Page 132 of Seasons of War
It wasn't blades she needed, but her drones and uranium. The point of her plan was to rebel peacefully, but now someone was hurt because of her. This wasn't meant to happen.
The soldier went limp. Still, her stranger didn't release him for long seconds. Finally, he lowered the man to the ground and spoke into his watch. “I need a decoy at this location. Stat.”
“Are you hurt?” Kira asked, joining him on the roof.
“No.”
The soldier wasn't moving. Horror quickened her heart rate. “Is he dead?”
“He's whatever answer makes you feel best.” The stranger caught her wrist and pulled her against him. “Close your eyes.”
“What—”
Arms as tight as steel locked around her body, cradling her against his chest, hefting her off her feet.
The stranger ran toward the edge of the building.
And jumped.
JUMPED.
A scream lodged in Kira's throat, every alarm system inside her blaring as they dove through the air together. She squeezed her eyes shut and tensed her body for impact, imagining their heads splattering against the street.
He landed hard on his feet on the next roof and fell into a roll, his body curling around hers to take the brunt of the impact. Pressure squeezed the air from her lungs when they slammed to a stop.
Before she could even take in a breath, he shoved himself up, lifting her with him. Kira got her feet under her, running with him full speed for the edge of the roof. Arms wrapped around her again, and this time she knew what was coming when he leaped from the edge of the building.
This landing was rougher and the drop to the next rooftop steeper.
He rolled off his shoulder, arms shielding her head as they tumbled across the rough roof. Kira landed on top of him, cheek pressed against his hard chest, hands gripping his shirt.
The world spun.
Her mind was trapped with the dead man two buildings away, but her stranger was hauling her up with him again. No slowing down. No time to think.
He staggered forward two uneven steps before getting his bearings. Hand holding hers, he tugged her after him.
That last fall had to hurt, but he didn't seem to like it when she'd asked if he was okay before. Her eyes scanned him for injury, finding a scraped shoulder showing through a hole in his shirt. No blood otherwise.
His gentleness on the ledge when he asked if he could pick her up masked him as well as his disguise. Though she didn't mean to trust him, his care softened her. But Kira didn't know anything about this man. He choked another person without hesitation. How many people had he killed? Did he care about taking life?
“The next roof is too far to jump,” the stranger said. “We have to climb, and we have to do it fast. We need as much distance between ourselves and the soldier as possible in case the decoy fails.”
“He's dead,” Kira said. It wasn't her first time watching someone get killed. Far from it. But no one ever killed anyone for her before. Because of her. “Does that even bother you?”
“Yes.”
He didn't explain further and didn't seem upset, but soldiers knew how to compartmentalize. This man wouldn't show his face to Kira. Why would he reveal his emotions to her? But the fear she felt when he first found her overcame her again. Was she an idiot for escaping with him? There was no telling what he planned to do with her.
She supposed she didn't have a choice. It was the stranger or death.
They fled from fire escape to fire escape, occasionally taking to alleyways.
Kira couldn't keep track of the time. She could barely keep track of her legs. It felt like she had left them behind hours ago. Beyond exhausted, she struggled to keep up, too tired to worry about how her actions tonight killed a man, or how it affected the stranger. Just what kind of man he was. That all would keep her up at night later.
“Right over there.” The masked man pointed to an alley below. “That's the edge of the restricted zone. We're almost there.”
She would have cried if she had the strength.
