are you done now? Kai’s not coming back here. He’s done with me. If you want to ruin his life so badly, why don’t you go after him? Or are you too afraid that he’s too good to take on face-to-face?”
Elijah laughed again, but it was different this time. Infinitely colder. The time that Dev was desperately trying to buy him had run out. Kai could feel it in his bones. Elijah was done fucking around and humoring Dev.
“That’s where you’re confused. Assassins aren’t ever good guys. We don’t meet up at high noon and square off against each other. We’re sneaky bastards. We wait until our prey is at his most vulnerable and we strike.” The shadows shifted in the room and there was a soft scrape of what sounded like a shoe across the carpet. Elijah took a step farther into the room. At the same time, Dev dropped his hands to his sides as he took a step back, his shoulders bumping into the window frame behind him.