The Assassin’s Shadow
The night air was thick with tension. The safe house was eerily quiet, a stark contrast to the chaos raging in Evelyn's mind.
Tomorrow, they would face Nathaniel Crane. A man whose name alone was enough to send people running.
Evelyn wasn't running anymore.
She sat on the couch, staring at the gun Ethan had given her. It felt foreign in her hands, heavier than she expected.
She had trained. She knew how to shoot. But knowing and doing were two very different things.
She didn't hear Theo enter until he spoke.
Theo: "You keep looking at it like it's going to shoot itself."
She glanced up, finding him leaning against the doorway, arms crossed.
Evelyn: "Just… thinking."
He walked over, sitting beside her. Close, but not too close. "About?"
She exhaled. "Everything. The fact that an assassin is coming for us. The fact that we're about to walk into a fight I might not walk out of."
Theo studied her for a moment. "Do you regret it?"
She shook her head. "No. I just… don't want to freeze."
Theo reached out, his fingers curling around hers, guiding the gun into her grip properly. "You won't. When the moment comes, you'll do what you have to."
His touch was firm, steady. A quiet reassurance.
Evelyn's eyes met his, searching. "How do you do it? Kill so easily?"
Something dark flickered in his gaze. "It's never easy, Evelyn. You just get used to the weight of it."
She swallowed. "I don't want to get used to it."
He gave a small, almost sad smile. "That's what makes you different."
A beat of silence stretched between them. His fingers were still over hers, warm despite the cold steel of the gun.
She should have pulled away.
She didn't.
Evelyn: "Theo…"
His voice was quieter now. "Yeah?"
She hesitated, then shook her head. "Nothing."
His eyes searched hers for a moment longer before he finally let go.
And just like that, the moment passed.
---
By dawn, they were ready.
Ethan drove while Theo checked his weapons. Evelyn sat in the backseat, going over the plan.
Crane's safe house was on the outskirts of the city. If they were lucky, they'd catch him off guard.
If they weren't…
Evelyn forced the thought away.
They parked a block away, moving on foot. The building was a run-down warehouse, abandoned on the outside. But they knew better.
Theo glanced at Evelyn. "Stay close to me."
She nodded, gripping the gun tight.
Ethan picked the lock with ease. The door creaked open.
Darkness. Silence.
They stepped inside.
And then—
A shadow moved.
Too fast.
Theo barely had time to shove Evelyn aside before a knife embedded itself where she had been standing.
A figure stepped out of the darkness.
Nathaniel Crane.
He was tall, lean, and deathly calm. A smirk played on his lips.
Crane: "You're late."
Theo pulled his gun. "And you talk too much."
Crane moved before the trigger could be pulled.
It happened in a blur.
Theo blocked a strike, countered with one of his own. Crane dodged, moving like a ghost.
Ethan fired—Crane twisted, the bullet grazing his shoulder but not stopping him.
Evelyn's heart pounded. She raised her gun—
Crane's eyes locked onto hers.
And he smiled.
Before she could react, he moved. Faster than she thought possible.
A sharp pain against her wrist—her gun knocked free.
Theo's voice, sharp—"EVELYN, MOVE!"
She ducked just as Crane's knife slashed through the air.
Ethan fired again. This time, Crane dodged and leapt out the window, disappearing into the alley.
Silence.
Theo exhaled, furious. "Damn it."
Ethan cursed under his breath. "We lost him."
Evelyn stared at the broken window, breathing hard.
He had looked right at her. Smiled.
Like this was just a game.
Theo turned to her. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head. "No. But he let us go."
Ethan frowned. "What?"
Evelyn clenched her fists. "He could have killed me. But he didn't."
Theo's jaw tightened. "That means he's not done with us yet."
They hadn't won.
This was just the beginning.
---
A Quiet Moment in the Chaos
Back at the safe house, Evelyn sat on the kitchen counter, ice pressed to her wrist where Crane had hit her.
Theo walked in, tossing his jacket aside.
Theo: "Let me see."
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm fine."
He ignored her, taking her hand gently. His touch was careful, despite the tension in his jaw.
Theo: "You should have shot him."
Evelyn sighed. "I hesitated."
His grip tightened slightly. "Don't hesitate next time."
She looked at him. "And if I do?"
His eyes darkened. "Then I'll make sure he never touches you again."
The way he said it—low, fierce, like a promise—sent a shiver down her spine.
He let go of her hand but didn't move away. They were too close again.
Evelyn: "Theo…"
His voice was quieter now. "Yeah?"
She swallowed. "Be careful."
Something unreadable flickered in his eyes. "You too."
A pause.
Then, before she could say anything else, he reached up and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
A touch so light, yet it set her heart racing.
She should have pulled away.
She didn't.
For a moment, the war didn't exist.
For a moment, it was just them.
And then Ethan walked in.
Ethan: "We have a problem."
Just like that, the moment shattered.
Theo exhaled, stepping back. "What now?"
Ethan held up his phone. "Moretti knows where we are."
Evelyn's blood ran cold.
Theo: "Then we move. Now."
---
The war had truly begun.
And this time, there was no turning back.
End of Chapter 27