Page 104 of Deadfall

Who was I kidding—it was still funny.

“Fuck, girl, where’d you learn to fight like that?” Seven twisted his head to keep me in sight as I got to my feet. “That was h–really cool.”

I picked up a gun and checked the mag, then racked it, and Seven’s eyes narrowed curiously.

“Still don’t trust my aim?” I asked dryly.

“Okay, in all fairness, you were drugged.” Seven smirked. “And I didn’t know the extent of your skills—”

I aimed the gun at him and he frowned, but the look on his face was more sadness than anger or fear. I cocked my head curiously.

“Aren’t you afraid I’m going to shoot you?” I asked. “Isn’t that what you said?”

Seven gave that mischievous smile of his. “If you have to shoot me, baby girl, I won’t stand in your way.” His expression sobered. “You deserve to not have anyone stand in your way, even me. Especially me. I know you don’t trust me, but G and I are here to protect you, and if that means you need to shoot me—just tell G I said it was okay or he might get mad.”

“Protect me? Says the guy dangling from his ankle.”

“Okay, yup, that’s fair,” Seven smirked. “Don’t tell G this part. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

I didn’t have time to process any of the weird shit he was saying. “Fine. Any last words?”

Seven looked like he was seriously thinking it over, but I got impatient and pulled the trigger. The bullet cut through the rope an inch from his boot, and Seven fell to the dirt path. He got to his knees and looked up. His eyes were blown black and the slow smile that spread across his features was feral. Oh shit—it was so predatory and visceral I felt it between my legs.

Maybe I should have shot him after all. That look was deadly.

Seven untied the rope left around his ankle and held up the severed end as he got to his feet. He shook his head and walked over to me. I stood my ground, but my entire body locked up with a wild exhilaration like I was being stalked. He stopped inches away and his lips curled.

“Nice shot.” His voice was low and rough. “There’s nothing wrong with your aim, is there?”

I shook my head, not trusting my own one bit. Seven looked like he was going to say something else, but we heard shouts and gunfire down the path. He searched around for a gun, and mag, and jerked his head to indicate I should follow him.

“We’ll dissect why you decided to save me later.” He winked and nodded at the gun. “And, I think I’ll let you keep that for now.”

A ghost of a smile twitched on my lips. The look on his face when he saw it nearly caused my stomach to bottom out at the brief glimpse of happiness it created in his eyes. I didn’t know if I’d just made the worst mistake ever, or the right one by not shooting him—all I knew was that he’d done nothing but protect me, and so far had asked nothing from me.

I wasn’t used to that, and the fucked up side of me wanted to grab onto the feeling and savor it. Not only that, but I wanted to feel it again. For so long people had only taken and never asked what I wanted, or even given me a choice. It had caused me to place trust at a very high price, safety even more so. Psh. Who was I kidding? Safety was a luxury I didn’t have. So, then why did I feel it now?

Chills raced across my skin because why did I feel the safest I’d ever felt in a maze meant to kill me with two guards I knew nothing about?

48

SEVEN

I’d very nearly gotten my head blown off, but watching Emersyn fight was nothing short of sexy as fuck. Our girl had skills—more than we knew. And when she almost shot me? Damn, I was convinced I was about to go meet the devil and then she goes and sharpshoots the rope.

I adjusted myself when she wasn’t looking, because the situation there was not made any better by the fact that she was naked, bloody and looked like she’d just rolled in the mud—because, well she had.

I also wanted to ask why she hadn’t shot me dead. Morbid curiosity and all that aside, she didn’t owe me anything. A chocolate and a sweatshirt certainly didn’t equate to life-sparing acts. At least not in my book. But, maybe, just maybe, that meant we were gaining her trust, or intrigue, or whatever it was that made her aim higher than my heart. Either way, I was more smitten than I cared to admit.

I was so distracted by figuring out where to go, and by my thoughts regarding Emersyn, that I almost missed the muttered curse from behind me. I turned and she had a deep frown on her face.

“What is it?”

“Your back—the hedge seems to have a vendetta against you,” she said.

I shrugged my shoulders. Sure enough, there was discomfort, but not enough to distract me.

“I’ve been through worse.”