"Kestrel?" One of them asked in a whisper. Ryo? What was Ryo doing here? Was he a double agent?
"Fuck." Another voice cursed. It sounded like Kai. "Stand up."
I can't you moron!
My legs dangled listlessly under me. My cheek throbbed with pain, and my hand? My hand felt like lead. It wasn't even hurting anymore and that made me scared.
"She's in shock," Kai said. "Kes, can you hear me?"
Of course I can hear you dumbass. Why did you leave me here?!
"Definately in shock," Ryo muttered. "Kai! Her hand!"
What?! What happened to it?
Kai held it gingerly. "The cut is to the bone. I don't think it went further. Fuck, I'm sorry, Kes."
"Let's go," Ryo said. The two of them ran out of the gate with me between them. They walked into a system of dark, desolate and entirely unfamiliar corridors.
"No..." I choked out.
"What happened?" Kai asked frantically. Somewhere down the line, I had fallen into his arms.
"Nakamura...knows you're here... Kaito."
Ryo and Kai shared a panicked glance.
"How do we get out?" Ryo asked.
"Where are Elizaveta and Julian?" Kai asked.
"Outside, waiting for us. We can't even sneak out, not with her drugged. Not with Nakamura looking out for you."
No! Don't you dare leave me. I'll tell everyone you're the Prince.
As if hearing my thoughts, Kai pulled me closer. I rested my heavy head on his chest. I was so sleepy. Kai can handle it. Let me sleep.
"What about the back exits near the sluice gates?" Kai asked.
"Those are the gates Nakamura uses," Ryo said. "The military are guarding the front. Kestrel is losing consciousness, by the way."
Am I?
Kai held me closer. "How do we get out?" Kai asked.
He stopped running. We were in another dark room. I forced myself to blink. Kai sat down, laying me on the ice cold floor with my head in his lap.
He looked at Ryo. "What now?"
"Help...me.."
Kai pulled me up so that I was resting with my back to his chest. I studied the room. Crates, crates everywhere. The room was drier than the rest, even though I could still hear the occasional drip drop of water.
"Where?"
"Where the arms are being stored," Kai whispered, looking around us. "He won't look here, you're safe for now."
"Nakamura knows you're here, Kai." I said. Woah, I felt lightheaded.
"Yes," he said. He sounded defeated. "He does."
"He's going to kill you," I giggled and poked his chest. "He was going to traffick me, you know?"
"Was he?" Kai asked dispassionately. He looked around for something. I crawled away from him, careful of my injured hand.
"What is she doing?" Ryo asked.
"How the fuck am I supposed to know?" Kai asked.
"Nikolai, how are we going to kill him?"
"I don't know," Kai said. "If Kestrel is right, they know I'm here. The fake identities are useless. Plus the security around Nakamura is stronger than I thought. If anything happens here, it's reported back to the Circle in time. We can't take on the Circle, neither can we hide from them. At least I don't think so."
"The Circle won't go after you, silly! But look at the bright side. Nakamura's security is too strong so no assassination, and no assassination equals no crime! Isn't that awesomeballs?"
"The Circle still thinks he killed Talaq," Ryo reminded me.
"Party pooper," I pouted.
"Time for Plan B?" Ryo asked.
"Julian couldn't find the buyers," he said.
I saw one of the crate numbers it had 47 on it. Like an AK-47! That was funny! Man, sodium amytal does weird things. I pulled off the tape to take a better look at the numbers. Gah, I probably wouldn't remember it anyway. I took my spy phone and clicked a few pictures of them. They looked blurred. Even the crates looked blurred. Everything looked blurred. The world looked blurred. Blurred lines. Haha.
"Why is she clicking pictures of the crates?" Ryo asked.
"To put them on my Snapchat story," I snapped. Well, at least the sass was still there. Even if I was feeling very happy right now.
"Uh..."
Kai chuckled. "You deserved that."
I pressed the tape back on with my good hand. "Stick," I told it.
The stupid tape wasn't sticking.
"You have one job," I snapped at it. "Stick."
Nope. The tape was as adamant as Kai and I put together. Kai and I put together...Hmm...mind out of the gutter Kestrel...
"What gutter?" Ryo asked.
There was a piece of paper taped to the crate. I pulled the tape away. It had Na... Nagasaki? No, Nakamura written over it. It looked very official looking. I wondered if anyone would notice if it went missing. Silly me. Of course they would!
I took out my cellphone and clicked a pic of that too.
"Ryo, click pictures of the crates," I told him. "By the way, we're not backing down. We're going to kill Nakamura and Tochio. We're going to kill Tokyo too. He's trafficking women in a warehouse. We're going to kill them!"
"The women or Nakamura and Tochio?" Ryo asked.
"Both!" I said. I shook my head sadly. "Stupid idiot."
"Truth serum?" He asked Kai.
Kai shrugged. Ryo took the phone from me and stuck the tape. It stuck. Whoops. I forgot to check which side was the sticky one.
I nestled into Kai's side. "You came back."
He looked at me from the corner of his eye. "Show me your hand," he said. I got up.
"No."
"I'm sorry?"
"No."
"Kestrel, show me your hand."
"No."
"Whats wrong with you?!"
"No," I pouted again.
He ignored me, big surprise, and took my injured hand in his.
I let out a small whimper he was so mean! My hand was already bad and Kai had a gift for aggravating stuff.
Kai sighed. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you."
