Page 67 of Lay It Bare

It rang. And rang. And went to voicemail.

Ellisandre let out a silent curse.

The first man turned the corner, coming up towards them. He gave a shout and started to raise what looked like a weapon with two hands.

Ellisandre moved. The man’s wrists broke first, then his arms and his shoulders, followed by his neck. Ellisandre rode his falling body to the ground, leaping towards the second man and dropping him. The third man shouted something into a microphone as Ellisandre reached him. They turned his head on his shoulders. He fell, facing the wrong way.

Ellisandre stood slowly, three bodies behind them decorating the staircase. There were two more men on the platform below. They ran back the way they came. Ellisandre leaped the railing, dropping from one floor to the next and landing in front of them.

The man in front raised his hands. “This ain’t the job. Sorry. Not what I signed up for.”

Ellisandre tilted their head. “What did you sign up for?”

“Just a bit of a pickup, you know. Just go in, help carry.” He backpedaled into his companion.

“Who sent you?”

“Dirk. Dirk sent us.”

“Idiot.” His companion hit him and raised a gun, his hand shaking.

“Tell Dirk I’m back,” Ellisandre said. “I’ll give you twenty seconds. Run, now.”

The man with the gun turned to run.

Ellisandre caught him from behind. His companion wailed and sprinted. Ellisandre let him go. They dropped the body of the gunman to the ground. According to the call, though, there was at least one more, or perhaps two. On floor eight.

They descended the staircase. No one was at the door on level eight. They stepped out into the hallway and passed the elevator. The door to unit two was ajar. They opened it with their foot, sliding their own gun into their hand. They’d managed not to shoot yet, but that didn’t mean they’d be so fortunate walking into unknown territory.

Someone out of sight was gasping for breath. Ellisandre stepped through, letting the door shut behind them. Whoever was in here was trapped inside with them, not the other way around. The entrance was walled off from the rest of the space, just like Richard’s unit several floors above. Ellisandre stepped around the partition into the living room.

There were three bodies on the floor, very obviously dead. Kneeling among them were two slender men, both bloody and bruised. One was taller than the other. He looked malnourished, his face battered and blood-covered. His eyes burned. The knife in his hand was held in a reversed grip, the blade already used.

The more diminutive man’s eyes were wide, shell-shocked, and struggling to mask pain. His hand was pressed against his rib. “You came.”

It had been his voice. The one from the phone call, the one who called the number only Sevastyan should have known. His face was familiar, in a vague sort of way. Like from a book instead of a memory of life. He held his palm up, stopping the taller man with the knife from making a move.

Ellisandre kept their gun pointed forward, but not at either man in particular. “Who are you?”

“Rei,” the more diminutive man answered. He trembled as he spoke. “Is Jun safe?”

The tone was familiar, as if he knew Jun. Not as a mark, or a target, not even a principle for protection. Ellisandre almost lowered their gun. They studied Rei again. His clothes were torn and disheveled. The side of his face was marked with an old, well-tended scar, probably from fire.

“How did you know my number?”

The taller man made a frustrated sound. He still had his hand curled around the knife. The one he most certainly had just used.

“Master.” Rei’’s reply came out soft, frightened.

Grief, in the form of cold, sick waves, rushed through Ellisandre’s sternum. “What’s your master’s name?”

“Sevastyan.”

Ellisandre half lowered the gun. “How do you know Jun?” But they already knew. The familiar face made sense now. It was in the files Alice had been working on with Jun.

“We trained together. At his company, BBB3.” Rei swayed hard enough to fall. He caught himself on one hand, eyes still focused on Ellisandre.

Ellisandre crossed the room and dropped to one knee, catching Rei as his arm gave. There were scars on his wrist and blood on his shirt.