TWISTED ꜜ LOUIS PARTRIDGE

⟾ 9 | MIND GAMES

LOUIS 🗡

Sunday, 2:34pm

_

I MESSED UP.

Really bad, actually, although other people might think the opposite. My job wasn't to be nice to her, and my job wasn't to trust her—but then again, my job usually didn't involve attractive criminal-masterminds that knew how to wrap you around their finger.

But I shouldn't have crossed that line.

My role in Team Dagger was to play along with whatever she did. That's why I pretended to trust her, and that's why I showed up whenever she called on me. I was doing a part.

But then I actually started to believe it.

For a moment I didn't see her as the girl who had been making my life Hell, I saw her as [y/n] Ash, this brilliant mind, with clever wit, and sarcastic humor—and what threw me off was that I, in a blunt sense, was really attracted to her.

And I'm pretty much screwed, because somehow I've grown attached the game we've been playing, and now she's just shortened the deadline and given me less than three days to live. And she was capable of killing me, I knew that. She could do it without batting an eyelash too.

So, obviously, in regards to my life, I reported it.

Minus the attracted-to-a-criminal part, because that's something I should wash out of my mind completely. Will never, can never, and shall never happen.

"Three days?" William said, his fingers tapping against the desk, "you don't have a lot of time, Partridge."

I nodded my head. "I know."

We were sitting in a conference room of the SIS, holograms of Higher-Ups displayed around us. I could see their cold stares from the blue, digital haze surrounding their pictures, and it made me unnerved. I was their favorite, but that didn't make me safe from suspension.

"You were supposed to play along, Seven-Two-Five," Killian, the third Higher-Up said, "it should have been easy for you, considering your track record."

I nodded my head, staring at the table. "I understand."

"What caused her to do this?"

"Minor complications," I said, straining the truth, "she seems to think I crossed a line with her, and she shortened the deadline out of anger."

I knew she didn't 'seem' to think, and she was actually right on calling me out, but I couldn't report that. It's impossible to make the good guys look like a villain when compared to a criminal, and I wasn't going to admit it to the most powerful people in London.

William, still tie-less, was jotting down notes across from me, his brows furrowed and still. He'd been acting stranger than usual lately, always pressing me for information about Ash ("You hate her too, right?", "Why haven't you caught her yet?"). It was growing to be annoying.

"This puts a stopper in our original plan," Illia, Higher-Up one said, "we'll have to counteract the measures with a new one."

"Like what?" Killian asked.

"No more playing along. It's catch or kill."

Pressing my lips into a thin line, I tried not to make a face at those words. I didn't want to kill her. I knew I would have to if she continued trying to kill me, but the thought still put me on edge. Unfortunately, I seem to have enjoyed her company, in a twisted way.

"I agree," William added, setting down his pen, "she's a threat, and we can't let her run loose any longer."

"And her family?" Illiea asked.

I glanced away. "Still in Barbados."

"Use her death or capture as bait to bring them in," the Higher-Up continued, "kill three birds with one stone."

I didn't want to talk about her family. Not after seeing the insignia they marked on her. I could hear her words playing in the back of my mind, going round and round like a threat that wasn't even aimed towards me—together we burn, until together we die—it was horrifying.

But I knew she wouldn't want me to pity her, so I won't.

"I understand," I said instead, "thank you."

Reaching over the table, I placed my hand over the scanner, ending the call. William began to pack up, neatly putting his notebook and pencils into perfect alignment. He spared a glance towards me.

"Good work, Partridge," he nodded, "we'll finally be able to close the Ash case, thanks to you."

I didn't answer.

"You're not having hesitations, are you?" The man continued.

I shook my head. "Of course not."

"Good, you heard what the Higher-Ups said."

I watched as he left the room, the automatic glass doors sliding to let him pass. I was alone with my thoughts, and it was killing me.

Ash.

[y/n].

I felt like I knew everything about her, when I really knew nothing. She put a permanent imprint on my life in a matter of a week, and years of training seemed to go to waste when it came to her.

She played mind games, and I fell for it.

I hate her.

I have to.

And for a moment, I thought I didn't want to.

But when it all comes down to it, we were nothing more than two enemies, hearts cold and unthawed, even with the fire we fought with. I could have caught her at the very beginning, but I was more concerned with my own humility than my job. But that humility turned into something else.

Something I felt that day in my apartment, when she placed her head against my shoulder, breath heavy and sad.

But this is the end.

For both those feelings and for her.

It's always been Team Dagger against Ash, and it was time for us to win.