He stroked a thumb along my finger to prove his point.
I bit my lip.
"Sassy ass sexy assassin," I muttered. It sounded so funny! I repeated it again and again real fast. Kai ignored.
"Move your fingers," he ordered. Maybe the serum doubled as a painkiller? I didn't feel any pain now.
I wiggled my fingers, except for the severed one.
"Good. Your hand isn't broken. Badly bruised, yes. Your muscles are also probably strained so it's going to hurt like hell but on the bright side nothing like a little excruciating pain to build character. The cut is deep, but it barely went a third through, it will heal. I think. You may not be able to use your finger one hundred percent like before. You'll probably need some opiates to keep the pain in check for a while..."
I pulled away to look at him.
"Are you trying to console me?"
"I'm trying."
Wow. And I thought I had zero people skills.
"Your face is fine," he added. "I think you're getting a black eye. On the bright side it's not like looks ever mattered to you anyway."
"Kai?"
"Hmm?"
"Stop trying to console me. Stick to killing people."
"Okay."
"Okay lovebirds, how do we get out?" Ryo asked.
"We're not in love," Kai said. "And we're going to take the back exit, near the sluice gates."
"But that exist is patrolled by his guards."
"We're dressed up like his guards, remember? We may not be able to get close to Nakamura but nobody will stop us as we leave. They would be too scared," Kai reminded.
There was more blood on his shirt. Was it mine?
"What about the guards we took out?" Ryo asked.
Ah. That explains it.
"I don't think they'll be found so soon," he said.
"What happened to the guards?" I asked.
"Nikolai lost his shit while interrogating them and tossed them off of the dam," Ryo said with an involuntary shiver. "Scary."
"Nice," I approved.
Kai winked at me.
The three of us were catching our breath with our backs resting against the crates.
"Kai?"
"Yes?"
"What now?" I breathed.
There was a long pause.
"I don't think I can get past his guards."
"We'll get past them," I grinned. "I'll burn this place down if you want!"
Kai smiled and entwined his fingers in mine. "Yeah, that's even more complicated than an assassination."
I pouted. He had a point.
"So you can't kill him? What if you just walk up to him like you did today and kill him?" I asked.
"If only my job required that little brains," Kai said.
"Then you'd be better at it."
Kai smiled ruefully. "At least he didn't get into your head."
"Ohh...you can't do that because his guards and the Circle will stop you or kill you then! Am I not smart?!"
"You really want me to answer that question?" He asked.
I reached out and took his hand in my uninjured one. He didn't pull away. I felt his fingers, long and calloused, unlike the rest of his appearance, his hands were a dead giveaway that he was a killer.
Dead giveaway. Killer. Wasn't I smart? Yes, I was! I was a fucking genius!
No, Kestrel. Modesty! I had above average intelligence. Better.
"So problem is still the same. Strong security. Circle watching over Dian Mu like a hawk..."
"Yeah, but before, I didn't have a target on my head. Now they know I'm here. Kayden Mitsuhiro's name won't protect me anymore."
"What are we waiting for?" Ryo asked.
"Kestrel needs a few minutes to recuperate," Kai said. "She's still under the influence of the truth serum. She's pretty small, so I'm reasonably sure the dose must have been a big one."
"I'm sleepy," I told him.
"Sleep," he said. "You have a few hours."
I rested my head against his shoulder, with my injured hand in his lap and closed my eyes. Kai shifted uncomfortably.
"Nikolai?" Ryo said.
"Hmm?"
"Does she know why you dragged her along?" Ryo asked.
"No. And you will be wise not to tell her." If possible, Kai's voice seemed to lower the temperature of the room.
"Because you're scared she'll run?"
"Ryunosuke. Enough."
"She already got hurt! Promise me she won't be a loose end."
Kill me? Why would someone who saved my life want to kill me?!
Ryunosuke was nuttier than a nut Nutella.
"First let's get out of here," Kai said. "Let her sleep."
"Be careful Kai, you have a target on your back," he said. "And maybe we should drop the plan itself. Run."
No, I have to get Arianna.
I heard shuffling as Ryo stood up and walked deeper into the room.
"Kai?"
He looked down at me. "You're awake."
"No shit?"
He didn't reply.
"Are you backing down from this?" I asked him.
He leaned his head back and blinked back tears. "I thought I could do this. I thought I was safe as long as nobody knew who I was. I can't get past his guards. I can't hide from the Circle. They will notice. And now I've fucked up and endangered you guys as well."
"No hiding then?"
"No hiding. Not from the Circle. We're not safe."
"You're safe, Nikolai, nobody knows who you are. Only me and Ryo," I whispered.
"Still could die," he said.
"I know."
"They suspect me, they're going to kill me."
"Kai...I was so scared. When I was captured, I thought I was going to die too."
He didn't reply.
"I thought you were going to kill me. Because I knew your name. I thought you'd kill me because you were scared I'd tell Nakamura who you are. A loose end."
He huffed and gave me a half-smile. "I've tolerated your bullshit for too long for that to happen. You're not a loose end. You're my team and I'll protect you for as long as I can."
_______________________________________
Looks like Kai misjudged the situation very badly... sometimes, things don't go as planned.
I hope the plot is clear, things are going to get real interesting real soon. Comment if it's not!
This chapter was a bit sadder than your usual, I felt bad for our little criminal prince while writing this, sadly, things don't get any better for a while so bear with me.
:)
Vote and comment!