WHEN DAWN FINALLY broke, Nathan was already up and ready, fully decked out in all his gear before Devora had even awoken. She still slept peacefully in bed, tucked under her covers like a baby. Asleep, she wore a pure and innocent expression that was still untainted by the horrors of her current reality.
Deep down, Nathan blamed himself for what happened to Devora. He was partly at fault for dragging her into the life of blood-soaked hands and crimson-tainted records. For all the red that dyed Devora's palms both now and in the future, Nathan carried half the burden. If he hadn't brought her here, if he had gone against his orders and snuck her back to her family, perhaps she wouldn't have had to live the life of an assassin.
However, Nathan also knew it was impossible. Even if Nathan hadn't brought her back to headquarters, Julius Cain would've sent someone in his place to complete the job. Devora Evans had been marked long ago. There was no escape from the fate that was long entwined with her life.
On the flip side, he was still grateful for the opportunity to meet her. It was such a selfish thought. Meeting Devora had allowed him to experience a different sort of heart-racing and blood-pounding as compared to what he experienced on the field. They were both equally dangerous but unlike his missions, the way his heart raced when around her was serenely divine.
He might even be addicted to it.
Submerged deep in his thoughts, Nathan hadn't even noticed that Devora had already awoken from her slumber. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, an eyebrow raised questioningly due to his blatant staring.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked, her voice still hoarse and tinted with drowsiness.
Her words finally slapped Nathan out of his trance, causing him to jolt to attention as he shook his head fervently.
"Just..." he trailed off, hesitating. He wasn't sure what a proper reply would be since there was no way he would tell her his candid thoughts. "I was just wondering how today will go. It is your first mission, after all."
For a second there, Devora's face softened. In her expression, Nathan found a snippet of who she once was— the girl that he had first rescued, starry-eyed and dreamy. But the moment of weakness hadn't lasted. It crumbled away as quickly as it came, morphing into the look she accessorized herself with after months of polishing.
A confident smirk curved her sensual lips, the corners quirked up as she climbed out of bed gracefully.
"We've had loads of practice to prepare us for this day. It will be fine."
Softly, her feet padded across the carpeted floor. Nathan's eyes trailed after her sultry figure, his throat suddenly dry as he stared at the way her thin nightwear clung to the curves of her body. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he ran a hand through his hair as he sat down at the corner of his bed while waiting for her to wash up and get dressed behind the privacy of their bathroom door.
"Do you even know who we're going after?" He asked, slouching a little. Nathan had read through the files beforehand. There was a rather interesting figure present in today's mission. At the very least, that person managed to catch Nathan's attention.
The sound of the running tap echoed from behind the closed door. Soon enough, it was followed by the sounds of bristles as she brushed her teeth.
"I've heard of him before, if that's what you're asking," she replied. "I can't wait to put a bullet through his skull."
Devora spoke no words for a while and the room was only filled with the noises that came from the running tap.
Once the door opened again and the sounds ceased, Devora emerged from the bathroom fully dressed. Her arms were raised as she pulled her hair into a sleek ponytail, a hair tie clasped between her teeth as she combed down the strands.
"And which one of our targets will be the one to receive your welcoming embrace?" Nathan already knew the answer to his own question but he asked anyway.
It seemed like Devora had caught on to his intentions because she simply smiled, her head slightly tilted to one side.
"Is this your way of creating small talk between us?"
Nathan grinned. "It's working, yes?"
Devora simply smiled in reply.
♕♕♕
"So what do we have here?" Devora asked out loud, more to herself than her companion.
She played with the zooming function of her binoculars, her fingers fiddling with the gears. Crouched behind a bush, she wasn't comfortable in the least bit. Yet, she had long forgotten what it was like to whine about discomfort and instead she focused her attention on the task at hand.
Nathan had left with Travis a few minutes ago to scout out the area as their vanguard. They went ahead to eradicate all factors that might prove to be of disturbance to their mission. In this case, that referred to any patrolling guards.
Their mission today was as average as any other, according to Dallas. They were there to get rid of a gang called 'Lion's Grave' in the next town over, a mere small pestering fly that had been buzzing about the cops' ears for the past few years. Their team was merely sent ahead to kill the three leading figures of Lion's Grave. The other members of the gang were to be left to the local police force that would arrive at their signal.
Lion's Grave wasn't big in numbers by any means but they were still slimy enough to be able to slip by the grips of law. From the reports in the file Devora flipped through before the mission, it seemed like the gang earned their income from drug dealing and human trafficking. Thankfully, they didn't dabble deep in firearms.
"Three basement levels, two levels above ground," Dallas murmured under his breath. "Seems easy enough. Our insight tells us that their head's office is located at the second level above ground, along with his wife and his second-in-command. Lion's Grave's leader is a man called Horace Trucker, married to Ursula Trucker, maiden name Ursula Grave. How romantic, the gang was named after her."
"Didn't know you had a thing for romance," Devora idly commented.
"Everyone does. It's just whether they choose to showcase it or not." Dallas waved it off before continuing to recite straight from their mission file. "Their second-in-command is a fresh school dropout by the name Liam Pine. He worked his way up selling drugs and the Truckers trust this boy a lot."
Devora's nose twitched and she instinctively reached up to scratch it.
"We had the same file, you know," she pointed out. "I did my homework too. There's no need to regurgitate all that information again. I rather you tell me something that wasn't written down in black and white."
"I just wanted to confirm something," replied Dallas. "You had a weird response the first time you read through the mission file. Now I know it's a reaction to the name 'Liam Pine'. Someone familiar?"
Tearing her eyes away from the building she had been staring at for the last couple minutes, she shifted her gaze to land on Dallas instead. A mystical smile curved the corners of her lips but it held no warmth. Instead, it held all of winter's bitter frost, like a kiss from Jack Frost himself had been landed on those lips.
"Perhaps," she answered enigmatically. "He might've been someone from a distant memory. A different lifetime."
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