MARRY YOUR KILLER
Chapter Eighteen: The Night Before
---
The warehouse was quiet.
Jay stood at the center of it, her girls around her, the map of her uncle's operation spread across the table. Tomorrow, they would move. Tomorrow, they would take back what he had stolen. Tomorrow, the war would end.
She looked at the faces around her. Freya, sharp and ready. Rakki, quiet for once. Mica, her laptop open, her fingers still. Ella, her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee. Lyra in the shadows. Care with her bag. Grace with her fists.
Her girls. Her family. Her army.
"We move at dawn," Jay said. "Warehouse first. Then the house. Then him."
Freya nodded. "The warehouse is empty. He moved the weapons last night."
"He knew we were coming."
"He knows everything."
Jay looked at the map. At the pins and strings and photographs. At her uncle's face, smiling at the engagement party, his hand on her shoulder, his eyes cold.
"Then we change the plan," she said.
---
Keifer was in his own war room.
The basement was lit with screens and maps, the names of the Shadow Market's operatives spread across the wall like a constellation. Percy stood beside him, his face serious. Aries was at the table, their hands flat on the wood. Yuri was in the corner, his red hair bright against the dark.
"They know," Percy said. "They moved the money last night. Three accounts. All closed. All gone."
Keifer looked at the screens. At the money that had disappeared. At the truth that was slipping through his fingers.
"Then we follow it," he said. "We follow it wherever it goes."
Aries looked up. "And if it leads nowhere?"
Keifer met their eyes. "It leads somewhere. It always leads somewhere."
---
Jay arrived at Keifer's house at midnight.
The lights were on. The door was open. She walked in, her boots silent on the floor, her hands empty. Keifer was in the study, standing in front of the map, his back to her.
"They moved the weapons," she said.
He turned. His face was tired. His eyes were dark.
"They moved the money."
She walked to the map. The names were different, but the shape was the same. Her uncle's network. The Shadow Market. The money that connected them.
"He's running," she said.
"He's been running for thirty years. He's not going to stop now."
She looked at the map. At the web of lies her uncle had built, thread by thread, year by year. At the war he had started, the war he had fed, the war he had kept alive so he could grow fat on the blood.
"He's going to run," she said. "And we're going to follow."
Keifer stood beside her. His shoulder touched hers. His hand was at his side.
"Together," he said.
She looked at him. His face was close. His eyes were steady.
"Together," she said.
---
The house was quiet.
Ci N was on the sofa, asleep, his phone in his hand. Felix was beside him, his head on Ci N's shoulder. Percy was in the kitchen, making coffee, his movements slow, his face tired. Aries was at the table, watching the door.
Yuri was in the corner. He didn't sleep. He never slept.
Lyra was at the window. Alex was beside her, his chair pulled close, his coffee cold in his hand.
"You should sleep," she said.
"I don't sleep much."
"You should."
He looked at her. His face was tired. His eyes were soft.
"I'm not leaving," he said.
She looked at him. His hair was messy. His shirt was wrinkled. He looked like he had been sitting in that chair for days, which he had.
"I know," she said.
---
Care was in the kitchen.
Cole was standing in the doorway. He had been standing there for ten minutes, watching her organize the medical supplies, his hands in his pockets, his face quiet.
"You should sleep," she said.
"I don't sleep much."
"You should."
"I'm not tired."
She looked at him. His eyes were red. His face was pale.
"You're lying," she said.
He smiled. "I know."
She walked to him. She stood in front of him. Her face was close to his.
"If you collapse tomorrow," she said, "I'm not carrying you."
"I wouldn't ask you to."
"Good."
She walked away. He stayed in the doorway. He was still smiling.
---
Jay sat on the steps of the garden.
The sky was clear. The stars were out. The city was quiet. She heard footsteps behind her. Keifer sat beside her.
"Tomorrow," she said.
"Tomorrow."
She looked at her hands. They were steady. They were always steady.
"If something happens—"
"Nothing is going to happen."
"If something happens, I need you to know—"
He took her hand. His fingers were warm. His grip was steady.
"Nothing is going to happen," he said again.
She looked at him. His face was tired. His eyes were dark. He was the only thing that felt real in a world that had been built on lies.
"I signed a contract," she said. "Twenty-three pages. Two years. I signed it because I was scared."
He didn't speak. His hand tightened on hers.
"I was scared of my uncle. I was scared of the war. I was scared of what would happen if I let myself—" She stopped.
"If you let yourself what?"
She looked at him. His face was close. His eyes were steady.
"If I let myself want something," she said. "If I let myself want you."
The words hung in the air between them. The garden was quiet. The city was quiet. The whole world was quiet.
Keifer looked at her. His face was unreadable. His hand was warm in hers.
"I signed the same contract," he said. "For the same reasons."
She waited.
"I was scared of wanting you," he said. "I was scared of what it would mean. I was scared of what would happen when the war ended and you left."
She looked at their hands. His fingers laced with hers.
"What if I don't want to leave?" she said.
He moved closer. His face was inches from hers. His breath was warm against her skin.
"Then don't," he said.
He kissed her.
It was soft. Gentle. The kind of kiss that asked permission, that waited, that offered everything and demanded nothing. She kissed him back. Her hand moved to his face. Her fingers touched his cheek. His skin was warm. His breath was unsteady.
They sat on the steps, the stars above them, the city below them, and for a moment, there was no war. There was no contract. There was just them.
---
Ci N found them there, hours later.
The sun was rising. The sky was gold. Jay was asleep on Keifer's shoulder, her hand in his, her face soft. Keifer was awake, his eyes on the horizon, his hand steady in hers.
Ci N stood in the doorway. He watched them for a long moment. Then he smiled.
"Finally," he whispered.
He walked back inside. He didn't tell anyone what he saw.
---
END OF CHAPTER EIGHTEEN